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Why no gains after head install?

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Old 09-13-2011, 12:25 AM
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something besides the gear swap is not right, imo. i have seen way too many people not gain a single bit of et or mph going from 3.23's to 3.73's or 4.11's (with a computer calibration) in these ls1 autos.
Old 09-13-2011, 12:50 AM
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Okay i'll ask, OP what was ur difference in trap b4 and after ur changes? mph and E.T.? that will help..maybe i missed it,4 every combo , use track or dyno to figure out where u are peaking in h.p. etc, and figure out max effort regarding current gears, tire height and stall, and trans tune(shift points , etc.), they all need a relationship 2 make stuff work..
Old 09-13-2011, 01:09 AM
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Man it's hard for me to believe that the change in gears offset the power he gained in the head swap. I should have just put in some 4.10's and forgone the TEA heads I threw at my car.

OP how much lifter preload did you have?
Old 09-13-2011, 06:00 AM
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Originally Posted by 01ssreda4
I have raced an identically modded car with 2.73s and I had 3.23s and neither of us could pull (from a roll).
I am not questioning whether that is true, I am asking why it is true. The only answer offered up so far consists sole of the words "torque converter." So why does a torque converter render rear gear selection irrelevant?
Old 09-13-2011, 07:48 AM
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Originally Posted by LilJayV10
Man it's hard for me to believe that the change in gears offset the power he gained in the head swap. I should have just put in some 4.10's and forgone the TEA heads I threw at my car.

OP how much lifter preload did you have?
I was shooting for .08 on the preload. I measured to 0 lash and got 7.25 and with .08 added that got me to 7.33. So i went with the 7.325 PR.
Old 09-13-2011, 07:50 AM
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Originally Posted by z28241
Okay i'll ask, OP what was ur difference in trap b4 and after ur changes? mph and E.T.? that will help..maybe i missed it,4 every combo , use track or dyno to figure out where u are peaking in h.p. etc, and figure out max effort regarding current gears, tire height and stall, and trans tune(shift points , etc.), they all need a relationship 2 make stuff work..
Trap and mph are identical after changes. 12.12-12.15 at 113-114mph.
Old 09-13-2011, 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Darkman
I am not questioning whether that is true, I am asking why it is true. The only answer offered up so far consists sole of the words "torque converter." So why does a torque converter render rear gear selection irrelevant?
I can't give you a 100% answer, it probably relates to a lot of little things. The autos just don't respond to gears like M6s do. An M6 going from 3.42s to 4.10s would make a nice improvement, going from a 4.10 to a 4.56, probably not so much. I guess there is a point in every setup where more gear just doesn't help anymore. Autos seem to be a lot closer to that point.

Originally Posted by LeftySS
I was shooting for .08 on the preload. I measured to 0 lash and got 7.25 and with .08 added that got me to 7.33. So i went with the 7.325 PR.
Are you 100% sure you were on the base circle of the cam when you took this measurement? Did you confirm on more then one rocker?
Old 09-13-2011, 08:13 AM
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Originally Posted by 01ssreda4
I can't give you a 100% answer, it probably relates to a lot of little things. The autos just don't respond to gears like M6s do. An M6 going from 3.42s to 4.10s would make a nice improvement, going from a 4.10 to a 4.56, probably not so much. I guess there is a point in every setup where more gear just doesn't help anymore. Autos seem to be a lot closer to that point.



Are you 100% sure you were on the base circle of the cam when you took this measurement? Did you confirm on more then one rocker?
I took the measurement on cyc1 intake rocker only. I made sure the exhaust valve was open to make sure i was on the base circle of the intake Lobe.
Old 09-13-2011, 08:42 AM
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Did the car "feel" like it gained power when you added the heads?
Old 09-13-2011, 08:55 AM
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I make no claims to be an expert but if it were mine my train of thought would go:

Is it noisy? It seems most people end up with 7.375 or 7.4 pushrods so perhaps you measured wrong?

From the way you talk about the tune I would also expect there to be a bit to gain there. You are tuning with a wideband correct? Tuning based on the LTFT or STFT or factory o2 sensors is not a good way to do it. I've had a friend pop pistons doing that.

If you aren't tuning with a wideband I would point my finger 1000% at the tune being fucked. That would explain why the car won't take timing.

If you are, make sure you have good fuel pressure all the way to redline under load. You want ~58psi at the rail.

Make sure the IAT are reading accurately. If something is wrong and it's reading high triple digits for the temp that could also be pulling timing.

Did you reset the calibration for the gears? If not is the car shifting where you want? If it's short shifting due to improper MPH readings that could affect your track times too.

What are you shifting at? If you aren't revving high enough the gains will also be minimized.
Old 09-13-2011, 09:43 AM
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Originally Posted by thunderstruck507
I make no claims to be an expert but if it were mine my train of thought would go:

Is it noisy? It seems most people end up with 7.375 or 7.4 pushrods so perhaps you measured wrong?

From the way you talk about the tune I would also expect there to be a bit to gain there. You are tuning with a wideband correct? Tuning based on the LTFT or STFT or factory o2 sensors is not a good way to do it. I've had a friend pop pistons doing that.

