Trex/ms4 will clear some heads with stock sized valves.
Will clear heads such as prc stg 1 heads. It will not even clear a 5.3 or ls6 stg 2 head. That is really all it sounds like your budget allows for head selection.

If it were me... I would go ms3/prc 5.3 2.5 combo when you have the money for heads. You will have a bit more up top, as in maybe 1mph in the 1/4, with a trex/ms4 and prc ls6 stg1 head, however your mid range will be far superior do to the 5.3s compression bump with the ms3 setup.

You said you will be doing a lot of roll racing. 50mph and under start speed to under 130mph a car setup with the bigger cam will not have time to run you down. Similar setups I would expect you to jump around 2 lengths and hold that until 120 or so , not even close. They might start creeping back around then but I doubt it.
The difference in those three cams is extremely minimal. The 5.3s will give more of an advantage than one of the slightly larger cams.

Here is the thing, you are looking at MAX EFFORT cams. What setups do they shine in? Ported FAST, 1 7/8 headers, nice heads, high rpms, low gears, big converter, etc... A car with a bit smaller cam and a nice set of heads won't require such low a gear, a FAST intake, 6500+ rpms, 4000+ converter, etc.
A properly setup car will always outrun a thrown together budget donkey dick cam car.
I told you my setup, I have pulled on two different ms4 cars from a roll, beat both ets and mph, matched my old et and almost mph as my ms4 car which was more or less a drag car to some, got beat in my ms4 car from a 40 roll numerous times with a buddies car that has a mid size cam 5.3 2.5s ls6 intake 373s.. I had ms4 ported fast 410 4400 weight reduction. I would jump him 1.5 lengths in the 60' at the track and he would pull back next to me 1/2 way through the 1/8. He had insane mid range, it was a nice 40-120 mph roll car.

It is all in the head selection. The saying buy the best heads your budget will allow didn't come from nowhere. Match your cam/etc to that.

 

My 226 stock intake car has also made a lot of donkey dick guys mad. Nobody ever believes me at the track when I tell them my setup.

 

I believe that would not be a great choice given the gears that he has.

 

With him, it is always the best cam. Regardless of goals budget or setup.

 

Do you think he changed this for no reason?

 

Thank you for the detailed reply and very convincing to look into heads. I was thinking that heads were quite a bit more expensive than they really are, looks like prices may have dropped since my last project in 06'(5.3 Silverado)

TSP's heads/cam package with PRC 2.5 5.3's and choice of cam for $1700 is very appealing ..how do the PRC 1.0 LS6's compare to the PRC 5.3's? Price is around $150 less so I'm guessing they perform similar? Any reasons to go with one over the other?

I appreciate all of the help and answering my questions. I'm just looking for the best budget setup possible, it's not that the budget isn't there, it's more so that I don't want to dump too much into a $6000 car that hasn't exactly lived under a car cover it's entire life.

 

$1,950 for brand new heads cam springs push rods timing chain and oil pump. Need a few other small odds and ends for the swap but that is your big chance.
They flow almost Identical however the 5.3 2.5 heads give a bump in compression which gives you more torque and midrange over the ls6 stg1 heads.
That is the combo I would go with and the ms3 on a 111.
The ls6 intake will do for now but switching to a fast 90 or 90 will really allow you to let her breath up to 6500-6700rpms, you will still be making power there. Where the ls6 will start dying off around 6000-6200.

That head cam setup will give you an extremely strong street car.

 

Something else to think about ..I have a set of 19k mile 5.3 heads that have been sitting since 2007, anything to gain by milling and porting these? I read the smaller valves on the stock 5.3's hurt flow, would I be wasting my time with these stockish heads?

 

You could most definitely have those ported and milled. To get them to 2.5 specs however I suspect you would only be saving around 100$. The core isn't much on those. Myself would rather have brand new assembled etc ready to go dont mess with shipping for a few bucks more then sell those. I would call and talk to tsp about that if you are really interested.

