Hey guys,

I've owned my car for quite some time and now that I'm out of college and making some money I'm thinking about doing my first build-up.

I've never been to the track but I may go once in a while, so I'll say the car will be 99% street driven.

I think I'd like to go all motor with the *possibility* of tossing a 100-125 shot on it down the line if I need even more power.

I have 4.10 gears and i'm happy with them right now. On 16" nittos I can still hook pretty decently on the street. I'll probably be moving to some 17" 315 drag radials when I have more power, but nothing more aggressive than that like E/T streets because the car might see a good amount of miles.

Since the 4.10s give me a good amount of low-end pull and I see a lot of highway miles, I'm assuming the best build for me would be something that's strongest in the mid and upper ranges with power coming on at 2-3k or so. That'll give me a little bit of headroom for the car to hook before it takes off. With the steeper gearing I'm guessing it would also be a good idea to be able to spin the motor up a little higher, like 6500-6800 or so. Correct me if my logic sounds wrong so far please .

As far as goals for power, I guess I'd say "whatever a 17 inch drag radial can hook." I don't care about peak numbers at all, I'm looking for something that's going to have good throttle response and be a friggin' blast to drive . Basically, I'd gladly sacrifice some peak power to get more under the curve. I'd like to be able to use the power I put down and not just aim for a number to get bragging rights or be able to break the tires loose in 4th for no reason .

Beyond the mods in my sig, I'll have long tubes already or will be doing them at the time of the heads/cam swap. I'm guessing I'll also need a new intake, probably an ls6 since I don't need insane power out of this car but if a FAST is going to REALLY make that much of a difference, I could probably wait a bit longer and get some more money.

I'd like to be able to run the car all day long on 93 octane without having to worry.

So far, a decent set of 5.3 heads look like they'd be a good option for me because they'd get my compression ratio up and help me make some great power. Is this a good decision or would I benefit from the LS6 offerings for other reasons?

I'm totally lost on the cam choice for these goals because the more I read, the more my head spins with information. I'd like a fairly smooth idle but if it's a bit more choppy than stock, so be it. Not knowing what size heads to go with yet has also made the choice a LOT harder. I'd like to try to get decent spring life, but if I'd gain a whole lot by going more aggressive then it's definitely something to consider.

Budget is basically pay what it costs. I'd like to try to be conservative if I can because it's my first build-up, but I understand that there are certain corners that simply can't be cut unless I want things breaking on me all the time. I'm basically looking for input from you guys so I know what kind of money I'll need to put together, rather than setting X dollars and trying to fit it all within those constraints.

Any help would be extremely appreciated!

 

bumpage

 

check out some of TSPs packages (H/C)...or even thunders....

the fast manifold IMO isnt worth the money if your on a budget and you can get a ls6

 

Yeah I've looked at some of those but the problem is I have no idea what package would match up with my goals so I need a little help in that department.

Good to know about the fast manifold though.

Would I be better off looking at something based around 5.3 heads or ls6 heads for what I want?

 

quick bump

 

Bumping again. The most important thing I need help with is head selection for my goals.

Would 5.3 or ls6 heads be better for my application assuming I'm going with an ls6 intake?

 

Another bump for the head question on a street car.

 

Hey id say if you want a fairly stock idle with a little lope (choppy idle) then go with something like a tr 224 or tr 228 cam. Then you can go with a set of milled 5.3 heads, or better yet pick up some afr 205's (budget permitting) and you will be over 400 rwhp. The ls6 intake manifold is a good choice and I would say to also port your own stock TB, get a 25% underdrive pulley, purchase some true duals (with x-pipe) and have them dumped or run out the back of the car (again budget permitting), and get a good tune and you should be all set. Id be weary though of running 4.10's and a sticky tire on a 400+ rwhp car and the stock clutch/rear end.

 

As for the 5.3 heads versus the ls6 heads you can up compression as well by milling the ls6 heads if you wanted. There are quite a few cars though with a 224 cam, all bolt ons, and a good set of heads that have hit 400+ rwhp.

 

Thanks, great advice so far!

Between going with the 5.3 heads or milling ls6 for more compression, would there be an advantage to going one over the other? I'm guessing a bit more flow if I mill the ls6 heads but also more headache involved because it's not just bolting them right up? From what Pat G was saying in the 500hp buildup thread, anything over 275 cfm will be wasted with a ls6 intake anyway so the 5.3s might be just right for me.

I was thinking of going with patriot's stg II or III. A cam like the TR224 has looked good to me for a long time, even when I was thinking of going cam only. Would going bigger (like 230/230ish) have any disadvantage besides a bit more lope? I could live with that if the power was good. On the flip side, with those heads and an ls6 intake would I be running out of flow for a cam that was larger than a 224 or 228?

Clutch is already starting to slip again so I'll be able to toss in a SPEC or something comparable to hold the power. I wouldn't mind getting a 12 bolt down the line if I needed to as well.

 

Yea as long as your prepared to replace the clutch and the rear if they go then you should be fine at those power levels. Also, there are plenty of 5.3 heads that flow over 300 cfm at .600 lift. here is an example:

http://www.texas-speed.com/shop/item...id=84&catid=40

Both heads will work great as long as the ls6's are milled. As for them directly bolting up I believe you need new valve covers and a few other minro things but nothing major. As for the 5.3's Im not sure if they directly bolt up or not, so thats something to check into. If you want really great idle quality then id say stay with a 224 or 228 cam. If you click the link in my sig you can hear a 232/238 cam though heads, ory, magnaflow. It had a choppy idle but other than that it drove damn well with the occassional surging/bucking that happens at real low rpms (e.g. rolling around off the gas in a parking lot looking for a spot). If I were you id look at the torquer cams that tsp offers and maybe team them up with the prc ls6 heads that they offer as well. That would be a stout combo. Also, if you have a really good tuner then you can get the car with a 230/230 ish cam to idle very well, they just need to be well experience on how to tune. Ls6 intake, although not optimal, would be fine on a torquer/ls6 head combo. The fast 90/90 is a nice piece but for $1300 for maybe 10-15 rwhp I dont think its a sound investment. I would contact tsp though (multiple guys here on the board that work for them) and ask them what combo they would suggest (between 224 vs. torquer and 5.3's vs ls6 style heads). Hope that helps and make sure to pick up a 25% pulley and port your stock tb as those both help big time on a h/c combo.