If you aren't tuning with a wideband I would point my finger 1000% at the tune being fucked. That would explain why the car won't take timing.

If you are, make sure you have good fuel pressure all the way to redline under load. You want ~58psi at the rail.

Make sure the IAT are reading accurately. If something is wrong and it's reading high triple digits for the temp that could also be pulling timing.

Did you reset the calibration for the gears? If not is the car shifting where you want? If it's short shifting due to improper MPH readings that could affect your track times too.

What are you shifting at? If you aren't revving high enough the gains will also be minimized.
Yeah the car did feel better after the heads. I can’t say it was an OMG feeling but it did pull harder.

No the engine isn’t noisy and IAT are correct. It does have a slight ticking sound when it is first warming up but it did the same thing before I replaced the heads and lifters. Once it warms up there isn’t any excessive valve train noise.

I have been tuning using a wideband (LC1). At the track the car was running a little rich up top, because of the LTFTs being added in. It was in the low 12:1 area with about 26 degrees of timing. I have since turned the LTFTs back off and now the car is in the 12:3-12:8 AFR at WOT. But now it wants to pull 2-3 degrees of timing. I was going to try using a 2002 knock sensor calibration since I do have the new style knock sensors and see if that helps the retard. The car is a 99 and I think the sensors were a little sensitive in that year right? Fuel pressure is good. I have a new racetronics pump and hot wire kit and am reading about 58-60 psi at the rail. Tranny is shifting between 6400-6800 rpm so that is in range of where I want it to be and is the same when it was cam only.
Old 09-13-2011, 10:08 AM
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Awesome, well that narrows things down a bit.

I would recheck the pushrod length and make sure it's correct for starters since that's an easy thing to do. I would also do a compression test and possibly a leakdown test.

Also be sure to thoroughly check the basics: plugs, wires, grounds, vacuum hoses, and anything else that would be disturbed during a head install.

Keep trying to find someone trustworthy to look at your tune/log files too.

Also, rather than trusting your senses grab a timeslip from before and after and calculate DA for each and compare the corrected times. You might be missing less than you think.
Old 09-13-2011, 10:16 AM
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Do you have a before & after dyno? I wonder about your pushrod setup, 7.325" seems really short.

The heads will add 40rwhp no problem.
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Old 09-13-2011, 11:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Jason 98 TA
Do you have a before & after dyno? I wonder about your pushrod setup, 7.325" seems really short.

The heads will add 40rwhp no problem.
No dont have any dyno numbers, was just going by mph.
I guess i will pull the valve covers tonight and check the PR length again and give everything a look see to make sure there are no glaring problems. Maybe i measured wrong?

Measuring method:
Get lifter on base circle of cam. Snug rocker down and lengthen pr checker to zero lash. Count turns and multiply by .050 + 6.8 - .017 and add .080 for preload. Is this correct?

Thanks guys for all the help!
Old 09-13-2011, 11:41 AM
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IIRC since you already have the 7.325 pushrods and know their length you can snug it down to zero lash then count the turns to 22ft lbs instead of using the tool at all.

It should be ~1.5 for the correct preload on ls7 lifters I believe.
Old 09-13-2011, 11:58 AM
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You're pulling the same 60 ft. with taller gears, I would say that should speak for some power gains. I agree though, the trap doesn't make much sense.

FYI and not that it relates, but I gained .2-.3 tenths in the 1/8th going from 3.42's to 4.10's when I was bolt-on only. Most of it was gained in the 60 ft because I was in the powerband sooner than with the 3.42's.
Old 09-13-2011, 12:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Camaro Z
You're pulling the same 60 ft. with taller gears, I would say that should speak for some power gains. I agree though, the trap doesn't make much sense.

FYI and not that it relates, but I gained .2-.3 tenths in the 1/8th going from 3.42's to 4.10's when I was bolt-on only. Most of it was gained in the 60 ft because I was in the powerband sooner than with the 3.42's.
I will say the car does feel stronger at low rpm but I am losing something up top. If the PR are too short and I am not getting the proper lift I think that could be where it is being lost, maybe? When logging I am not see any gain in cylinder airmass. It is roughly between .72-.76 g/cyl, which is where it was cam only. Shouldn't it be about .80 heads and cam? It did touch .80 at the track but it was later in the night, I would think it would hit .80 or above all the time, maybe I am wrong just seems like it should flow better than than.

Last edited by LeftySS; 09-13-2011 at 04:08 PM.
Old 09-13-2011, 01:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Camaro Z
FYI and not that it relates, but I gained .2-.3 tenths in the 1/8th going from 3.42's to 4.10's when I was bolt-on only. Most of it was gained in the 60 ft because I was in the powerband sooner than with the 3.42's.
According to your sig you are a m6 car. His 60ft is week too though. My car is heavier than a fbody and with the 3.42 I can still eek out 1.7s if it doesn't spin.

Were you spinning or easing it out or was that flat out launching the car?
Old 09-13-2011, 01:42 PM
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Just clarify this is on street tires not DRs.
Old 09-13-2011, 03:15 PM
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After reading some I am starting to doubt that a PR being too short would cause me to lose top end power. As long as the length gets me in the acceptable range of preload then the valves will lift all the way right?


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