I have ported/milled 317s. I am 100% they outflow both the stg1 ls6 heads and the 5.3 2.5 by a good margin. I never got flow numbers on them though.

 

Yeah after searching a bit it seems a few people had the same idea, TSP replied in a couple of the threads I seen and quoted prices close to their new PRC 5.3 heads ..it wouldn't be worth the trouble with shipping and all like you said.

So you're saying ported/milled 317's > both PRC's? I may know someone with a set of 317's for cheap, and I had good luck with a local machine shop back home that milled my old 5.3 heads, hmm..

 

Never looked Into It but what I assumed.

No, that Is not what Im saying. 317s=ls6 heads. Once ported/milled they are able to give the exact same gains.
What Im saying Is because I run such a small cam I was able to get a good port and mill the heads a lot. My car from 25-55mph pulls extremely strong. Because I do run such a small cam and ls6 intake it doesnt quite pull like I want up top. However I get a big enough jump to hold the big cam cars off until over 130+mph. The higher the starting mph on the roll the less likely I am to be able to use all my low-mid range power, 55+mph is not a good speed for my setup to race a car that is all top end. My at is set up more for dig/1/8 racing and possibly 40or below rolls until around 130.
Now an ms3 car that has the ability to pull hard up top as well as heads that give it some extra mid range power would be an extremely hard car to beat for most setups, especially nice cause It is a budget build.
My setup allows me to run ls6 intake/373s/shift at 6200-6300rpms/etc and still run with the more aggressive setups.

I would buy the 5.3 2.5 ms3 package and call it a day. You will be extremely pleased with the results. Later if you want to make it really nasty, add a 90 or 92, ported if you find a good deal.. Along with some 1 7/8 headers. Car will be hard to mess with. Stalled auto with a wicked mid range and the ms3/fast/1 7/8 headers to pull you through up top. I would be suprised if your average trex or ms4 cam car would even stop your pull up top, let alone start creeping on you.
Plus the ms3 loves some laughing gas!

 

Interesting! Well I definitely have a lot to think about, just have to pull the trigger. Thanks again for all of the good info!

 

Update thread when you make a decision! No problem man.

 

haha yeah it kinda looks that way. I think something in the torquer v3 range would be good but no bigger then a ms3 so the 233/239 might be a good compromise.

 

A properly setup T-Rex car will destroy a budget head/cam/intake setup.

 

I'd custom from Thunder Racing.

 

Impossible. No way a cam only car beat a heads/cam car.

 

Then lets talk to the op. I'll ask the first obvious question In getting the ball running.

Tan: Do you want to flycut?

After he answers that then we will move onto if he wants to run a 4400 coverter/410s or lower/minimum of a FAST 90 intake/1 7/8 headers/I would recommend rod bolts since you will be spinning a minimum of 6500, more like 6800, to make the power.. The list goes on, but that will get the ideas running.

Pay attention, this is why you got an infraction. Nobody said anything about a properly set up trex car not being able to destroy a budget heads cam build. Of course... ANY properly set up car will destroy any budget set up. Is that seriously your argument and point? Absolutely pathetic.
He clearly stated he had an issue dropping money on the car, hence the reason for a strong cam only car. I pointed out for a little more he could have a nicely set up heads cam car that would destroy the cam only car with still room to grow. He wasnt even sure he wanted to spend 2k on the ms3 setup I recommend.. You really think he wants to go the lengths to make a trex setup shine over an ms3 setup? Rhetorical question.

Get off the wagon and pay attention to what is being asked and the topic on hand.

 

I would usually assume this was sarcasm. With your previous post history, I think you are serious.

 

That's a pretty interesting statement considering the fact that your rebuttal to my statement about using a T-Rex for a cam only car was saying that a properly setup heads/cam car would destroy a budget donkey dick setup.


Also, I love how this post got deleted when it had more in depth of an answer than just T-Rex: Which part of my previous post history? The part about telling people to use the search function or the posts of mine that got deleted because I wasn't breaking any rules?