Should I Buy?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 37
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Should I Buy? Sorry to ask this but I have been looking at a lot of post and this is really confusing but here's my questions. I have a 98 Z28 mods in sig. A friend of mine say's he has a set of 243's off of a 2002 5.3L Silverado for $300 dollars. I though 243's and 5.3L heads were two different heads. But if they are not is the only difference between the 243's from the 5.3L and the LS6 243's the light weight valves? Are they the same size valves and CC? How much of a gain would I see from bolting this straight on? and Also If I get them worked what all work would you do and what cam would you go with to have a nice street car like to get 450-500 hp? I have know clue on the best cams for LS1's there is just so much out there? I know there is some other stuff I've got to do to see these type of numbers. Thanks and any help will be greatly appreciated.
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,445
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there is a casting number on the out side of the head it should read 243,$300 would be a good buy.a 243 head will give you 20 more hp.you need to check for valves for leaks, and get new valve springs.you can make good power with a valve job,if you want to port them find some one who knows ls heads.talk to Patrick-G for a cam,custom cams cost $25 more .
The 243 casting heads never came stock on a 5.3 truck. It's possible they were added later or more likely, they are just the 5.3 heads and your buddy is mistaken. Most 5.3 heads are casting number 706 or 862. Supposedly, a few got the 799 castings. I don't know if that's true or not, but if you do see 799 castings, that's as good as 243 heads.
The 243 casting heads never came stock on a 5.3 truck. It's possible they were added later or more likely, they are just the 5.3 heads and your buddy is mistaken. Most 5.3 heads are casting number 706 or 862. Supposedly, a few got the 799 castings. I don't know if that's true or not, but if you do see 799 castings, that's as good as 243 heads.
i know he is talking about a 02 but you cant say never the 07 and above NNBS come stock 243 or 799 on the 4.8 and5.3. my 07 has 243s
Not a bad price if you plan on getting them and leaving them stock. If you are looking at getting a set ported, depending on where you go, it might be cheaper to purchase them from the porter. The 243 is a good head. It's easy enough to have him send you a pic of the heads casting number to confirm they are indeed the head you are looking for. Hope that helped.
Jon
Jon
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