custm2500

iTrader: (11)

Tax money is here(in 7-10 days) and I have plenty to buy my rotating assembly. I am going to contact TSP tomorrow to get an exact cost for my plans.

I want to keep this on a tight budget without cutting corners, so, my questions are.
Will my stock heads("01 LQ4) be OK. I am know a head upgrade will be on the list after getting the 408 built and running. Will the stock heads, ported and polished, still make good power. I will be running nitrous so I don't have the luxuries of FI to make up for head flow.

I have a small cam I was going to put in the 6.0 but haven't. Here is the link http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...csid=1096&sb=0. Again a much bigger cam would be in the plans soon or better yet before the initial fire up. The questions is will this cam be a complete waist in the 408? I think the answer is yes but figured i would ask.

Is there much of an upgrade as far as an intake goes? I know the fast intakes but they are very costly. I see many guys putting LS... intakes as an upgrade in many cases. I would like to use the stock intake and just upgrade to a fast 90 or whatever MM fits my setup at the time. If there is a good less expensive upgrade maybe I will do that and just stick with it for a wile.

Thanks.

Slamdsdime

Haha gotta love that tax money! I hear ya, waitin on mine for coilovers and the serpentine drive assembly.

Stock heads should be 317's, at least that's what my '03 LQ4. They are very similar to the LS6/LS2 heads (243s) but with larger combustion chambers. Meaning, they flow very well, especially ported, but would have to be milled to a more performance oriented comp ratio to get the most out of the combo. And higher compression will also benefit your power with nitrous, as nitrous loves compression, with a good tune of course.

That cam (212/216) is a pretty mild grind, and bigger displacement is going to tame the cam even further. You can buy a larger cam and make a lot more power, without goin into the crazy cams to sacrifice driveability. For comparison, a 228R (228/228) cam from Texas Speed has proven to add 30-40hp on a stock LQ4 with supporting valvetrain. With very good driveability. (Just an example, not saying go with that cam) Just make sure you have sufficient upgrades in the valvetrain to stand any increased lift. (Valvesprings, pushrods, etc)

You could benefit from an LS6 intake manifold, and they can be had here in the Classified section for pretty cheap if your patient. They flow better than your truck intake, and flow more at higher rpm, comparatively. Were I in your situation, I would keep the truck intake and save for a FAST, to provide an upgrade path should you choose to upgrade the heads/cam later.

Hope this helps, just my opinion. Good luck on the build!

custm2500

iTrader: (11)

The truck is track and play only so at some point a big cam will be in the motor. I have a 2800 stall(on motor) and the truck will be around 3500 or less race weight. I plan to get a higher stall also at some point but that is down the road.

I plan to do my absolute best to get a bigger cam before putting the motor in mostly to save time on getting it tunned.
My question is if it came down to it, would the little cam get the job done for a few months till I can buy a better suited cam, a few gaskets and make the upgrade.

The reason the cam hasn't been installed is I need lifters and springs so regardless I need to buy them.

Slamdsdime

Absolutely, that cam will certainly do the job. It should make very impressive power down low, should be torquey as all hell.

custm2500

iTrader: (11)

I have a short block with cam on it's way, He was thinking I might have to open the chambers of my heads for the larger bore anyone know. The pistons should be 4.030 I beleive.