drewwrxrogers

I am getting very close to getting everything 2gether for my head/cam/nitrous setup! I am getting excited but I want to take my time and make sure that I am getting things done right. I bought a new set of 5.3l heads and Patriot springs along with stock valves.

I will be using the LS6 intake......What are the 5 top areas of attention when taking them to the speed shop? I am going to ask for a simple port match to start with...but I know that velocity and flow direction is just as important. Should I have the bowls edge blended? Mill them and use a certain size gasket? What else? Details will help tremendously.

Keep in mind that I bought these for compression purposes and am only looking to find a few little tips that can make a diffrence. If I wanted to invest $1k or more in heads....I would have already spent the money. Thanks

Squirts11

iTrader: (14)

When you say you bought a set of new 5.3l heads, do you mean a set of new 5.3l heads that are in stock form?

SweetS10V8

iTrader: (4)

Airflow means WAY more than compression. I hope they arent stock 5.3L heads unless they are the newer 243/799s. If not, sell them and get 243s/799s

Dont worry about a "port match".

Read my sig. Heads should be swapped once and get the absolute best you can afford/dream about. If you cant afford it now, wait and start saving.

Ive done it more than once. Get the best heads you can!!!!

drewwrxrogers

They are the newer 5.3's and they are un-used. I know the importance of quality heads....everyone building should know this before starting. This is my 4th LS1 now and I have had various results with expensive heads all the way to cnc'ed stockers. When doing somewhat of a budget build, spends 2k on heads defeats the purpose. I had planned on doing just a cam swap, along with the springs, pushrods, rodbolts, LS6 intake, ect.....but when a set of 5.3's can be had for $100 brand new and opened up and smoothed out a little for another $100 in machine work, why not swap them in place of the stockers?

The 5.3's are known for being a good "starting point" because of the amount of material that can removed. But when compared side by side with stock heads....20-25 hp is gained over stock. Not huge gains when compared to other heads but not bad for a $100 investment. They are already bought, they are better than stock, why not install them when the motors out?

All I am asking is what other things you might do or what adjustments would you make to them while they are being port matched. FYI...the reason I am doing this step is simply to remove the rough surface and open them up just a tad.

Squirts11

iTrader: (14)

Do you mean you're going to open up the valve area in the 5.3 heads in order to fit the stock-size LS1 valves?

drewwrxrogers

No. I am not going to remove any material other than smoothing the lip on the bowls a little bit and match the intake runners to the LS6 intake.

Sales4@Texas-Speed

iTrader: (4)

An important thing to remember is that the stock 5.3l Valves are smaller the the stock LS1 valves. So I would recommend looking into a set of larger valves for the heads. This will defiantely benefit you quite a bit with the aftermarket cam in there. We can do our stg 2.5 cnc port and valve job w/ 2.02" 1.57" valves for right at $1000 to a customers set of heads.