Pulling head on Ls7
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 42
Likes: 1
From: Fredericktown, Ohio
Pulling head on Ls7 Having my heads rebuilt to fix the issue with valve guides and just want to get my ducks in a row
1. Im going to upgrade to ARP studs.
2. Which head gasket should I go with for an NA motor. I see a set of GM performance that are MLS and cost 1140 bucks for the pair is there a better gasket to go with?
3. Should I change the exhaust manifold gaskets or can I re use them?
5. Car has under 40k miles on it is it worth it to change the lifters? I was looking at the brian tooley lifters with treys but I dont know if they are necessary over a set of melling lifters and new treys
6. Im going to do the upgrade to the trunion bearings to get rid of the needle bearings
I was going to re use the push rods
Anything else I should do?
1. Im going to upgrade to ARP studs.
2. Which head gasket should I go with for an NA motor. I see a set of GM performance that are MLS and cost 1140 bucks for the pair is there a better gasket to go with?
3. Should I change the exhaust manifold gaskets or can I re use them?
5. Car has under 40k miles on it is it worth it to change the lifters? I was looking at the brian tooley lifters with treys but I dont know if they are necessary over a set of melling lifters and new treys
6. Im going to do the upgrade to the trunion bearings to get rid of the needle bearings
I was going to re use the push rods
Anything else I should do?
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 633
Likes: 293
From: Michigan
This should be in the Gen IV forum not the Gen V forum. I only saw this because it was on the front page.
1. Why studs? Seems like they would make it more of a pain to put together, I'm not even sure if you would be able to get the heads on with the engine in the car, I'm sure someone on here can enlighten me. Are you planning on making enough power that headstuds are needed? I've always just done ARP bolts, works great, and costs less than studs.
2. I always like Cometic for head gaskets. Run the thinnest head gasket you can while maintaining acceptable piston/head clearance. I think I put 0.045" gaskets on my LS7.
3. TBH, not sure. I replaced mine with new OEM gaskets when I put my heads and headers on though.
4. Skipping 4 and going right to 5
5. You're probably OK, as long as you're not going with too crazy of a cam. I would check them all though, because I had 2 lifters in my LS7 that had their roller axles loose. You could get them to fall out of the lifter with a couple flicks of the wrist. I can't believe it didn't fail while in the engine. If you choose to replace your lifter trays, replace them with GM TRAYS ONLY, FROM A DEALERSHIP OR REPUTABLE PLACE LIKE BTR. I've seen many people with China knockoffs from Amazon that were sold to them as OEM, those trays allow the lifter to turn in the bore, and then they destroy the lifter and the cam, as well as sending small bits of metal though your engine. Don't ever buy internal engine parts from Amazon.
6. I recommend the CHE trunion kit. Super easy to install, and they don't fail like many of the other trunion kits out there. I've beaten the absolute tar out of the ones in both of my cars with big cams. I took one apart after 20K miles of abuse and it was definitely ready for at least another 20k miles, probably more.
Absolutely do not re-use the pushrods if you're changing the cam.
1. Why studs? Seems like they would make it more of a pain to put together, I'm not even sure if you would be able to get the heads on with the engine in the car, I'm sure someone on here can enlighten me. Are you planning on making enough power that headstuds are needed? I've always just done ARP bolts, works great, and costs less than studs.
2. I always like Cometic for head gaskets. Run the thinnest head gasket you can while maintaining acceptable piston/head clearance. I think I put 0.045" gaskets on my LS7.
3. TBH, not sure. I replaced mine with new OEM gaskets when I put my heads and headers on though.
4. Skipping 4 and going right to 5
5. You're probably OK, as long as you're not going with too crazy of a cam. I would check them all though, because I had 2 lifters in my LS7 that had their roller axles loose. You could get them to fall out of the lifter with a couple flicks of the wrist. I can't believe it didn't fail while in the engine. If you choose to replace your lifter trays, replace them with GM TRAYS ONLY, FROM A DEALERSHIP OR REPUTABLE PLACE LIKE BTR. I've seen many people with China knockoffs from Amazon that were sold to them as OEM, those trays allow the lifter to turn in the bore, and then they destroy the lifter and the cam, as well as sending small bits of metal though your engine. Don't ever buy internal engine parts from Amazon.
6. I recommend the CHE trunion kit. Super easy to install, and they don't fail like many of the other trunion kits out there. I've beaten the absolute tar out of the ones in both of my cars with big cams. I took one apart after 20K miles of abuse and it was definitely ready for at least another 20k miles, probably more.
Absolutely do not re-use the pushrods if you're changing the cam.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 42
Likes: 1
From: Fredericktown, Ohio
This should be in the Gen IV forum not the Gen V forum. I only saw this because it was on the front page.
1. Why studs? Seems like they would make it more of a pain to put together, I'm not even sure if you would be able to get the heads on with the engine in the car, I'm sure someone on here can enlighten me. Are you planning on making enough power that headstuds are needed? I've always just done ARP bolts, works great, and costs less than studs.
2. I always like Cometic for head gaskets. Run the thinnest head gasket you can while maintaining acceptable piston/head clearance. I think I put 0.045" gaskets on my LS7.
