Squidwardo

So, I've decided to go put myself through a daunting task for most: installing a set of ported and polished 243 heads on my cammed ls1 by myself sometime before next winter. I have little mechanical experience other than basic car maintenance, and having rebuilt a lawn mower engine my senior year in high school. Yes, I know it is way more complicated, but I feel as if I have a good understanding of how engines work, and I have more than a year to read up on the subject. Plus, I'm eager to learn! I've seen plenty of detailed "how-to's" on various Internet sites, and I have the amazing support of this forum, I'm sure. So, like the title says, someone either tell me to pay someone else to do it, or motivate me with some pointers or things I should watch out for!

Cam is a Vengeance Racing Vindicator (240/244 .608/.596 112 LSA)

Sidenote: my route thus far will be a set of ported and polished 243's. Will be looking for a set out of an ls6 specifically just for the valves and my own piece of mind. I plan on replacing valve springs for some duals, and some hardened pushrods if needed. Haven't bought anything just yet (I have more than a year!), but and obvious tips or bits of advice are appreciated. Remember, I'm a noob!

2002 blue z28

iTrader: (1)

Coming from somebody whose been through this, it's actually not that bad. Just make sure the bolt holes and block surface are thoroughly cleaned. You'll also need new head bolts as GM bolts are torque to yield and aren't reusable. I would suggest ARP bolts or studs. They're stronger and you can reuse them in case you ever decide to pull the heads off again.

There's also a great write up on Ls1howto.com that'll tell you basically everything you need to know. Here's the link

Hope this helps.

Fry_

If you have the time and space to do it I say go for it. As long as your not in a rush to get things done and take your time to carefully do everything step by step double checking your work along the way anybody with basic mechanical ability could build an entire LS1. It might take them 5 times longer than an experienced technician but as long as you carefully check everything you can get the job done.

I'd also look into other heads, by the time you buy genuine LS6 heads $4-500, have then ported $750-1350, and buy dual springs with titanium retainers $300 your up to $1450-2150. That price range puts you close to or over the price of good budget aftermarket castings like PRC 225 as cast heads that have CNC'd chambers and bowls that are hand blended into the ports or TrickFlow 220 as cast heads from TEA or BTR with PM guides any rough casting hand blended and good dual springs.

spent21

iTrader: (6)

do it. if you screw it up, know exactly why and learn from it. if done correctly, there's no other greater sense of accomplishment.

get a good service manual. see if anyone else is tearing into an engine close by and go help them out. if there IS someone close by, see if they'll be willing to come over if you hit a snag. it's reassuring to know there's someone that's been there that you can rely upon... hell, for that matter, there may be some on this board that are willing to be a resource to talk you through some stuff over the phone. if that's the case, share your schedule and let them know when you may be calling. it's a courteous thing to do if they're taking the time to walk you through something.

speaking of snags, is this a dd? the only reason i ask is because downtime may be a factor and you'll need a plan if/when you hit a snag and don't have your engine back together when you thought you would.

one snag is pushrod length. you can get the 'suggested' length pushrods, but that may not neccesarrily mean that they will give you the correct preload. the only way to tell for sure is to get everything assembled, and measure using a pushrod length checker.

that oil pump o-ring is a bitch. so much so that i later pulled the pan to make sure i didn't screw it up... that's easier said than done on an F-body, but i should have done it that way the first time on my truck. be careful/mindful of it when you're dealing with it and the pick up tube... that thing can get tweaked to where it doesn't want to go back in the oil pump.

spend the money and get lifter trays. for that matter, get the lifters too. i'm dealing with a collapsed lifter now (40k miles later) on my truck that i may not be worrying with if i'd forked over the cash while i was in there.

now that i have to pull the heads back off to do lifters, i wish i'd bought arp head studs... they pay for themselves if you ever need to pull the heads (even once) after they're installed.

if you go tty head bolts, make a mark in the same place (12 o'clock, 6, 3... whatever) on each bolt head... it's nerve racking wondering if you already torqued that one bolt correctly or not.

clean out the blind holes for the head bolts & chase the threads. nothing will ruin your day faster than popping a nice chunk out the side of your block because you were in too big of a hurry or too lazy to blow the water out of them.

read all the tech threads on the subject.

seriously though, if there's someone close by doing this, offer to help. hardly anyone is going to turn down an extra set of hands and they'll probably return the favor when you're ready. you can read a library on how to garden, but you won't grow squat until you get some dirt under your nails.

Fry_

I'd skip the ARP head studs they're over priced and over kill for any NA application. Tony Mamo's "Vader" motor doesn't even have head studs. Also using head studs can distort the bore in a different way than head bolts possibly affecting ring seal. I'd consider ARP head bolts but even then you'd have to go through 6 sets of GM bolts before they pay for them selves.

spent21

iTrader: (6)

you're right, Fry. the head studs are overkill and i mispoke; however, you can pick up the arp bolts for $120-$140 where the tty gm bolts are ~$70.

Fry_

Actually $56, I though they were $28 but I realized that's for only one head.

Tony @ Mamo Motorsports

OP....I hope your willing to flycut pistons as well.

If you have been running this combination without that done you have really just gotten lucky thus far as you wouldn't have a reasonable safety margin concerning piston to valve clearance with a cam that large.

You will need to double check that now with the new heads anyway....I would highly encourage you to do so (its really mandatory with every performance build)

Good luck....as others mentioned nothing like the satisfaction of doing it yourself but go in as educated and open minded as you can. If something doesn't feel right stop and inquire about it....double and triple check important clearances and dimensions etc. The price you pay for a mistake is costly although you can write it off as "educational expense".....LOL.

