Milling heads on stock internal motor?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 83
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From: Knoxville TN
Milling heads on stock internal motor? is it worth while to mill the heads on a stock internal motor? if so how much, and still be able to use stock length pushrods.
can the block be decked? is piston clearance with the head an issue if it gets machined?
feedback appreciated!
gotta take it to the machine shop tomorrow for a good hone job and was interested if this was worth while at the same time, said he would do the head 25 per side
<small>[ August 22, 2002, 04:10 PM: Message edited by: SlowLS1 ]</small>
can the block be decked? is piston clearance with the head an issue if it gets machined?
feedback appreciated!
gotta take it to the machine shop tomorrow for a good hone job and was interested if this was worth while at the same time, said he would do the head 25 per side
<small>[ August 22, 2002, 04:10 PM: Message edited by: SlowLS1 ]</small>
TECH Addict
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From: new england
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? I had mine milled .030" to capitalize on low timing of my year(2001) I reccomend it with cam swap, to recoup some of lost cylinder pressure. I would not deck block, since GM allready has pistons sticking out of block .007".Im not sure how much power it is worth but it improves idle quality, important when head and cam work is done.
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">said he would do the head 25 per side</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Damn thats cheap!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="gr_eek2.gif" />
I say yes, definately do it. A buddy of mine did a little experimenting with doing as much possible to a stock motor without actually changing the internals. He milled his heads .040, and put them back on a stock internal motor. The car made 360 rwhp with all the normal bolt ons and nothing else. This is a 99 car with the stock LS1 intake also, no help from an ls6 intake like the 01 cars...
It's kind of hard for compression to hurt unless you're building a boost motor or run a LOT of timing. There are to many advantages to higher compression, I would say mill the heads at least .030. Go for it...
Josh
I say yes, definately do it. A buddy of mine did a little experimenting with doing as much possible to a stock motor without actually changing the internals. He milled his heads .040, and put them back on a stock internal motor. The car made 360 rwhp with all the normal bolt ons and nothing else. This is a 99 car with the stock LS1 intake also, no help from an ls6 intake like the 01 cars...
It's kind of hard for compression to hurt unless you're building a boost motor or run a LOT of timing. There are to many advantages to higher compression, I would say mill the heads at least .030. Go for it...
Josh
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 83
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From: Knoxville TN
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? Ok, so milling the heads on a stock internal motor can be benificial <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />
On a stock valvetrain and cam, how much before pushrods have to be changed to shorter ones?
Will .030" throw off the geometry of mating parts such as the intake manifold enough to cause vacuum leaks or alignment issues?
I'm ready to do it, but can't afford to cause other mechanial problems or change pushrods.
Thanks, just curious, what would the compression be with .030" milled heads and stock 5.7 heads and pistons?
On a stock valvetrain and cam, how much before pushrods have to be changed to shorter ones?
Will .030" throw off the geometry of mating parts such as the intake manifold enough to cause vacuum leaks or alignment issues?
I'm ready to do it, but can't afford to cause other mechanial problems or change pushrods.
Thanks, just curious, what would the compression be with .030" milled heads and stock 5.7 heads and pistons?
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From: Chi-Town
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? why do you want to do all that work for a little gain? you will have to buy new gaskets and new bolts. 0.030 is the max i would say. maybe 0.20 to be safe. but again, thats minimal gain for the amount of work you will need to do.
itll end up costing over 100 bucks by the time you are done for maybe 5 horses at the rear.
itll end up costing over 100 bucks by the time you are done for maybe 5 horses at the rear.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 83
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From: Knoxville TN
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? the motor is already tore down and waiting on parts to arrive, i can do the milling for 50 bucks in labor
i've paid alot more for 5rwhp before <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />
i've paid alot more for 5rwhp before <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />
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Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Knoxville TN
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? Last call before bed, taking it to the machine shop in the morning, bright and early.
Can i mill the heads .030" and still use stock pushrods and not have vacuum leaks on the intake?
Can i mill the heads .030" and still use stock pushrods and not have vacuum leaks on the intake?
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From: SW Florida
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? I would use 7.35" hardened pushrods. A 7.35" rod is .050" shorter than stock. If your milling .030" off the heads, these rods will get you closer to your original preload than the stock 7.40" rod. (as long as you keep the same cam in it)
If you want to keep it basically stock, why not install the 2002 LS6 cam and valve springs while your at it? They are very resonably priced...
