Thanks guys. The boat it a 1994 baja 208 that is why I don't need more than 500 hp. It does have a bravo but the boat is light. I think I am going to go with the 088 heads and 500 cam with the full roller setup. Hopefully it all works out as my first trip will be a fishing trip with the family for a week lol

Yep late nite confusion i was thinking about non adjustablelate style prob .and i was just working on a set of gen 5 088 heads 2 days ago . And 351 cleveland heads and 5.0 vortecs. Tired of heads ..always like to hear about a good budget bbc build though

You arent gonna be anywhere near 500HP with 8:1 compression, the 088 heads, and 500EFI cam. Probably, more like 360HP.

What would you suggest

I don't need massave power but would like the 1hp per ci.

Disregard my above post. Im thinking of the other guy who had flat top pistons in the other thread. You have the 2399 Pistons. :-)

I fully understand everyone is on a tight budget. But, my opinion, bolting on a set of good aftermarket heads, even some Dart 308 Iron heads, would probably net you 40-50HP over the GM iron heads.

Personally, and this is just my opinion, if I only had XXX dollars to burn, I'd rather have a good set of flowing heads, than the roller lifter. I would bet my azz that this build with a set of Dart 308 heads with a good flat tappet hydraulic, will outperform a GM headed setup, with a mild roller.

Like I stated 1hp per ci. I put maybe 10 hours on a year. I think that a full roller set up might me alittle hardcore for what I want but who knows. I was hoping to use that cam I have already with a good set of 088 heads. Maybe I should just sell it all and buy a row boat. I know for a fact that the row boats engine runs best on beer and nachos

i agree with the above.if it were me i would get a used hp500efi cam and lifters along with the dart308 iron heads.if you have to wait a little longer to scrape up the money so be it.at the end of the day you will be much happier.

Heres a comparision of a 468ci with GM 088 Heads, vs 265 AFR heads. The AFR heads had a smaller chamber, and did offer a bump in compression. However, the numbers are a no brainer. First run was all being equal. Then they swapped manifolds on the AFR 265 to the air gap for a final pull. We are looking at gains across the board with the AFR head, and by 5700RPM, 70HP. Swapping from a flat tappet 420 merc cam, to a roller merc cam, is not gonna net anywhere near 70HP. But, if you can swing both, then its a real win. :bigbird:

088 Rec Ports AFR 265 Air Gap manifold
RPM HP TQ HP TQ HP TQ
3,300 307 489 317 506 343 547
3,600 339 495 361 526 383 558
3,900 370 498 393 531 418 563
4,200 398 498 425 543 449 561
4,500 431 503 455 564 481 562
4,800 466 510 516 569 513 561
5,100 498 512 552 566 543 559
5,400 522 508 582 556 569 553
5,700 532 490 603 556 588 542
6,000 534 468 617 540 599 524
6,300 541 451 622 518 601 501
6,600 521 415 620 493 594 473

normally I'd say you were right on your estimate,,but being the efi cam is 230,236 its bigger than the carbed hp500 cam,which is222, 224 in or there abouts(smaller than the crane 731,226 in).so if his motor is carbed,it will be closer to 480-500hp.depending on intake.
I made over 500hp w/ a flat tappet 230,236,ls110 9ish comp ratio.

also gander at edelbrocks dyno packages and their cams,,will give you a realist idea on head cam combos.