PowellSixO

iTrader: (1)

Ok so I have searched and searched and searched and I'm pretty sure my eyes are going to start bleeding if I search any more. First things first...... I have a 2007 2500HD Classic CCRB 4x4 Truck, yes a TRUCK. I have the LQ4 engine with the stock 317 heads on it. I am not trying to build a 10 second, 11 second, 12 second, or 13 second truck. I don't race, I just tow my boat and 4 wheel out in the dessert. What I want is a little bit more low to mid range power.I have allready added a cat back dual exhaust system, a custom tune, and 4.88 gears. I am going to put a cia, lt's, and a cam in the truck as soon as I can make up my mind on this build. I figure while I am in there doing the cam, I can help the low end even more by bumping up the compression. From what I have read there are several way to do this:
Stroke the motor
Flat top pistons
243 heads
Thinner HG's
Mill the 317's down
Have material added to the combustion chamber

I would love to stroke it, add flat tops and throw some new heads on it, but for what I do with my truck, I just can't justify spending that kind of money at this time.

What I am thinking, is that I am going to mill the 317's (that I allready own lol) down .030" and run a .040" HG. I know this will only give me a little bit more compression, but again I am not building a high hp engine here. Every little bit should help right? Plus I have a hook up through a machine shop that will mill the heads for $60 for the pair. This will give me the opportunity to look at the cylinders, pistons, and lifters while the heads are off.

Now here are where the questions begin.

Every thread I have read has been the same "OH NO DON'T DO THAT. IT'S NOT WORTH IT, JUST BUY 243's YADA YADA YADA. YOU WILL HAVE PTV ISSUES IF YOU MILL 317's YADA YADA YADA".

I hear this and understand this, but most of the people doing these mods are probably running a rather large duration on their cams and looking for 400+ hp correct?

Since I am not going to be running a cam duration over 220/220, I wouldn't think that PTV issues would be a problem correct?

Milling the heads and running a thinner HG will require me to run shorter push rods correct?

Even a little compression bump has to be worth some power even if it is minimal right?

Even if I don't get a lot of power out of this single mod, it will be good practice for me to get familiar with my engine right?

Can anyone convince me why this would be a bad idea?

Thanks for reading this LONG *** thread, but I do appreciate it and will greatful for any and ALL opinions. Thanks ahead of time!!!

Edit: One more question. Would milling the heads and running a thinner hg cause any intake manifold issues as far as fitting goes?

99 Blue Bird

iTrader: (3)

the only bad i can think of is that raising your compression up from what a stock LQ4 motor is i would want to use 91+ gas. and that would probably get expensive fast in a truck. than after camming the car and bumping the compression ratio up i would want to tune the car. and you want to do longtubes and all that which would require a tune. if all you do is tow things i would leave the truck alone OR build a simple turbo kit to give you some more torque and hp for towing some good size loads.

PowellSixO

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I forgot to mention that I allready run 91 octane. Getting the truck tuned again will be a given. I don't mind bad gas mileage it's a truck lol . I would like to stay away from FI. Plus I think that I can do everything on my list for under 2000 bucks.

99 Blue Bird

iTrader: (3)

lol your right about the mileage statement. so if you already use 91 i would go ahead and go along with your plan. im not quite sure what cam would suite your truck best. maybe have one custom cut? and dont forget your gonna need new head bolts.

PowellSixO

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I think a custom cut cam will probably be best. Good looking out on the head botls. I need to add that to the list.

HOTROD98Z

iTrader: (1)

I'm debating the same thing right now for my 00 Z28. Are you on PerformanceTrucks.net? Some info on there as well
http://www.performancetrucks.net/forums/tags/lq4/

PowellSixO

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I am. Thanks for that. I think I am going to just bite the bullet and do it. Should have the money together soon. Just waiting on my bonus from work to go through.

One more question before I pull the trigger on this. Will I have any problems fitting my stock intake after milling the heads and running a thinner hg?