matts22

iTrader: (2)

I really want to get heads and a cam fairly soon (I call within a year soon). But I don't know if I will be able to afford both. I am going to do the install myself, and I was wondering if there is a big advantage of doing heads and a cam at the same time vs. just doing the cam at first and adding heads later. This would be easier on my pocketbook, but if it's a big PITA then I would just wait. Can someone shed some light on this for me? Do you have to pretty much remove everything that was removed during the cam install in order to do the heads install? I mean, would I just be removing a ton of stuff twice? What do would you recommend doing?

SpeedDemon

If you can scrape the money together, I would definitly do it all at once. There is a LOT of duplicate work involved and the best part is you won't have to do valve springs on the car.

Z28Venom

iTrader: (13)

Doing them at the same time.. Is a lot easier.

You don't have to worry about dropping lifters. You can replace them if they're worn. You also have a lot more space to work.

I just found it alot easier doing H/C than when I did a cam alone.

Checkmate

iTrader: (2)

I'm having the same dilemma, looks like I will have go cam only or wait a lot longer than I wanted to do Heads and a cam.

cyphur

iTrader: (10)

My pocket book is dictating my route....cam now...heads later. I will require some duplicate work, yes. The cam may be more of a pain now, yes, but the rewards until the heads install will be more then worth it. Don't want to deal with too much debt b/c I went way into the hole to do h/c at the same time just to save a little work and a few bucks on gaskets/bolts. Just depends on which headaches are easier for you to deal with.

soslo

iTrader: (12)

I helped with a buddy's cam install - took 3 guys about 16 hours to do (all first timers on the ls1). Many trips to the store to get a spring tool that wouldn't break.

Then I didn't heads/cam on my car with 1 other friend. We spent about 31 hours on it over a 3 day weekend. I didn't disconnect the AC or the fuel lines/intake. The cam swap was definately easier.

When you do heads/cam, you'll probably want to do other things at the same time, like:
pulley
double roller timing chain
ported oil pump

these add to the expense. TSP hooked me up with a great package price for heads/cam/pump/pulley/chain/blah blah blah - every bolt and gasket needed. Cost between $3-4k with a SPEC clutch and alum flywheel, linelock, etc.

You can pull of doing a cam swap for much cheaper, but doing the springs will suck. That is about half of the time right there. But, like was said above, you will have to duplicate much of that work when you want to add heads.

FWIW, the stock heads are pretty decent...if money is an issue, either do a cam only (LS6 cam/springs are dirt cheap), or wait til it isn't.

Once you start feeding the mod monster, you will be stuck in a neverending pit of costly upgrades