Crowley

I know this has probably been beat to death and I have been doing searches but sometimes peoples opinions on things change after they have been used for a little while ..

I'm ready for some heads. I'll probably keep my Origional G5 cam (unless a good deal shows itself). What is the best bang for the buck out there?

I've been thinking 5.3s for the added compression, but that doesn't mean I have to go with 5.3s ..

People on a budget that have bought heads? Which ones did you go with and are you still happy with them? What dyno / track times gains did you make? Also .. what are your other mods?

thanks,
Crowley

Trans Am WS6 RGS

Check out Patriot. They are pretty much "The best bang" for your buck. I believe their 5.3 heads are $1299 and theres no core charge. Give Terry a call. He is very helpful. Texas Speed sells their heads and they can help you as well and are more than willing to help you with all your questions. Oh one another thing. With the Patriots there isnt a core charge.

Oh oh! Watch out! Here comes the Patriot haters!

BB

iTrader: (7)

Most would probably say 5.3 for the budget minded. Look at the Stage 1.5. Do a search and you will find tons of info on these. I have the 5.3 Stage 2 and you get great compression and flow with the 5.3. TEA, Patriot Performance, and Absolute are a few to look at. I went with TEA at the time for Brent's customer service, price, and Brian Tooley's experience.

Now, what would I do today? If I was doing this again knowing what I know now. I would probably get the GM Performance Parts LS6 CNC heads with the smaller chamber volume. You can get these from SDPC or eBay or GMPartsDirect for about $1200. This maybe cost a little more than what you can get for 5.3 head which may out perform this CNC LS6 head. But, in the end you have a pretty good performing head that is an LS6 head with the LS6 valve train. That should easily put you over 400 HP. Then when you have more money you can have the LS6 head worked and the valve train upgraded that will out perform the 5.3. I can't go to better flowing LS6 head now as I have too much into the 5.3 head. That is why I would do things differently today.

WILWAXU

iTrader: (6)

I went for the MTI Stage 2E's. IMO, for $1595 they are the best bang for the buck out there.

Just put them on last weekend:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iii-internal-engine/141411-i-finally-cracked-seal.html#post1090475

foff667

iTrader: (2)

patriot 5.7 perimeter bolt S2 heads $999 no core
patriot 5.3 centerbolt S2 heads $1299 no core
AP engineering
Absolute speed

also someone had mentioned mti heads were on the cheap too but i havent seen pricing...i know ap was having a sale for like $1300 no core and AS was having a sale for heads/cam/PR's for 1800 so really any of those guys are what your looking for.

lata
Bill

2xLS1

iTrader: (25)

Show me where you can get the the GM Performance Parts LS6 CNC heads for $1200. They are more like $2000/pair everywhere I look.

dheck

iTrader: (9)

I will have dyno numbers the the patriot ST2 5.3's friday. I will post numbers then. You cant beat the price.

Damian

iTrader: (89)

Some people have learned a very hard lesson on this subject....You Get What You Pay For.....

TEA, MTI 2E's, and Absolute are arguable the BEST out there for quality, customer service, and power....


josh

Crowley

what all did you do, and did you dyno before the work .. please post after your dyno?

tollway bandit 1

iTrader: (2)

I went with Craig chauk racing heads all he did was port, stock manely valves, mult angle valve job and mill .030 the car went form 375hp t0 428 (with tuneing). I paid $800 for the headwork, valves and springs.At the time I didn't have enough money to have him do the 2.02\1.60, but it would have been $250 extra, i wish now i had done it.

BB

iTrader: (7)

2xLS1: My bad, the stocks are about that and the CNC are about $2K. Thanks for calling me out and letting me correct that.

OvalHunter

I think you would be hard pressed to beat TEA for performance and service. They stand behind their work with NO excuses. I have ran 114mph with stock RSA tires and suspension with a moderate engine combination.

Crowley

Where did you get these heads from?

thanks,
Crowley

Deeavi

iTrader: (16)

I just ordered a pair of patriot LS1 stage 2 heads from Pace Performance for $920 + $24 shipping. Price cut from Patriot. I like that! I call that pretty good bang for your buck!

Tally TransAm

iTrader: (17)

went 120.3 with patriot stageII 5.3's and a 224 cam

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

My choices would be in order...

TEA, Absolute, MTI, PP

bodhi

HA! Mr Craig Caulk. that guy has robbed me and many more. Mr. Boatboy took my old school heads, said he would "clean them up". This was to include Magnaflux for cracks, angle mill, and valve job.
I got the heads back, they were cracked between the exhaust ports (I saw this visually after I started the car), and the heads were visible uneven from the angle mill. It looked like he took too much off of one and not enough of the other. Both heads went in the trash along with the money I had given him. He told me it must have been my fault.
I can't post about others experiences with him (that pisses Tony off), but there are others,
Stay away from that guy


You have a G5X2-
If you go with a 5.3 or a Ls1 head that's been cut, you're gonna need some serious flycutting, so take this into consideration when picking a head and style.
Call Brent @ TEA, Jay @ Absolute- they will hook you up with a killler set of heads for a great price. TEA's are CNC'd while Jay's are hand ported. Both put down great numbers.

tollway bandit 1

iTrader: (2)

bodhi, you never have anything good to say about anybody. For the money I paid him, I got want I paid for and then some. Even Jason@ MTI said he did the job.

Crowley

Actually I have the origional G5 cam (before the G5x1 and G5x2) .....

thanks for the input though ..

Crowley

Got Me SOM

iTrader: (2)

Go with the proven performers, you only want to do a set of heads once.

The top head porters have already been named already. IMO Absolute or TEA are the best.