Are new heads an option ?
Discussion
sure ringram will be along shortly...
in the meantime - depending on your engine there are some good gains to be had from upgrading the heads, the market in the US is flooded with choice. Problem with heads is they arent really an upgrade in their own, yes everyone will get some benefit but to get the best out of them you need to start looking at upgrading the valvetrain, installing a cam, fitting exhaust headers and if not going supercharged then an improved intake/larger throttle body so costs can escalate. Then of course if you go for all this NA stuff and want to add a supercharger you'll quickly exceed the limits of the stock internals so you'd really want to replace those while you've got all the top end off anyway or you'll be paying for the same labour 2x
Its why most on here went the easy route and bolted on a charger for a quick power boost.
in the meantime - depending on your engine there are some good gains to be had from upgrading the heads, the market in the US is flooded with choice. Problem with heads is they arent really an upgrade in their own, yes everyone will get some benefit but to get the best out of them you need to start looking at upgrading the valvetrain, installing a cam, fitting exhaust headers and if not going supercharged then an improved intake/larger throttle body so costs can escalate. Then of course if you go for all this NA stuff and want to add a supercharger you'll quickly exceed the limits of the stock internals so you'd really want to replace those while you've got all the top end off anyway or you'll be paying for the same labour 2x
Its why most on here went the easy route and bolted on a charger for a quick power boost.
LS1 heads are pretty suckfull.
LS2 ones are fairly decent, both respond well to a good valve job and pocket tidy up.
But you really need to look at replacing the cam and intake setup to optimise things.
Just swapping/porting heads wont get you much return on your investment.
Better to look at a cam only install.
LS3 heads are even better and can pretty much be left as is with a nice cam.
Usual story, point number 1, what is your power requirement?
LS2 ones are fairly decent, both respond well to a good valve job and pocket tidy up.
But you really need to look at replacing the cam and intake setup to optimise things.
Just swapping/porting heads wont get you much return on your investment.
Better to look at a cam only install.
LS3 heads are even better and can pretty much be left as is with a nice cam.
Usual story, point number 1, what is your power requirement?
Not aiming for a particular figure at the moment just curious what the next stage would be if I wanted to move on.
I've got the headers/sports cats system all in place and remapped. Power is up to just over 400 bhp which is just fine and dandy for me at the moment.
Just thinking that a bolt on S/C is going to cost another 4/5K(?) for another 100/150 bhp ?
Too much money for me so wondered what else could be done at say around half that cost ?
I've got the headers/sports cats system all in place and remapped. Power is up to just over 400 bhp which is just fine and dandy for me at the moment.
Just thinking that a bolt on S/C is going to cost another 4/5K(?) for another 100/150 bhp ?
Too much money for me so wondered what else could be done at say around half that cost ?
Sadly an NA setup will save you on parts, but cost you on labour as its more involved than a simple intake swap aka SC install.
If you can do it yourself heads and cam is a good option.
400bhp would be perhaps a tad over 300rwhp which is about right for a tuned LS1
You can take that up to 390rwhp with heads, intake and a mild cam. So say a 30% upgrade. But that would be the limit pretty much.
Supercharging would start from somewhere around that number maybe a bit less. But would cost the same or a little less due to much less labour requirement.
You really do need to know how much power you want then work towards that goal.
If you havnt got a nice set of 1-3/4 headers and dual 2.5" exhaust setup then you will want that. You could change your final drive ratio to make the car put more torque to the rear which some guys like to do.
Personally Id recommend a 454 cube engine
If you can do it yourself heads and cam is a good option.
400bhp would be perhaps a tad over 300rwhp which is about right for a tuned LS1
You can take that up to 390rwhp with heads, intake and a mild cam. So say a 30% upgrade. But that would be the limit pretty much.
Supercharging would start from somewhere around that number maybe a bit less. But would cost the same or a little less due to much less labour requirement.
You really do need to know how much power you want then work towards that goal.
If you havnt got a nice set of 1-3/4 headers and dual 2.5" exhaust setup then you will want that. You could change your final drive ratio to make the car put more torque to the rear which some guys like to do.
Personally Id recommend a 454 cube engine
www.gmhightechperformance.com/tech/0905gmhtp_ls1_trick_flow_genx_cylinder_heads_gold_race_roller_rockers_upgrade/index.html
have a look at the articles on this magazine site, theres a few similar to the one above on fitting cams, heads etc. A head swap is fairly simple if you buy prebuilt flowed heads. Cam swaps a little more challenging unless you've got access to garage facilities and tools.
have a look at the articles on this magazine site, theres a few similar to the one above on fitting cams, heads etc. A head swap is fairly simple if you buy prebuilt flowed heads. Cam swaps a little more challenging unless you've got access to garage facilities and tools.
ringram said:
Sadly an NA setup will save you on parts, but cost you on labour as its more involved than a simple intake swap aka SC install.
If you can do it yourself heads and cam is a good option.
400bhp would be perhaps a tad over 300rwhp which is about right for a tuned LS1
You can take that up to 390rwhp with heads, intake and a mild cam. So say a 30% upgrade. But that would be the limit pretty much.
Supercharging would start from somewhere around that number maybe a bit less. But would cost the same or a little less due to much less labour requirement.
You really do need to know how much power you want then work towards that goal.
If you havnt got a nice set of 1-3/4 headers and dual 2.5" exhaust setup then you will want that. You could change your final drive ratio to make the car put more torque to the rear which some guys like to do.
Personally Id recommend a 454 cube engine
If you can do it yourself heads and cam is a good option.
400bhp would be perhaps a tad over 300rwhp which is about right for a tuned LS1
You can take that up to 390rwhp with heads, intake and a mild cam. So say a 30% upgrade. But that would be the limit pretty much.
Supercharging would start from somewhere around that number maybe a bit less. But would cost the same or a little less due to much less labour requirement.
You really do need to know how much power you want then work towards that goal.
If you havnt got a nice set of 1-3/4 headers and dual 2.5" exhaust setup then you will want that. You could change your final drive ratio to make the car put more torque to the rear which some guys like to do.
Personally Id recommend a 454 cube engine
what the diffrence between 1 3/4 headers and 1 5/8 ( whivh i have) ???
ta
1/8" is the smart ass answer 
Simply put it changes the amount of exhaust gas they can clear, the more power you create the better a larger pipe diameter will be. If you go too big for the power of your vehicle then you lose gas velocity which can reduce power/torque or something like that. 1 3/4" are for the big boys spending silly money on their cars, 1 5/8" are fine for the rest of us.
Simply put it changes the amount of exhaust gas they can clear, the more power you create the better a larger pipe diameter will be. If you go too big for the power of your vehicle then you lose gas velocity which can reduce power/torque or something like that. 1 3/4" are for the big boys spending silly money on their cars, 1 5/8" are fine for the rest of us.
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