I'm on the fence about doing my own H/C swap or just paying someone to do it. I've worked on my car before but never nothing like this. I have good mechanical skill and basic knowledge. I know there are plenty of write up and I could probably do it with time. I am putting on AFR 205s(already assembled) lifters and a G5X3. 90/90 combo, injectors, Meziere, ASP pulleys, I'm sure I forgot a few nick nacks.. I would have to notch my pistons.. Is that hard?
What do you guys think? Suck it up and do it.. OR fork over the money..

Justin

Then OFcourse I have to pay for the dyno tune.. I'm already counting on that

 

only thing that would worry me is notching the pistons.
i was hesitant doing the cam swap, glad i did it myself, saved money & learned from it. there are some very good write ups on how to do the swap.
if you have the time & garage, i say go for it.

 

The piston notching is best left for someone that knows what they are doing.

Any reason you are going with a cam that big? There's plenty of stuff out there that will make good power and need no notching.... somethign to think about. Would simplify the whole process alot... and make doing the job yourself a much better possibility.

ls1howto.com has a write up... read that and see if it's something you feel up to. I know I'm swapping the heads on my own car this weekend with a friend helping... should be no problem, at least I think.

 

I'm looking to hit a very streetable N/A 500rwhp without my gas. I'm tryin to hit all the nooks and crannies with the AFR G5X3 combo to get 500rwhp. I haven't seen it done yet.. I wouldn't have to notch the pistons, but I'm milling the heads to 59cc.. So I guess doing this job myself just might be outta the question.

 

I don't think that you are going for a very realistic goal IMO. If you get to 500 rwhp on a h/c package on stock 346 CI, it's not gonna be very streetable, and it is gonna make NO power below 4000 rpm, be very peaky, etc.etc, generally drive like ****. And then you plan to spray on top of that... I hope taht a bottom end is somethign you are ready to buy.. maybe looking into a full 402 ls2 or somethign woul dbe a better idea, make getting to your 500 rwhp n/a # alot easier to get to,a nd be alot more drivable.

If all out h/c is what you are looking to do, I think that you might want to think about looking into the ET heads, they seem to be putting up alot bigger dyno #'s, and with the 11 degree valve angle, have better p/v clearance for a big cam like what you wanna run, might get you out of notching land. And the cc of the chamber can be done as low as 35cc I think.. making getting yout compression to the desired # you have in mind alot easier, without milling and causing more clearance problems.

If that really big h/c power # is what you are going after.. you might wanna leave it to a shop, maybe one that has already accomplished what you are trying to do.... but IMO, the et 215 head, with a CC for about 11.7 compression, a really stout cam, somethign in the high 230's for duration with a good 600 lift should do... a 90/90 setup port matched to the heads, QTP 1 7/8 headers with the HVM collectors, a good 3 in true dual system with X pipe, or QTP's Y with the 4 inch merge collector, and some luck would probably get you there. Just be ready to redo all the rest of your ar to take teh power it's gonna make, not sure if you are a stick or auto car, but a clutch or converter will be a must, a rear and new driveshaft, and a built tranny if you are an auto car are gonna be 100% needed if you want any reliability out o fit.

And get ready for 10 mpg around town too... in case someone forgot to tell you about that part. Sometimes people seem to forget about that until it's too late.

 

Oh, and if you get to 500 rwhp n/a, the stock bottom end will never take the spray, you'll break something in there for sure.

 

I know gas mileage will take a lil hit.. but Patrick is make somewhere around 485 rwhp with a similar set up. He is running AFR heads. And my cam is going to be just slightly larger in duration.. I think I can squeeze out real close with some good tuning.. Just a shot.. I guess I will have to prove some people wrong..

 

I'm not saying that it can't happen.. just not gonna be easy. Never base what you expect to happen off what one car got for results.. his car could be a fluke for all you know. When 5 cars all get done with the same setup and have the same results, then I'd believe it. There's been so many cases of that that I know of.. a car makes some mystery # that noone understands why, or can even explain.
Oh, and add sprayif you do get to the 500 mark, and that stock bottom end will be going boom real quick. That being said, you are gonna want good pistons and roda, and the restr of the bottom end ( bearings, crank rebalanced at a min., etc) taken care of. And don't forget that the strong bottom end stuff is heavier.. so it actually causes a power loss in most cases.

You may wanna leave this to a shop.