upgrade 243s
05-19-2011, 10:43 PM
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upgrade 243s I have a set of 243 texas speed stage one heads. Is it worth an upgrade to AI 243s. I might get rid of these and maybe be out a few hundred bucks at the most. They will be 226cc heads from ai. 64cc combustion chamber. Cam will be a comp lsr 231/239... everywhere I look I see ai....awesome numbers....awesome et's....just looking for opinions here...
05-19-2011, 10:56 PM
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Mostly street. Pat g specd. My cam for me. At the time I had an ls6 intake but now have a fast 95/95... some track use and nitrous. Could be the boards lately....just seeing bigger numbers and better times...with less cam....
05-19-2011, 10:59 PM
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Im hoping to do 450... I think I can get it with my current setup. I have yet to build this motor...I have everything except my built bottom end. Through a 6 speed and 9in
05-20-2011, 09:14 AM
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I think if you already have a set of ported 243 heads, look elsewhere for gains. you would make more power with AI ported heads, but the money is probably best spent elsewhere...
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05-20-2011, 11:27 AM
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Best case scenario, you sell your heads for $1200 shipped call it $1150 in your pocket. You would need to buy a core set of 243's for $400 and pay AI $1400 + shipping both directions... call it $1900 total. Consider the cost of bolts, gaskets ($150 minimum, most likely more), and your or someone else's labor. If you did the work yourself (prety big PITA in the grand scheme of things), you'd be getting 20hp for $900 and a lot of work. $45/hp is generally a little steep... but not unheard of. I usually shoot for $20-$30/hp.
If your plan is nitrous, spend the money on nitrous equipment... You can buy a full HSW plate kit and some extras such as a timing tuner for the same $900... That's 100-150hp depending on your bottom end, $6-$10/hp.
If your plan is nitrous, spend the money on nitrous equipment... You can buy a full HSW plate kit and some extras such as a timing tuner for the same $900... That's 100-150hp depending on your bottom end, $6-$10/hp.
Last edited by mattster03; 05-20-2011 at 11:39 AM.
05-20-2011, 11:52 AM
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ok...
i have ALL the parts for a h/c swap. saving for the bottom end. already have nitrous on my car. i have a nitro dave's single wet nozzle (and another brand new kit...in the garage...) and on top of this i do my own tuning with hptuners...
im basically gearing up to have my bottom end built and have all these parts...im seeing this as an opportunity to get a slightly better head for not much money...if i was spending 1000 more id probably go with some prc 227's...
heads are sitting in the garage...
along with new gaskets, bolts...all that already
i have the cam, lifters, pushrods, katech chain...all that already. a guy i know is thinking of getting his heads ported, and knows i have these...he knows he'll dump 1000-1200 into his heads...
im thinking i could give him my heads for 1100-1200...and get his heads in trade...so basically i would owe AI about 3-400...which would be close guesstimate...
i have ALL the parts for a h/c swap. saving for the bottom end. already have nitrous on my car. i have a nitro dave's single wet nozzle (and another brand new kit...in the garage...) and on top of this i do my own tuning with hptuners...
im basically gearing up to have my bottom end built and have all these parts...im seeing this as an opportunity to get a slightly better head for not much money...if i was spending 1000 more id probably go with some prc 227's...
heads are sitting in the garage...
along with new gaskets, bolts...all that already
i have the cam, lifters, pushrods, katech chain...all that already. a guy i know is thinking of getting his heads ported, and knows i have these...he knows he'll dump 1000-1200 into his heads...
im thinking i could give him my heads for 1100-1200...and get his heads in trade...so basically i would owe AI about 3-400...which would be close guesstimate...
05-22-2011, 08:35 PM
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got with a local guy that does a lot of head work, he is a SAM graduate. he's going to do em up for me. say's he flowed the heads, the exhaust was spot on with texas speeds numbers. but the intake numbers were almost 10% lower.
he's going to port them a little and do a valve job. says he can improve them greatly!
he's going to port them a little and do a valve job. says he can improve them greatly!
05-29-2011, 10:39 AM
#19
A customer sent us a link to this awhile back. I hate that I don't have much time to participate very often as this is a good/common question. On upgrading heads in general, we recommend in all cases that you sell what you have and start with a blank canvas. It isn't that all modified heads cannot be improved, but starting over is often a better value in the long term. From wear issues, to the fact that there are various styles of port that require different modifications to be improved, you'll typically get a much better return buying X upgrade outright and selling your current setup to recoup a proportion of the cost.
Our full CNC work and labor, the most popular option for the GM castings, is $995. We have common options from $495 to $1195 for the 241/243/799/706/821/823/etc. GM castings. The typical gain for our port work is 30-50hp over whatever the head managed as-cast from GM. With 243's it is generally 4Xrwhp on the ubiquitous Dynojet. If you want to spend $1400, we can certainly go farther. 
That is an option (for as cast or ported heads) that most don't know we offer. Our Performance Rebuild package is cleaning/inspection, CNC'd performance oriented valve jobs, precision valve grinding, milling to any volume or valve location, and reassembly for your application. The labor cost is $495.
Good luck with your project!
Thanks very much for the kind words, guys!
-Phil
Best case scenario, you sell your heads for $1200 shipped call it $1150 in your pocket. You would need to buy a core set of 243's for $400 and pay AI $1400 + shipping both directions... call it $1900 total. Consider the cost of bolts, gaskets ($150 minimum, most likely more), and your or someone else's labor. If you did the work yourself (prety big PITA in the grand scheme of things), you'd be getting 20hp for $900 and a lot of work. $45/hp is generally a little steep... but not unheard of. I usually shoot for $20-$30/hp.
If your plan is nitrous, spend the money on nitrous equipment... You can buy a full HSW plate kit and some extras such as a timing tuner for the same $900... That's 100-150hp depending on your bottom end, $6-$10/hp.
If your plan is nitrous, spend the money on nitrous equipment... You can buy a full HSW plate kit and some extras such as a timing tuner for the same $900... That's 100-150hp depending on your bottom end, $6-$10/hp.
That is an option (for as cast or ported heads) that most don't know we offer. Our Performance Rebuild package is cleaning/inspection, CNC'd performance oriented valve jobs, precision valve grinding, milling to any volume or valve location, and reassembly for your application. The labor cost is $495.
Good luck with your project!
Thanks very much for the kind words, guys!
-Phil
05-29-2011, 12:42 PM
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I would do all that AI and i appreciate the imput.
The guy flowed my heads....i cant remember the total flow numbers but the exhaust was spot on with Texas-speeds numbers....but the intake's max flow was 278cfm@.600 lift....uh..thats over 10% lower than texas speeds numbers...
The guy overall is awesome tho, he said he can make them flow whatever I want. but he's going to make them flow better than TSP's heads...and he said VELOCITY is where its at...
I know it'll be a good deal. He's done ton's of LSx heads...for 200 bucks he's going to re-port them, polish them and a valve job. so I'm for giving him a shot.
The guy flowed my heads....i cant remember the total flow numbers but the exhaust was spot on with Texas-speeds numbers....but the intake's max flow was 278cfm@.600 lift....uh..thats over 10% lower than texas speeds numbers...
The guy overall is awesome tho, he said he can make them flow whatever I want. but he's going to make them flow better than TSP's heads...and he said VELOCITY is where its at...
I know it'll be a good deal. He's done ton's of LSx heads...for 200 bucks he's going to re-port them, polish them and a valve job. so I'm for giving him a shot.