C6Z Solid Roller LS7 Build
I mean…ARH throws in an x-pipe with the package. Come on man! Seriously though, the current price-bump is maddening to say the least. There is real power there however, and if you happen to find an “extra” $4k laying around, you won’t regret it.
i get its a ton of money, but for those who dont understand, obviously you are paying for fitment, and i dont know of any other 3.5" x pipe kits out there ......so they really have the market corner......the x looks really friggin nice tho. i have some pics on my phone of me putting items inside the 3.5" collector.....items range from a fire extinguisher to a jar of sauce lol
side note for the naysayers about the ARH setup, lets say the ARH 3.5" collector with the x pipe costs $2000 more than "the other guys", i could almost guarantee it on a large bore motor, the ARH would make 15+ more to the wheel above 6000 rpm...not to mention whatever midrange........so $125 per hp is well within range of dollar per hp in this inflated market
Last edited by Floorman279; Aug 24, 2023 at 06:27 PM. Reason: ........
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I think i paid $3200 last year around May for my "race" headers from ARH. They fit perfect on the brodix heads I was running. Did not rub anywhere. I did have to modify the x pipe for my CID heads this time around.
im certainly on board with you waiting if necessary.....a used set of headers are pretty easy to find, and the arh can be thrown on later. i more or less was just adding my thoughts for those thinking they may be inflated in their value. highly doubt they would discontinue them, but it would suck if for some reason they stop making them when you are ready to buy then need to pay the markup for NOS ones.
im certainly on board with you waiting if necessary.....a used set of headers are pretty easy to find, and the arh can be thrown on later. i more or less was just adding my thoughts for those thinking they may be inflated in their value. highly doubt they would discontinue them, but it would suck if for some reason they stop making them when you are ready to buy then need to pay the markup for NOS ones.
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And for the others, i will be modifying the 2in headers i have. I got in touch with a good fab guy who is going to increase the 3in collector to 3.5 and then make me a vbanded 3.5in xpipe. I should be able to sell the 3in x to someone who has a catted setup and wants an off road version. Whole ordeal should end up costing less than half of what it cost to buy new, i can accept that. Thanks for making me spend more money ya'll, much appreciated.
Heads are still being worked. MSD is about 80% done, trinity in a similar state. Iffy on whether or not they'll make it back in time to assemble this year. AMT diff and motor mounts going in this weekend and that's about it.
It sounds like you’ve spent some time on the matter. In the 90’s, when NASCAR threw restrictor plates at us engine guys, we all of a sudden were very intake limited also. Airflow was lopped off drastically and we had to figure out how to get more air in the engine with what we had. While I can’t speak on this too much, I’ll say that you’ll have to think outside the box to get the most out of ANY intake manifold that has a front mounted TB…(restrictor plate). Just because the intake gives up at 6500k rpm, doesn’t mean you can’t make power above that…it just gets harder to find it. Now if your simply going to the track a few times a year, just to have fun and goof off, then your going to be happy with this. But if your class racing, or you simply want to go faster, your gonna have to look around at other areas of the camshaft, not just valve events. Lift is your friend (torque) and will improve everything almost everywhere. You have the valvetrain parts to go bigger. A lot of guys won’t throw more lift at a port that starts giving up flow at a certain lift…research Flow Dwell Time, and you’ll see why opening the valve higher helps a port that’s stalling out at a certain flow number. More time spent by the valve at or above that threshold will pay dividends…which is where duration (to a certain extent) can help you, even though the valve events look “perfect” on paper. Going to a 2” step header to a 2 1/8” and a 3.5” collector with a 3.5” exhaust will help you also, particularly with the LS7 port and chamber design. Off topic here, but GM’s latest nascar R07 engine has an intake port that mirrors the LS7…yes the LS7 is that good.
FWIW, I love what your doing here. It’s great to see another fresh build here on Tech.
FWIW, I love what your doing here. It’s great to see another fresh build here on Tech.
Walkers build at 0.800 lift makes complete sense, and his numbers show why. Pretty cool stuff.
