Im planning on building a 396 stroker lt1 and the cam i want to use is a compcams 292XFI i was thinking about using a set of 227 afr heads but im not sure, any suggestions on what will and will not work?

 

It totally depends on your goals, budget, transmission, rear gear, tire choice, nitrous or forced induction, what car it's going in, and desired drivability. Answer some of those questions and then we'll be able to help you out.

 

So your whole plan is to buy the biggest off the shelf hydraulic cam you can find, the biggest head you can find, and the biggest displacement you know guys commonly do???

If you read AFR's own recommendations they are talking dedicated race cars seeing sustained 4500+rpms.

I know of ONE street car sucessfully running those heads, it is 434ci goes all the way to the pcm's limits and is fed boost. Guy is aiming for 8s in street Impala. Is that what you are aiming for?? If not this recipe is probably not the right one for you.

In that case the boost and displacement both serve to tame the huge head some.

"bigger is better" is about the oldest mistake in hotrodding, and one of the most enduring.

What do you want from the car and how modified is it already?

 

isnt Tony Shepard running 227s? Correct me if im wrong

 

According to the fastest LT1s sticky at the top of the page yes. BUT if the OP is asking this question he is NOT trying to build something like Tony has so what does that have to do with anything.

There are also cars deep in the 9s on 200cc ported stock castings.

You want to play that game look at Rick Abare's car, 9.88 on 200cc ported stock heads and intake NA, 9.5 on a pump gas motor with 215cc after porting Trickflows. What do you think that would do on the jug???

Point being while a lot of dedicated drag cars go huge on the heads, it is not necessary. MUCH smaller heads will drive better on the street and are capable of more performance than most of us want or can realistically afford to set the rest of the car up for.

With stuff like the 227 head you need offset rockers and such too, nowhere near as cheap or easy to setup as a smaller head.

Just to be clear because some of you are going to try and twist my words. I am NOT saying the AFR 227 is a bad head, what I am saying is that if the OP is asking this question he is not looking for a build that the AFR227 is appropriate for. A MUCH smaller head will serve most of us better, performance and money wise.

 

i understand that Ricks car is doing that but the OP didnt say he wanted a street car and didnt say he wasnt going with aftermarket engine management. actually he left out a lot that would stop us from arguing all together lol. 227s, not so good for a street motor, great for a full race motor

 

pretty much looks like you cracked open a summit catalog and looked for the biggest stuff you could find

 

I would look into Advanced Induction and Llyod Elliot's packages. both use stock castings but produce great results.

It looks like you found the biggest heads around and a good sized cam and are just going to throw them together and expect a good build. You really need to do some planning and research.

goodluck.

 

ported stock castings with a complimenting cam will run better, be more efficient and cheaper

 

good idea starting a thread here. these guys will point you in the right direction

 

The OPs goal is to run 11s.

 

Spending the money on a 396 and AFR227s and the modifications to boot is an awfully expensive route to take for just 11s. A mild heads/cam package will get him there for half the cost.

 

Uhhhh it's gonna run but you cannot compare a full out NA setup to a full out N2O setup.... You cannot have your cake and eat it too.. if abare set his car up for nitrous it would go from running 9.5 on the motor to running like 10.20's if the car is setup for a big shot of juice.... gears, stall, fueling, tuneup, plugs used/gap, would all need to be changed.... not to mention ring gaps, and everything internal that needs to be changed.... just making the point that a full bore NA combo will not be a full bore NA combo if setup for nitrous. My car runs 10.60 for example on motor cause everything is setup for spray..... if i set it up for all motor i'd be running 4.56's for example instead of my current 3.89's.... just that one change would be worth like 2 tenths...

As far as the OP is concerned yes Tony and I both run AFR 227's.. I think tony has the eliminator castings now and I still run the original castings that have been worked. The flow okay. About the 315cfm area IIRC..... I agree probably way too much for an average street car.... If you're set on AFR their 210 eliminators would be MORE than enough for a 396 street car build with a hydro roller cam. 227's are designed to flow the most air in the .700 lift area.... probably not the kind of lift #'s you are going to be putting into your 396 street car. Setup your heads for their intended use and setup for the amount of lift and duration your cam has so you are making full use of their flow potential...

If the OP is trying to run 11's, he could run stock ported castings, a 236/242 hydro roller cam from comp in their XFI line, a ported intake, and build a 6" rod 355 with around 11.75-12:1 compression forged pistons.... motor like that would run like 5-6K and would make 500hp all day....

 

Whats an OP? and why does everyone say my goal is 11s? i want to go as fast as i can afford, sounds immature i know but i dont have a starting point, i know i do want to for sure beat my boss who is in the 11s but i would like to go way faster this is my first build and i want it to be a 396, didnt realize that going with a bigger head would make it run like hell, i figured it would be there for any future upgrades that might require it. i was recommended on another site that afr 195s would be better, do you guys agree and why? as for what i have built so far, i have the 396. i did buy the 292xfi but i can always get another cam i want to run a 6 speed any recommendations on the rear axle and gear? its for my 94 camaro, i want to have a streetable car that does real well at the track.

 

Budget?

 

well its going to take a while to build this car so, idk lets say around 5 to 8000

 

You need to do more research if you are wanting all that hardware and expect it to perform for that price.

 

Build a 355....... For that price spend more money in the heads/cam setup and run your stock crank.... 6" eagle h-beams and some forged pistons....

If you do a stroker setup it's gonna add significantly to the cost... crank, machine work, etc....

A 2 bolt studded 355 like above with a hydro roller cam will make great power. I used to have one and it ran like a raped ape. Went 11.6 on motor and 10.40 on spray. I probably built it for like 6-7 grand.... The 10.40 was at 3550lbs...

You said you already have the 396????? If you do and all you need is heads then it depends on your budget. do you intend to spray it at all? If you're going to use a 6 speed and you plan on it being fast you should budget for a 9" rearend or a 12 bolt soon..... sticky tires, power, and a 10 bolt are not gonna get along...

BTW OP is the "original poster".... refers to you as the person who originally put up the post...