Can I do these upgrades out of order?
Can I do these upgrades out of order? Here's the situation. 97 Z28 with a blown head gasket. The heads are coming off, machined and gasket replaced obviously. Eventually I want to get a mild cam, along the line of the lt4 hot cam or comparable with supporting heads & intake upgrade. My questions are can I get the upgraded heads & intake and throw that all on while the heads are off? It should just help the overall induction correct?
My next question is could I do the same thing but vice versa, throw the cam in there without the supporting heads and intake, just the headers for the time being? I know it's kind of backwards but this has to be done over a few months on a budget
I know it wouldn't be putting out the power it could be but would anything go wrong if i did that and used it as a DD until i can afford the heads/intake. Or should i just wait to do everything one shot 
My next question is could I do the same thing but vice versa, throw the cam in there without the supporting heads and intake, just the headers for the time being? I know it's kind of backwards but this has to be done over a few months on a budget
I know it wouldn't be putting out the power it could be but would anything go wrong if i did that and used it as a DD until i can afford the heads/intake. Or should i just wait to do everything one shot Okay, i have been doing some reading and have seen that, also i could benefit from just getting them ported? What about the intake?
Edit: also by stock heads being good that includes the internals? I really just want to figure out what i can do NOW upgrade wise, and personally would just love to put the cam in now, then continue from there. Thanks everyone.
Edit: also by stock heads being good that includes the internals? I really just want to figure out what i can do NOW upgrade wise, and personally would just love to put the cam in now, then continue from there. Thanks everyone.
Last edited by 02v8ta; May 17, 2011 at 01:04 PM.
There's nothing wrong with just doing the cam (with supporting valvetrain of course..RR's, springs, lifters, push rods, ect.) as long is the cam is designed to work well with stock heads. IF you have the funds though for heads, you will pick up double the HP gain of just a cam...so if you can afford it then by all means get your heads ported and you will get 30-50 HP on top of the 40 HP or so the cam alone will get you. Cam only cars are usually 320-350 RWHP; cam and heads usually 360-400 RWHP. You can always just do the cam (that's what I did) and get ported heads later but the expense/pain in the *** of tearing apart the motor AGAIN not to mention re-tuning the computer make it a hassle. I wish I had the funds when I built my motor for heads; but was on a budget so just cam and ported ebay intake (Only $150...but probably not worth much HP) is what I went with. I doubt the ported intake is worth more than 5-10 HP unless you have a 500+ HP LT1.....at least it looks pretty and is bored for a 58mm TB for future upgrades. You definitely need to do headers regardless of just adding cam or cam/heads while you are taking off the heads. Good luck
There's nothing wrong with just doing the cam (with supporting valvetrain of course..RR's, springs, lifters, push rods, ect.) as long is the cam is designed to work well with stock heads. IF you have the funds though for heads, you will pick up double the HP gain of just a cam...so if you can afford it then by all means get your heads ported and you will get 30-50 HP on top of the 40 HP or so the cam alone will get you. Cam only cars are usually 320-350 RWHP; cam and heads usually 360-400 RWHP. You can always just do the cam (that's what I did) and get ported heads later but the expense/pain in the *** of tearing apart the motor AGAIN not to mention re-tuning the computer make it a hassle. I wish I had the funds when I built my motor for heads; but was on a budget so just cam and ported ebay intake (Only $150...but probably not worth much HP) is what I went with. I doubt the ported intake is worth more than 5-10 HP unless you have a 500+ HP LT1.....at least it looks pretty and is bored for a 58mm TB for future upgrades. You definitely need to do headers regardless of just adding cam or cam/heads while you are taking off the heads. Good luck
1,000- $2,000 MAX currently, I know i'd have to save some to do supporting mods. And for a tune and to complete the exhaust after the headers... The money is going to fly faster than I picture i'm sure.
$2000 max? Well that's certainly not enough for (decent) ported heads and every thing else you will need. That was my budget for a cam only motor (and I went over)....so looks like your budget just made the decision for you 
For ported heads AND cam/valvetrain/headers/various gaskets you need $3-4K to do it right. You will easily spend $2K on cam, RR's, lifters, pushrods, bearings, gaskets, ect. and you might as well replace the waterpump and cap and rotor from the opti while your tearing into it. You will love the cam though if chosen wisely.
For ported heads AND cam/valvetrain/headers/various gaskets you need $3-4K to do it right. You will easily spend $2K on cam, RR's, lifters, pushrods, bearings, gaskets, ect. and you might as well replace the waterpump and cap and rotor from the opti while your tearing into it. You will love the cam though if chosen wisely. Trending Topics
Well i'm thinking holding off on porting the heads. I figure $600 for the lt4 hot cam w/ supporting components (or similar, again not looking for anything big)
$445 for pacesetter headers /emissions & y pipe. And another 500 - 800? for the heads and gaskets just being replaced. So I was thinking 2,000 would be minimal to be able to drive my car back home. Then there's my tune, cat-back, paying a shop to weld in some cats, and intake so there's another Grand there. And the eventual porting the heads or getting new ones
$445 for pacesetter headers /emissions & y pipe. And another 500 - 800? for the heads and gaskets just being replaced. So I was thinking 2,000 would be minimal to be able to drive my car back home. Then there's my tune, cat-back, paying a shop to weld in some cats, and intake so there's another Grand there. And the eventual porting the heads or getting new ones
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
