New part# for LS3 heads,what parts?
 

I just bought a set of LS3 heads. The GM part# I ordered was 12615879. The invoice says that they are replaced by GM# 12629063. What a deal. $330.00 each. Cheaper than the L92 truck heads and they come with hollow intake valves. The problem I'm having is that the 2010 GM Performance cat says they are good for .570" lift. BUT it also states the springs are #12589774 which are only good for .520".
What gives?
Better yet these heads are $980. in London, Ontario at the dealer. I called a few dealers in the great USA and of course found/bought them for $330. Gets better. The dealer had to get them at the Woodstock Ontario wharehouse that is 20 minutes away from my house here in London. So GM shipped them to the dealer in the US. The dealer charged me $12.00 to ship to Port Huron Mich. The dollar is great and no duty on North American made parts, just tax.I drive an hour to pick up the parts. Big savings. I really wonder how GM does their pricing?? LOL.

Aleck
Aleck

gREAT FIND.

If they are the LS3 heads, they will have the yellow (LS6) valve springs on them good for a reported .570 lift. They have come down in price. We have quite a few on the shelf ready to go.

Yes they have those springs. I'm not sure if I need to swap to different springs until I'm done porting, then flowing the heads to see where my cam specs will be.

Thanks
Aleck

At least you have a pair. When I discovered this price, I immediately ordered 2. Both of them came with various nicks/bashes in the head gasket surface thanks to the inadequate packaging. I kept one, and sent the other back. 3 weeks later, the system still shows none available, and my dealer still can't get one, so I've got 1 head.

BTW, if you paid $330, you did good. My wholesale cost was $337.50 each.

I can also verify that they have the yellow springs.
http://www.iroczone.com/jim/LQ9/LS3_head_3.jpg

Just verify that yours don't look like this:
http://www.iroczone.com/jim/LQ9/LS3_head_7.jpg

When I ordered mine the Woodstock,Ontario warehouse showed that they had 14 in stock. That was last month. As far as that blemish, both mine had a few minor knicks like that as well. I ran a very fine file over the marks to remove them. That is not an issue as I'm planning on milling them after the porting . Even without milling them, the marks are towards the outter deck area. I would think that as long as it is not a high spot it will not affect sealing. That is why I ran a file around the complete outer deck surface.

On another note I just purchased my carb intake,roller rockers and stands from Scoggin Dickey. All in stock.

Aleck

The dings can be really frustrating. Especially on the deck or flange surfaces. We surface virtually all the heads we sell so the ding in the picture above would be flattened allowing the head to be useable.
We've open up boxes of new bare heads and found slightly used heads inside. :rolleyes: That's usually a tough one to explain.............

Patience is a virtue with the production heads.


Richard :)

the dings I could deal with... the other head had 2 dog-eared corners and a couple other dings, but this one was big... it protruded at least 1/8" off the surface. It was puckered because the head was clearly dropped on its corner. Combine the ding with the overall stress of the crushed corner and it was something that I didn't want to deal with.

But... my other head came in yesterday. I'm picking it up on my way home from work. Hopefully this one looks ok.

They are insane! I needed an LS6 oil pump a few years ago. My local dealer ( Roy Foss one of Canadas largest and a performance parts supplier ) has a shop agreement with me and I get the PURPLE sheet discounts ( very high discount ) and even with that great rate the price on the oil pump was $245.00

Ok fine right it is what it is...

But I happened to be in Arizona for work the folloing week and Im wearing fancy clothes and I got to thinking about my parts needs and thought what the heck lets try a local dealer. i waltz in to an Arizona GM dealer and looking like John Q nowrench I ask about the oil pump he says "yeah I have it in stock $80.00" Im very surprised but very pleased. I bring it home and when I open it up cast right into the thing says MADE IN CANADA so how the hell does it cost three times as much here even with my supposed gung ho discount???? We get screwed here in Canada when it comes to GM parts. So fuck em I dont buy anything there anymore. Nothing

Funny, we sell that same pump for $72. Lol. But I guess it pays to know part numbers.

Indeed and I just ordered a TON of parts from you guys they are in fact en route so thank you for the bargains :D

Things have changed so much in the past ten years its crazy... When i think of what it cost me here in Canada to build an 11 second BBC muncie 4spd car 25 years ago.... Well its almost embarrassing to admit really... Had we only had the internet :ripped:

Anyways water under the bridge and now some of us know better and here we are sharing info, comparing set ups, making things work reeeeeeeal well, and finding more and more like minded brethren by the day.

I read this somewhere from some post and then turned into a sig but it fits this moment and my mood it went something like this;

"The best mod i ever did to my car was joining LS1tech"

I could say the same for dozens of boards. Lots of amazing info available to those who like to read and write. Have a good one fellas Im off to the bar for some tall tales and cold ales yee hawww! ( yeah ive already had a couple )

:cheers:

Funny you mentioned that... I picked up my replacement head at the dealer on Friday. Unlike the first ones, this one had absolutely no dings or dents of any kind. What it did have, which I thought was very odd, was a very clear discoloration on the head gasket surface indicating that this thing had a head gasket clamped to it. I looked the head over closely after discovering this to make sure I wasn't getting a used head. The combustion chambers were perfectly clean, and the valves still had all of their paint markings and still had the oil on them. I turned the head over and looked at the bolt hole surfaces... still look like they're fresh out of the CNC. These heads never had bolts tightened down, yet there's still signs of a head gasket.

Strange.

Par for the course. Like a box of Cracker Jacks, it seems there's always a suprise inside. :D

Good luck,

Richard :)

Pics of said heads:
"shiny" rub marks on the ends of the head:
http://www.iroczone.com/jim/lq9/ls3_head_10.JPG

Head gasket surface shows discoloration from a head gasket:
http://www.iroczone.com/jim/lq9/ls3_head_11.JPG

Bolt holes are perfectly clean with no signs of a bolt ever having been tightened. Odd.

very cheap head with LS3 cabapility