Seriously though....good luck if you chose to embark on the project

Cheers,
Tony

American Psycho

If you have a friend that's knowledgeable with engines, have them help you with the head swap. Sometimes, its better to have two people looking at an install.

Fry_

Just make sure they're not a "know it all" that really doesn't know what they're doing. There is nothing worse than someone that is sure they know what they are doing when they really don't.

spent21

iTrader: (6)

+1

Chris25

iTrader: (1)

+2 Had this happen with a friend doing my stall install. Luckily got it all sorted out with no damage.

spent21

iTrader: (6)

i grew up with an ASE certified master mechanic (diesel & heavy machinery) for a dad. safety was an ever present factor in our shop as was doing things right. it was only after i'd gone out on my own did i realize all the things that i'd taken for granted.

i've been appalled at what some people consider acceptable practice. wiring & electrical stuff is a particular pet peeve of mine, but i've seen other things that you hear about in darwin awards... working under a car on a jack with no stands, using cinder blocks for jack stands, & general lack of thought (if i do this, this could happen).

my buddy bought a '92 lx mustang with a 'built' engine. he promptly put a 250 shot on it and blew it up. when we pulled it down, it had 3 (three) different brands of pistons in it.

i've seen a full set of aftermarket gauges 'wired up' by what looks like stripping a piece of insulation back with a pocket knife and wrapping the gauge wire around the existing power supply.

first of all, there's no way in hell i'd ever do something like that, & secondly (because i know better) i'd never get away with it as then engine previously mentioned probably never would have run, or i'd burn the car to the ground if i wired it like that.

some people will get you killed. just because jimmy down the street has put a set of heads on his car & offers to help you with yours, don't forget to think for yourself.



ok, i'll get off my

Squidwardo

Thank you all for the replies! I've definitely learned something just by this post. A couple of questions/concerns, though...

Fry, I'm going with the best bang for the buck on my heads. Car is by no means a race car, just a weekend warrior with some *****. I don't abuse the car at all by any means, just want a little more umph in case some kid in a civic pulls up next to me. In this regard, I also want to emphasize on having the most reliability as well. Is it really worth skipping the cnc ls6 243's for something else?

spent21, my car already has trickflow hardened pushrods and patriot dual gold valve springs. I plan on getting new dual springs as it is, but are my pushrods not reusable? Will the length needed change with the ls6 heads?

Tony Mamo, that is something I am unaware of. Car was cammed when I bought it. It was built by a very reputable shop, so I wouldn't see why they wouldn't have gone with the process, but it's definitely something I will check when I take off the heads.

Once again, thank you all for the replies!

Fry_

I just don't think it's worth it to first have to take a risk on buying used heads, then go through the trouble of having them shipped to and from the porter when for the same or slightly more money you can buy new heads. Now if you want to save some money but still want to upgrade heads, SDPC sells some CNC ported 243 or 799 heads for $1100, you'd still have to put springs in them but they're still a pretty good price on a budget head upgrade.

Your push rods may work you'll just have to check to see if they're the right length after you put the heads on.

And yes always check PTV clearance with any decent size cam.

roninsonic

iTrader: (3)

head/cam is EASY, man. budget a weekend and two cases of beer for your first time, plus a few days of downtime waiting on pushrods (MEASURE FOR THE CORRECT LENGTH. IT'S EASY, and the tool is only 20 bucks.) The LS1HowTo guide is what I used the first time, it's awesome.
-Stock pushrods, even if the right length, shouldn't be used. Even the 5/16" hardened ones have a bit of deflection. Look into double-tapered ones. There is some power to be gained there, as well as some valvetrain stability.
-ORDER NEW LIFTERS AND TRAYS. A failed lifter requires basically the same amount of work as a head swap (if you're **** retentive like me, you'll want to pull the other head to check those lifters as well). "LS7" lifters and new-style lifter trays are pretty cheap insurance, and add all of 5 minutes to the install.
-Do the trunion upgrade. Needle bearings floating around in your bottom end are no bueno.

That cam will DEFINITELY need PTV checked and be degreed in, at the very least. Be ready to do some flycutting.

Plus one on the PRC heads, btw. I did an H/C/I setup on my buddy's T/A with FAST 92/PTM 92, PRC 225's, MS3 on a 112, made 478 after tuning (other bolt ons, stock balancer, no AC). They are some stout budget heads.


ONE MORE THING- I've done heads/cam from inside the bay and from dropping the entire drivetrain/kmember from the bottom... Do it from the bottom. WAY easier, and it'll give you a chance to clean everything up real nice while you're in there. I assembled EVERYTHING (entire engine, transmission bolted up, headers and wiring harness on, ect) on the k member and dropped the car onto it the last one that I did. SO MUCH EASIER... Plus you can pull the pan and completely clean out all the gunk while you're in there, and replace the rear main easily while you're in there.

Also, for cleaning the head bolt holes in the block- That tool is expensive. GM used a random-*** thread size for some reason. I took a stock bolt and ground a groove into it with a dremel, then welded a bottle opener to the top of it for a t-handle. pretty dandy tool, if I say so myself.

GOOD LUCK! The sense of accomplishment you get from doing something like this yourself for the first time is indescribable. You have any questions, just ask. It's really not as hard as you probably think.

Hell, the most nerve-racking part for me was getting all of the air bubbles out of the block after reassembly.

roninsonic

iTrader: (3)

****, just realized how long that was. Sorry, might have have a few glasses of wine with the OL'lady.

Still, meant everything I said.