Ok Cleric... You win. Probably. The more I research how I'm going to deal with the ecu/pin out issue, the more attractive your original idea is to me. That is, swap the donor block only, keep everything else (+new revup oil pan, +new revup oil pump)

My only reservation is I don't know if these heads are damaged. Since I'm going to part out what I can to recover as much cost as I can, I'll be removing the revup heads anyway. Any advice on how to tell if the heads are still good? Other than obvious damage, anything to look for?

 

Well thing is, you need to do SOMETHING with the engine. Might as well take it apart and take the heads off and look at what condition they're in.
​​​Take everything apart in order and keep it all in order, cams, bearing caps, lifter buckets, EVERYTHING goes back to the exact orientation it's currently in.

Once the heads are off lay a straight edge (big 90° straight edge from home Depot works) across it and see if they're flat, if so they'll they're good. If not get a quote from a machine shop on decking them.

Don't take the valves off, if it does need to be decked just let the machine shop handle it if you don't feel comfortable taking it all apart, it's easy but machine shops usually only charge like $50 just to do it all for you since it's so routine for them. IF it requires any disassembly at all, usually it doesn't.

 

@cleric670 , I got the heads off. It's not looking good. I think the valves are bent. What do you think? If so, do you think it's worth trying to save the heads?

 

Yeah those are likely bent, yes you can rebuild the heads, find a local machine shop have them pressure test and if they're bad get a quote on a rebuild. Take the heads down to them, don't just call, these shops are typically the kind of business you just show up in person to get the best customer service and don't be afraid to say things like "ohh and I'm paying cash" because you might be able to score an under-the-table pricetag which can be significantly less. Machine shops are pretty much all like that

Typically how it works is you deliver a set of heads, they will test, then disassemble and inspect and give you a price on the rebuild with them supplying the parts. I would expect somewhere around $500 for a valve job with new seats and valves and decking the heads flat. You might luck out and the valves actually hold pressure and only need to be decked. That's only around $100.

Also keep in mind that it's not uncommon for a fresh valve job to still show SOME light, until they are actually pounded with engine compression there can be a miniscule amount of light that escapes a fresh set of heads, however you have a TON of light shining so I suspect that something is damaged but it's something that a head shop will be able to pressure test for before they actually tear the heads apart. Might just be some crunchies stuck in the valve that's preventing it from closing though so make sure you tell them that the engine kaboomed and filled each cylinder with debris. They will need to wash the heads before pressure testing probably.

Also, if you haven't already remove the lifter buckets, try to keep them in order in case the valves are all good. Each of the lifter buckets has a number stamped inside it that is the thickness of the bucket, they come in 0.02 mm increments and I think there's 30 different sizes so you don't want to get them all mixed up.

Otherwise you have to install the cams and feeler gauge out every single cam-valve clearance and get them all back in the correct order, it's sort of a pain in the ***. However if you do end up getting new valves you'll be doing that anyways so...