Can you 'over head' your car?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Can you 'over head' your car? Two threads in one day, I know. 
Reading through threads, I see folks recommending one head or another, for this combo and that, and it's not always the really good stage II LS6 stuff. The 5.3 heads are popular, and so on.
cost IGNORED for the moment, is there any reason you would *not* want the best heads available? For example, choosing between Patriot's 5.3 heads and their LS6/LQ9 heads, if cost were not a factor, even if you were running a dinky stock cam, would there be some reason not to get the LS6/LQ9 version?
I realize that the fire breathing
.500 lift doesn't take advantage of the potential there, but is there any active detriment versus running some monster .600 lift cam that really gets all that the heads have to offer?
I know there's something to be said for maximizing your combo to ensure that your parts work together well, but it seems like good heads would have no downside, regardless of what your other supporting parts were. Is that a correct estimation?
Thanks guys,
-Jake
Reading through threads, I see folks recommending one head or another, for this combo and that, and it's not always the really good stage II LS6 stuff. The 5.3 heads are popular, and so on.
cost IGNORED for the moment, is there any reason you would *not* want the best heads available? For example, choosing between Patriot's 5.3 heads and their LS6/LQ9 heads, if cost were not a factor, even if you were running a dinky stock cam, would there be some reason not to get the LS6/LQ9 version?
I realize that the fire breathing
.500 lift doesn't take advantage of the potential there, but is there any active detriment versus running some monster .600 lift cam that really gets all that the heads have to offer?I know there's something to be said for maximizing your combo to ensure that your parts work together well, but it seems like good heads would have no downside, regardless of what your other supporting parts were. Is that a correct estimation?
Thanks guys,
-Jake
The "larger" heads usually lack a little bit in the lower rpm department due to their larger intaker runner volumes. If your cam is more favored to the low and mid range rpms, it would be most beneficial to have a head that is maximized for that RPM range. The larger runners are for larger displacement and or high RPM operation. For example, with my TR220 cam, I ran the stage II 5.3 heads, when I changed to the TSP231/237 cam I went with the LS6 style that has slightly larger intake runners to allow better breathing in the higher RPMs.
On The Tree
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: IL
Yes you can!!!! Trust me I did it!!! Went with Stage III heads with 2.08/1.60 valves thinking bigger would be better and I was WRONG!!! The only good thing is I'm in the process of fixing my mistake.Not with new smaller heads,but with a new bigger cubed motor!!!Bigger is not better in this case!!!!
You can never get too much head. (Sorry, I couldn't resist)
Actually, that statement is false. As Cstraub said, look at the Ford Cleveland heads. They were way too big for the 302.
The same can be said for any head. What you want to do is maximize the port velocity for the RPM range you intent to operate the engine in. If you have a huge head, your low rpm velocity will be low, thus decreasing your VE and dropping your low rpm power.
Everything must balance...heads, cam, exhaust, gear, tire size. Your car is a system of parts working together, if one is out of synch, they whole system suffers.
Actually, that statement is false. As Cstraub said, look at the Ford Cleveland heads. They were way too big for the 302.
The same can be said for any head. What you want to do is maximize the port velocity for the RPM range you intent to operate the engine in. If you have a huge head, your low rpm velocity will be low, thus decreasing your VE and dropping your low rpm power.
Everything must balance...heads, cam, exhaust, gear, tire size. Your car is a system of parts working together, if one is out of synch, they whole system suffers.
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