243 heads on new avalanches
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I was just peeking at my Dads new Avalanche and it has 243 heads. Why are they running those heads on the 5.3? It obviously lowered the compression from the old 5.3 heads. I did notice that 87 octane is recommended in his truck. Maybe the idea was to use the 243 head to lower compression so you could run regular unleaded while maintaining power with the better flow of the 243 head.
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The older 5.3's had dished pistons and 62cc heads, all the new ones have flat top pistons and 64cc chambers. Which I think is really good b/c the cost of the 243 casting should drop with the huge production numbers of 5.3 engines. LS6 heads cheaper than 5.3's sounding good to anyone else?
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i see alot of people using the 5.3 heads! but what does everybody do with them?? like are they ported? or are they just used for more compression? i know the 5.3 has smaller valves but if its only bout compression, my dads a machinist and he can mill my stock heads, wont that be better??
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i see alot of people using the 5.3 heads! but what does everybody do with them?? like are they ported? or are they just used for more compression? i know the 5.3 has smaller valves but if its only bout compression, my dads a machinist and he can mill my stock heads, wont that be better??
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Remember the old 5.3 heads have smaller intake valves 1.9???. I assume the 243's have 2.00" intakes.
Most people use 5.3 heads and then have new (larger) valves put in and porting done.
I like the idea of cheap 243s...I'm already itching for head and cam swap part deux![Grin](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/gr_grin.gif)
Most people use 5.3 heads and then have new (larger) valves put in and porting done.
I like the idea of cheap 243s...I'm already itching for head and cam swap part deux
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yes the 5.3's people use are ported..the main reason people use them over ls1 heads is because you can have a smaller combustion chamber with them without having to mill them. For instance most of the ones that are ported have a 62 or 63cc combustion chamber without milling so therefore you wouldn't have to worry about ptv clearance (depending on the size of the cam) and you would still have the higher compression