Ron,
If you want to keep it basically stock, why not install the 2002 LS6 cam and valve springs while your at it? They are very resonably priced...
Ron,
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Knoxville TN
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? darn, i was hoping i could run stock pushrods <img border="0" title="" alt="[Sad]" src="gr_sad.gif" />
How much is the ls6 cam only, i already have the springs
How much is the ls6 cam only, i already have the springs
TECH Fanatic
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From: SW Florida
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? The link is to the cam:
http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?act...1981&pid=81649
BTW, the 2002 LS6 cam has a smaller base circle than the LS1 cam. With your heads being milled [and] the LS6 cam, you would need your stock length pushrods.
Ron,
http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?act...1981&pid=81649
BTW, the 2002 LS6 cam has a smaller base circle than the LS1 cam. With your heads being milled [and] the LS6 cam, you would need your stock length pushrods.
Ron,
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: Knoxville TN
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? thanks for the link,
with the z06 cam having a .050" smaller base cirle and heads being milled .030" that still leaves .050" on the table, will that make the valve train noisy? will there be any valve to piston clearance issues?
with the z06 cam having a .050" smaller base cirle and heads being milled .030" that still leaves .050" on the table, will that make the valve train noisy? will there be any valve to piston clearance issues?
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From: SW Florida
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? A cam with a .050" smaller base circle would need .050" [longer] pushrods.
Heads being milled .030" would need .030" [shorter] pushrods.
A combination of the two would actually require a pushrod that was .020" longer than stock if you wanted the exact lifter preload as you had when stock.
.020" is not enough to cause any problems. Hydraulic lifters have a + - margin that they can operate betweeen due to the way they are designed. I dont think .020" falls outside of the margin.
Ron,
<small>[ August 22, 2002, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: Kimchee and Rice ]</small>
Heads being milled .030" would need .030" [shorter] pushrods.
A combination of the two would actually require a pushrod that was .020" longer than stock if you wanted the exact lifter preload as you had when stock.
.020" is not enough to cause any problems. Hydraulic lifters have a + - margin that they can operate betweeen due to the way they are designed. I dont think .020" falls outside of the margin.
Ron,
<small>[ August 22, 2002, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: Kimchee and Rice ]</small>
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 83
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From: Knoxville TN
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? Opps, i meant .020" talking on the phone and typing is not my forte. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Embarrassed]" src="gr_emb.gif" />
i believe the tolerance for the lifters is .030"
so pushrod length should be fine with .030" milled heads.
all i need to know now is if the valve to piston clearance would be an issue with that setup, and is there gonna be any problems with rocker arm geometry?
Thanks for all the great info, i have reasearched the z06 cam alot but have never really considered doing this combo..! I'm very cose to ordering parts if those two above things won't be an issue!
i believe the tolerance for the lifters is .030"
so pushrod length should be fine with .030" milled heads.
all i need to know now is if the valve to piston clearance would be an issue with that setup, and is there gonna be any problems with rocker arm geometry?
Thanks for all the great info, i have reasearched the z06 cam alot but have never really considered doing this combo..! I'm very cose to ordering parts if those two above things won't be an issue!
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From: SW Florida
Re: Milling heads on stock internal motor? Just take .035" off the heads. That puts your preload within .015" of what you had stock if you install the 2002 LS6 cam. I think .035" off the heads will increase your CR from a stock 10.1 up to about 10.6 to 1
Don't know personally much about the cam, but your stock LS1 cam is approx 200/208 .497/.500 117 LSA
As you can see from the link I posted, the 2002 LS6 cam is a hell of a lot more than that. There are alot of cams out there that will reap better gains, but you sdaid you wanted to keep it stock. In that case, the 2002 LS6 cam would be the best choice.
Ron,
Don't know personally much about the cam, but your stock LS1 cam is approx 200/208 .497/.500 117 LSA
As you can see from the link I posted, the 2002 LS6 cam is a hell of a lot more than that. There are alot of cams out there that will reap better gains, but you sdaid you wanted to keep it stock. In that case, the 2002 LS6 cam would be the best choice.
Ron,