3. TBH, not sure. I replaced mine with new OEM gaskets when I put my heads and headers on though.
4. Skipping 4 and going right to 5
5. You're probably OK, as long as you're not going with too crazy of a cam. I would check them all though, because I had 2 lifters in my LS7 that had their roller axles loose. You could get them to fall out of the lifter with a couple flicks of the wrist. I can't believe it didn't fail while in the engine. If you choose to replace your lifter trays, replace them with GM TRAYS ONLY, FROM A DEALERSHIP OR REPUTABLE PLACE LIKE BTR. I've seen many people with China knockoffs from Amazon that were sold to them as OEM, those trays allow the lifter to turn in the bore, and then they destroy the lifter and the cam, as well as sending small bits of metal though your engine. Don't ever buy internal engine parts from Amazon.
6. I recommend the CHE trunion kit. Super easy to install, and they don't fail like many of the other trunion kits out there. I've beaten the absolute tar out of the ones in both of my cars with big cams. I took one apart after 20K miles of abuse and it was definitely ready for at least another 20k miles, probably more.
Absolutely do not re-use the pushrods if you're changing the cam.
1. Why studs? Seems like they would make it more of a pain to put together, I'm not even sure if you would be able to get the heads on with the engine in the car, I'm sure someone on here can enlighten me. Are you planning on making enough power that headstuds are needed? I've always just done ARP bolts, works great, and costs less than studs.
2. I always like Cometic for head gaskets. Run the thinnest head gasket you can while maintaining acceptable piston/head clearance. I think I put 0.045" gaskets on my LS7.
3. TBH, not sure. I replaced mine with new OEM gaskets when I put my heads and headers on though.
4. Skipping 4 and going right to 5
5. You're probably OK, as long as you're not going with too crazy of a cam. I would check them all though, because I had 2 lifters in my LS7 that had their roller axles loose. You could get them to fall out of the lifter with a couple flicks of the wrist. I can't believe it didn't fail while in the engine. If you choose to replace your lifter trays, replace them with GM TRAYS ONLY, FROM A DEALERSHIP OR REPUTABLE PLACE LIKE BTR. I've seen many people with China knockoffs from Amazon that were sold to them as OEM, those trays allow the lifter to turn in the bore, and then they destroy the lifter and the cam, as well as sending small bits of metal though your engine. Don't ever buy internal engine parts from Amazon.
6. I recommend the CHE trunion kit. Super easy to install, and they don't fail like many of the other trunion kits out there. I've beaten the absolute tar out of the ones in both of my cars with big cams. I took one apart after 20K miles of abuse and it was definitely ready for at least another 20k miles, probably more.
Absolutely do not re-use the pushrods if you're changing the cam.
Sorry about my numbering not sure how i skipped a number
Im not changing the cam It already has a btr Stage 3 I Have a starret surface plate so maybe ill just measure them and check them for wear and flatness and keep them if they look good.
I really dig that CHE trunion kit its pricey but you get net trunions and the bearings are held on by snap rings
as far as gasket thickness I was planning on going stock thickness, because Im just not sure how thin I can go with the btr stage 3 cam on stock ported head and stock rotating assembly.
I was looking at the BTR Tray/lifter combo Ill probably replace them. The car has had a wild cam in it from day one (LPE 660 package at like 10k miles from previous owner) Cheap insurance really.
Edit:
What do you think of the summit racing branded lifters?
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-htlskit3
Last edited by joe0121; Jan 30, 2024 at 07:44 AM.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 42
Likes: 1
From: Fredericktown, Ohio
Awesome TY!
I ended up getting the ARP bolts as they are also re usable an a bit cheaper than studs. For 120 bucks seems like a no brainier over stock torque to yield which the cheapest i can find is 80 bucks.
I ended up getting the ARP bolts as they are also re usable an a bit cheaper than studs. For 120 bucks seems like a no brainier over stock torque to yield which the cheapest i can find is 80 bucks.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,600
Likes: 1,082
I recently broke a ARP bolt that was on its second use. Not sure if the first one was over-torqued or not. Just FYI. Went to studs.
I would do Morel 7717 lifters and new GM trays or BTR trays. The Morels are a good step up from stock stuff.
OEM GM headgaskets are perfectly fine. You could most likely get away with a .040" Cometic gasket to tight up the quench and bump compression a tad. You have plenty of piston to valve clearance on the OEM pistons. No worry there.
If you do decide to do the Morel lifters, you will absolutely need new pushrods and will have to measure for the correct length. The Morel lifters have a tighter preload threshold than the OEM lifters. Especially if you decide to do the .040" head gaskets too.
As for the trunnions, if it's not a early '07 or '06, stock is fine IMO. I've put some abuse on the stock rockers and have had zero failures.
Get the GM MLS gaskets for a LS3. They are round and big enough for the LS7 stuff.
Sorry, I jumped around a bit. This is just my opinion.
I would do Morel 7717 lifters and new GM trays or BTR trays. The Morels are a good step up from stock stuff.
OEM GM headgaskets are perfectly fine. You could most likely get away with a .040" Cometic gasket to tight up the quench and bump compression a tad. You have plenty of piston to valve clearance on the OEM pistons. No worry there.
If you do decide to do the Morel lifters, you will absolutely need new pushrods and will have to measure for the correct length. The Morel lifters have a tighter preload threshold than the OEM lifters. Especially if you decide to do the .040" head gaskets too.
As for the trunnions, if it's not a early '07 or '06, stock is fine IMO. I've put some abuse on the stock rockers and have had zero failures.
Get the GM MLS gaskets for a LS3. They are round and big enough for the LS7 stuff.
Sorry, I jumped around a bit. This is just my opinion.