nhraracer

iTrader: (6)

Alright Im fed up with a ticking noise my motor makes so Ive decided that during this session of modding my car will soon see, I will replace both the pushrods and the lifters. I thought that since Ill have the heads off anyways (And the final mods I wanted to do was heads and cam), I should replace them, possibly with LS6 heads. Now I dont have the faintest idea about heads and I got LS6 heads because their cheap and a friend is very satisfied with the gains he saw. So...I would like some input.

My current planned mods are
Pacesetter Longtubes
Custom ORY with gutted cats
Magnaflow catback
LS6 intake, Smooth bellows and air lid
3.73 gears, Rear end girdle
LS7 Lifters
??? Pushrods
LS2 timing chain

So a couple questions are
Do I need to upgrade anything else?
Are LS6 heads the best low budget heads?
Im trying to set the car up so all I have to do is add a stall and Im ready to drop a cam in....anything else Im forgetting? I think whatever heads I get are going to come with upgraded valvesprings

Eurospec2

iTrader: (2)

243's are a great budget head, if youve got em, id use em

I would not go through all the work to replace the lifters without changing the cam while you are in there

Justins00ss

iTrader: (18)

Agreed with above statment. If your going to do a timing chain and lifters you might as well do a nice cam while your at it too. It will really wake the car up for ya. And since your in there I would also look at a ported oil pump too. I had a buddy go through the same thing with a ticking noise that would come and go and it turned out to be a o ring on the oil pump was bad.

And yes the ls6 heads are a great budget head. With the right cam you can make over 400rwhp with them.

RsSean

iTrader: (27)

I would up grade your factoey push rods to a set of chromoly ones. They are a factory weak link.

With your head off the car I would swap the springs out for something better incase you do your cam swap. Make it a lot easier, plus you have the ease on your mind that you can not drop the retaining locks down inside your motor. Comp 918 are a good investment.

Since the timing cover would be off I would buy a ported oil pump and shimmed/ and or a new replaced oil pump

LS6 heads are a good low budget heads. If you would like to get a good bump out of them you can mill them .030 and that will up the compression ratio of your motor a little more as well. The LS6/243 heads should move your compression from 10 to 1 to 10.7 to one, then mill them and you will be 11 to 1 if not over that.

Gaskets and oil and you be set

nhraracer

iTrader: (6)

The problem with putting a cam is Im not planning to put a stall in at this point.....just wondering if I could change the heads without changing the cam or having a bigger stall.
I forgot to add but I am getting a new oil pump due to the miles on the car I thought it would be a good idea

RsSean

iTrader: (27)

Yes you can change the heads with out changing the cam. I was just saying you may want to upgrade the springs/ valve train before you install the LS6 heads.

396D1SS

iTrader: (21)

It would be silly to go thru all of this and not install a cam you could atleast throw in a tr224 and run that on the stock stall it will drive fine. Throw in a new ls6 oil pump or better too

nhraracer

iTrader: (6)

On to the next issue. My Bird is a 98...do you think the PCM could handle this big of a setup?

Also remember I still have the stock 10 bolt in my car though it is getting new gears and a rear end girdle and maybe axles.

Doc

iTrader: (9)

I would keep my hands far away from Kyle's decklid rain channel too.

nhraracer

iTrader: (6)

???

Eurospec2

iTrader: (2)

You dont remember slamming my hand in your rear decklid at the track last year lol?

Doc

iTrader: (9)

I do, I still can feel that. Man, I did not think that was possible to get a big ole' Donkey Kong sized paw like yours in a Fbody decklid channel. It was unreal.

nhraracer

iTrader: (6)

I do. I just didnt know what "decklid rain channel" was so hence I didnt get the joke...

And I felt really bad that night too...hell still do. At least I discovered that yellow button under the steering wheel. I remember bumbling around for my keys too.

Doc

iTrader: (9)

Just j/k. That was a memorable night for a lot reasons...You taking a bolt-on car we built and tuned into the low 12's and on to a wining season was a matter of public record... Rick's clown hand, now that wasn't.