Hello. As you all know, tax time is here. Im running on a budget of $2000.00 for heads and cam upgrade. I might also get some hooker headers. Ive been searching and searching forums and ebay for a good set of heads. Cheapest I can find are AFR stage 1 heads 205cc. Recently however, I found a set of 799 casting ls2 heads. From the description here and what I have read, they flow as good or even better then the afr heads. Heres the link to the heads ---> http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ls1-L...Q5fAccessories . My QUESTIONS ARE, please answer all you can. Will these work? Flow better? The cam i want is a comp cam int 232 ext 234. 112lsa valve lift .595/.598 1:7:1 ratio. Im not good at the springs and rocker slection. With the cam am I looking for 1:7:1 ratio rockers? .600 max lift for the springs? I was thinking about the dual spring from comp cams...... Will the hooker longtubes fit the ls2 headS? Please answer the questions. I want to understand. Thanks.

 

ALright. Im getting ready to do a cam, heads and header swap on my 02 z28. The cam I have chosen is a COMP CAM XER281HR CAM
SPECS: DUR= 232/234 LIFT=.595/.598 112LSA . My heads will be ls6 243 heads and Hooker headers. What lift spring will I need and what ratio rockers will I need? I like the shaft mounted harland Sharp or Yella Terra rockers. Do I need adjustables? What about my pushrods? Will factory work? I want the best bang for the buck. Someone please let me know. Thanks

 

Why do you need aftermarket rockers? I would stick with stock rockers and measure to get the proper pushrod size after you bolt up the heads.

-Geoff

 

That does not help. Thanks though.

 

Stock rockers will work fine, unless you just have money burning a hole on your pockets.
You need valve springs capable of .625'' or more. The best method would be to call Comp and ask them what spring to use with their cam.

 

Well, then, spend money you don't need to then! Most guys new to LS1's after working on rat or mouse motors and assume they need aftermarket rockers. 99% of them are wrong, and sometimes it even comes back to bit them.

Make sure you don't measure for your pushrods either so that you can come on here in a few months and ask why you are low on power and/or have a lot of ticking sounds up top.

Sorry not to be of any help!

-Geoff

 

are the heads stock? or are they milled?

agreed...rockers are not needed and won't benefit you much power wise.

pushrods should be replaced with chromoly, size will depend on the heads.

as for springs, you could get away with Comp 918s

 

Before you understand the answers, you have to understand what you're dealing with:

The 243-casting heads on the LS6 and LS2 have different valves (the LS6 version sports lightweight valves), even though they are the same casting and same head.

The 799 heads have just recently been found on some vehicles and are, from what I understand, the same heads as the LS2 243 heads, even though they are a different casting number. However, there is a little discrepancy about the 243 head being very slightly better and the 799 being some sort of "prototype" to the 243. One guy on CF even got a new LS2 Vette with one 243 and one 799 head.

The 243/799 heads will make a little more power (10rwhp?) than the LS1 241 heads. If you buy those heads for $400, you'll have to spend another $1000+ on getting them ported/assembled to have them perform like a set of ported or aftermarket heads.

For pretty much any camshaft on the LS1 under .650 lift, the no-brainer spring is the Patriot Gold or PRC Duals (basically the same spring). $265 for the springs, retainers, locks, etc.

Hooker Longtubes fit the same on any LS-setup. The only thing that differs is what kind of car you put it in (F-body or Y-body). I'd get the coated Pacesetter LTs for el-cheapo, however.

The stock rockers work on pretty much any LS hydraulic roller setup that you can throw at them. I've used them on all 4 of my builds and am currently using them with my .640 lift cam.

Mike

 

I didn't mean anything by it. Im trying to learn ratios, lift, etc. I also heard that the rockers I have will work. WHat makes one rocker perform better? I mean I can see lighter ones or stronger. To my knowledge, the stockers seem fine, structurlly. If I knew anything about ratios, I would not have even questioned the rockers, I dont have $400 to spend on them. Thanks for yor input anyways Whitehawk

 

Another concern.. How about head bolts... For my build, I need to replae the bolts with new ones.... Will the factory bolts work fine or do I really need arp??

 

Do NOT reuse the same head bolts, either get GM ones or ARP if you want to spend the extra money. Are you doing all of this work on your own?

 

Yeah. Ive rebuilt a lt1 with a buddy and have read the ls1howto.com a number times. My buddy is also a mechanic. When I get down to work, I do a decent job. I just don't want to buy the wrong stuff. I know not to reuse the head bolts, their only good for one time. My question is; do I need the stronger arp bolts or factory gm bolts...

 

I'm running factory GM bolts with my setup. I used the ls1howto guide, whenever you get to the cam removal part make sure you pull all the lifters!! Some people just spin the engine a couple of revolutions and trust the plastic lifter retainers to hold the lifters, it's like playing russian roulette because if a lifter drops you're pretty much screwed. After my in car heads and cam swap experience i will never do it that way again, next time the engine will be coming out and i'll do everything that way.

 

lol. yeah im pulling the heads off first and removing the lifters. Then the cam will come out and ill replace the lifters.

 

only the LS6 with the high lift cam got the lightweight valves... the first year 385hp LS6 does not have them