01 SS Jay

Ok, from the posts i've read on here, i've gathered the follow opinions.
1. Valve size should be small to keep velocity up
(i.e. vmoores post and swirl, etc.)
2. Lift is not as important as duration
(i.e. Chris Johnson's car)
So, keeping these two points in mind it seems like that a good combo would be a stage 1 head with a low lift (but fast ramps) high duration cam. Pricewise, it should be cheaper than going all out stage 3 heads and lumberjack cam on a 346in engine. And produce similar results + or - 20 hp or so. I know there is way more than this to the equation, im just trying to get some more ideas flowing.

Terry Burger

iTrader: (4)

Everything has to work together. On my C5 I ran a MMS 220 camshaft with .575 lift with very mild MMS heads, and made 400rwhp (picked up 58rwhp before heads/cam).

It's hard to say what I would have gotten with less lift, but I'll go out on a limb and suggest with a similar .535 lift cam I would have been within 5rwhp. The "stage 1" heads start to stall out at higher lifts, and the amount of time the valve spends in that area is small compaired to other lower lifts.

Having said that, if you can run the higher lift without valve spring issue, there is no reason not too.

msce2b-dustin

I think its also important to mention the type of use the car is used for. I have have big valves, moderate duration and quite a bit of lift. Never dyno'd so can't show the curve but I imagine my low end isn't as stout as others (but maybe it is). However, I have a 4400 converter and anything below 4400 rpms is useless to me. I'm willing to go with the bigger valves and cam and give up whatever on the bottom end if it will help my numbers between 5k and 6.7k.

JayLS1-327

iTrader: (2)

Terry is right you have to match all your parts together to get the result you want. The heads and cam should be matched, you don't want to put heads that don't flow well in the upper RPM range and a large cam, you will never be happy. The best thing to do is talk to some of the better LS1 shops and get their recommendation.

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

I think that they key thing is to make sure whoever is porting the heads is porting them to match the cam that selected. So the parts will be matched like Terry said.

TD's z

Decide on a bottom end and a cam shaft. Go with whatever manifold and TB you can afford. Decide on a C/R. Let the shop thats doing your heads know the combination and whether you're going to use a power adder. With my experience a good 5.3 head is the best bang for the buck, head out there. For example, the TEA 1.5 or 2.5... the 1.5 flows in the range of 315 cfm at .600 with a 2.02 valve... the 2.5 flows in the range of 320 cfm at .600 with a 2.055 valve. Both heads use the 5.3 stock exhaust valve. The exh. flows in the range of 255 to 260 cfm at .600. I've seen bigger intake valves make bigger power in the past.

DJ_951

I think your mild H/C with low lift is perfect for a 400hpish or less, daily driver. ie do once and done, good drivablity and low maintaince. If your going for a weekend warrior/drag racer to mild or limited in building later.

I think goal & $ then pick plan.

Two other thoughts 1) Would not be fun changing springs every other year with a high lift cam driving 15k or more. Even worse if you don't have the tools, place, time or ablity to do it yourself.$$$$$ 2) Heads first then the cam. Heads are more expensive and the cam is more flexable. At lower hp levels with common sense does not matter.

P.S. I'm working on doing your Idea