Marzz

Currently thinking of putting together a stock LQ4 with 150K+ miles that I got laying around with some redone 823 heads I picked up a few months back, and a stock ls3 intake. I also have a BTR Truck Norris cam kit my brother gifted me, which also comes with springs and rods. Anyone see any problems or dilemmas that I may face? Im a lil worried about compression, would I have to mill my heads? Im hoping for 400+HP, going to be running it on a stock 4l60 and stock 02 Camaro SS rear end for now… any advice is helpful.

95wannabe

iTrader: (20)

I used a sbe '02 LQ4 with the 823 heads and stock LS3 intake/rails/injectors but with a 222/230 cam. 2800 stall 4L60E through a 9" and made 402/397 to the wheels in a'95 Camaro.
Heads were stock other than a valve job and .005" milled for flatness. I made the mistake of not having the heads measured, so I don't know what exact CC they are. Online says anywhere from 68-72 stock. I don't know. My advice is get them measured so you'll be able to calculate your compression ratio. I should be around 9.5 with my combo.
While heads are off, measure piston to deck height. You'll want this number to set your quench. Everyone here says .035-.045" leaning towards the low end. Mine were .006" out of the hole (positive) so with a .051" head gasket, I'm at .045" Probably should have optimized this a little better. Lastly, buy a pushrod length checker and read up on how to measure for correct length. It will change with different base circle cam, different heads.
My $.02.