Basic H/C swap. Head bolts or no?
Thread Starter
12 Second Club
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: Webb City,MO
Basic H/C swap. Head bolts or no? I am about to do my head/cam swap in the next few weeks. I have almost all the parts needed. Cnc heads, cam, pushrods, headgaskets, and I am about to order a oil pan gasket and the patriot spring kit to finish everything off. My car only has 30k on it so I am just going to port the stock oil pump while its out and most likely re-use the stock timming chain. Most the gaskets should be re-useable as well except the headgaskets like I already bought and the oil pan gasket. I am trying to decide rite now exactly what I want to do as far as spinning the motor and could use some IMO's.
I basically have the following...
99 LS1 Heads that have been CNC'ed
Comp Custom grind cam 234-240-.600-.609-111.5 lope
Patriot 918 spring kit w/all componets
Manley 7.4 pushrods
Performance Headgaskets
Now I am just trying to decide how far I want to spin the motor and if I should get the rodbolts or not. I really dont want to spin past 6000rpm and I have heard that in order to spin past 6000rpms it is a good idea to get rodbolts. Should I be fine going to only 6000 rpms with the stock rodbolts? I know its always better to be safe than sorry but they are not cheap and I have honestly heard mixed feelings about this subject.
Thanks guys.
I basically have the following...
99 LS1 Heads that have been CNC'ed
Comp Custom grind cam 234-240-.600-.609-111.5 lope
Patriot 918 spring kit w/all componets
Manley 7.4 pushrods
Performance Headgaskets
Now I am just trying to decide how far I want to spin the motor and if I should get the rodbolts or not. I really dont want to spin past 6000rpm and I have heard that in order to spin past 6000rpms it is a good idea to get rodbolts. Should I be fine going to only 6000 rpms with the stock rodbolts? I know its always better to be safe than sorry but they are not cheap and I have honestly heard mixed feelings about this subject.
Thanks guys.
what year is your car? I am not positive, but i believe that the 01's and 02's have better rod bolts.
BUT
I would still change them. For $100 it is good insurance. I put in a set of ARP rod bolts when i did my cam swap. I shift at 6800 and have had no problems
BUT
I would still change them. For $100 it is good insurance. I put in a set of ARP rod bolts when i did my cam swap. I shift at 6800 and have had no problems
I spun my stock shortblock to 6800 everytime i raced.... motor made it to 157000 before it spun a rod bearing... with the stock shortblock its a matter of time.. some make it longer some pop right off the bat.. but to awnser your question yes you can spin that setup past 6000. Good luck with it
Sorry, I don't know about the rod bolts.
But at a minimum I would replace the front main seal (around the damper) and also pick up an LS2 timing chain. I think the LS2 chain is maybe $45 and it's much beefier looking than the stock LS1 chain. Also replace the O ring between the oil pickup and pump - that one runs about $5.
I tend to lean towards the safe side when replacing gaskets to avoid problems in the long run. I got a kit from Thunder Racing when I did my cam that had every gasket for the H/C swap.
But at a minimum I would replace the front main seal (around the damper) and also pick up an LS2 timing chain. I think the LS2 chain is maybe $45 and it's much beefier looking than the stock LS1 chain. Also replace the O ring between the oil pickup and pump - that one runs about $5.
I tend to lean towards the safe side when replacing gaskets to avoid problems in the long run. I got a kit from Thunder Racing when I did my cam that had every gasket for the H/C swap.
Thread Starter
12 Second Club
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: Webb City,MO
I talked to the guys at Patriot and they gave me some pretty good info. I have basically a stock set of 99 LS1 Heads that were sent off and CNCed. I am using the stock lifters and valves and all the clearances check out as long as I keep the stock lifters. I will also be using the patriot 918 springs.
Thread Starter
12 Second Club
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 411
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From: Webb City,MO
They said even with the larger valves I would still be okay. They also said that people offten make the mistake because they go to other lifters and the differnce is more than what they think. With the stock or little larger valves and stock lifters I should be fine on everything.
Last edited by drewwrxrogers; Sep 2, 2008 at 04:24 PM.