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Wow I'm not sure how I missed this. This is going to be an awesome build. I'm very curious to see how it does with the SR MSD since that's the route I'll be going in the future. I drive my car a lot (about 6000 miles per Michigan summer) so I don't think I would want a cam quite that size, but it's always nice to get more data.
Wow I'm not sure how I missed this. This is going to be an awesome build. I'm very curious to see how it does with the SR MSD since that's the route I'll be going in the future. I drive my car a lot (about 6000 miles per Michigan summer) so I don't think I would want a cam quite that size, but it's always nice to get more data.
If i didn't get the rockers and lifters for so cheap, I definitely wouldn't have gone done the solid roller path on this setup. It became even more true once BTR released their V2 stage 3 and 4 LS7 cams. My spec isn't significantly different enough from their stage 4 V2, so i don't expect it to make some huge difference in power (maybe 15-20hp max?). For almost everyone with a standard factory ported/milled LS7 head and stock rockers, those two new specs, along with the RPM B3 or Brenton's Excalibur cam, will satisfy nearly everyone and make fantastic power. They maxed out the valve lift on all of those, and going to roller rockers only opens things up to about 0.700lift on the oem head. Now if you have an aftermarket head, that changes things. But on the factory castings with a factory style manifold, those 4 cams just about cover it all when you have a good port and some compression to work with.
I believe spring pocket material is pretty thin on a stock casting ls7 as well as not really recommended to go above .660 ish lift without a true shaft mount rocker. You could buy shaft mount ready br7 heads for only a few hundred more than the cost to port a stock head, then machine that stock head for the shift mounts. So if you were considering a shift mount, you should just start looking for an aftermarket head
The stock rocker wipe pattern goes to **** above .660 lift. So then you need a roller rocker to enable more lift, and when you introduce a roller rocker, you need more spring pressure to handle the increased mass over the nose. The springs options for the factory sized spring pocket that can handle the lift and the increase tip weight are limited and pretty expensive. Plus, it requires spring pressures that will absolutely cause deflection in the factory pedestal. It's just not a good situation to be in long term. Although some have absolutely done it and made killer power. It's a very high maintenance item at that point and i would say most dont want to be doing springs all the time, i know i don't. The PAC1209x's are nice and stable right around 0.700 lift with the added mass. But i should add that I am speaking pretty generally here..0.700 isnt some firm stopping point, i am just saying you aren't going to get too far above it without spending a pretty penny.
If you are going to spend the money on an adjustable rocker setup, do it on an aftermarket head that opens up the spring options to control it all and do it on a shaft mount setup.
Someday we might see how it works on my engine if it ever gets assembled lol. I am putting 1237x springs on stock BES 285cc ported LS7 heads with adjustable T&D steel roller rockers (not shaft rockers, stock pedestal mount), and ground a 258/272 .775/.751 lift cam from comp with their lock shock solid lobes.
Someday we might see how it works on my engine if it ever gets assembled lol. I am putting 1237x springs on stock BES 285cc ported LS7 heads with adjustable T&D steel roller rockers (not shaft rockers, stock pedestal mount), and ground a 258/272 .775/.751 lift cam from comp with their lock shock solid lobes.
Oh yea, a shaft rocker on aftermarket castings is 100% the way to go.
The parts mocked up well even at >.750" lift so I was just curious the reasoning to say you can't take stock castings above .700".
The guys I bought the heads from had a very similar setup with the same rockers and made over 800hp and ran it to 7800+.
The parts mocked up well even at >.750" lift so I was just curious the reasoning to say you can't take stock castings above .700".
The guys I bought the heads from had a very similar setup with the same rockers and made over 800hp and ran it to 7800+.
Someday we might see how it works on my engine if it ever gets assembled lol. I am putting 1237x springs on stock BES 285cc ported LS7 heads with adjustable T&D steel roller rockers (not shaft rockers, stock pedestal mount), and ground a 258/272 .775/.751 lift cam from comp with their lock shock solid lobes.
Either way, the low shock lobes are great and you'll make great power if everything stays in control. The stock hardware and pedestals will be working hard, thats for sure.