head swap only

[silverz28camaro]

who here has done a head swap only. i have seen the afr heads gain 40hp on a stock ls1. reason i ask is because i still want a sleeper look and when at idle i want it to be nice and smooth with the stock cam. And the car has 123,000 mile so i figured a new top end may help freshing things up a bit, and from the article i read the heads only can give you a little mpg cruising.

i also know it is impracticle to do a head and not cam swap due the hp and $ ratio, but thats not my consern.

[C&Cbird]

You could actually put a bigger cam than stock, but still keep it small so it has a mostly stock sounding and smooth idle and make even more power.

[bgable]

just look for something with a 116 or 117 lsa..i believe the stock cam is around that area

[mrr23]

i've done it with the wife's car. already had basic bolt ons. picked up 37 rwhp after tuning. the AFR head only swap picked up 39 rwhp on a comepletely stock 03 LS1 vette on stock tune.

here's that webpage. it was the Project AFR test car from vinci high performance
http://vincihighperformance.com/BECK...CT%20PAGE.HTML

[ApexVIII]

i am looking to get some LS6 Ported heads and a small cam like a CheaTR cam(still pass smog!)

[silverz28camaro]

i've done it with the wife's car. already had basic bolt ons. picked up 37 rwhp after tuning. the AFR head only swap picked up 39 rwhp on a comepletely stock 03 LS1 vette on stock tune.

here's that webpage. it was the Project AFR test car from vinci high performance
http://vincihighperformance.com/BECK...CT%20PAGE.HTML

wow some nice gains there. do you have before and after 1/4 mile runs, if i add 40 hp and get the same traction that should put me to a consistent 11.8's

just where i want to be........but then again i said that about low 12s

[mrr23]

wow some nice gains there. do you have before and after 1/4 mile runs, if i add 40 hp and get the same traction that should put me to a consistent 11.8's

just where i want to be........but then again i said that about low 12s

before heads
13.144 @ 105.67

after heads no tuning
12.918 @ 107.55

after tuning
12.822 @ 108.59

[Frankthetank]

man thats allot of money for a little bang

[mrr23]

man thats allot of money for a little bang

always is. but, for someone not wanting a cam, they pay the price.

[mnypitZ]

Robert, we did heads on mine first. Mine has 122k on it too.

[Frankthetank]

man....its allot of money for little bang.....for the smae money u might as whell go all the way out on bolt ons like even down to the little stuff like a electric water pump......and if sometime down the line u feel like putting more money down go for the rest....but that is a really bad decicion to just put nice heads on and no cam to back it up.......cuz heads wont work as good with a cam that isnt meant for them!

[mnypitZ]

My decision was made for me because of a self induced head failure. Valves dont like rags wrapped around them. You dont have to touch the cam to do heads so my decision was to do the heads first and a cam later. Eventually, within a month, we had the cam going in. But they compliment eachother. Without the heads your engine wont flow well enough for the cam, without the cam you leave power on the table with just nice flowing heads. The plan should be to do both, but you have to decide what to do first.

And the bolt ons are always first. Without the bolt ons it is futile to throw heads and cam in their. You are never going to get your potential out.

Oh and you should know, once you start you cant stop. Once you feel that power, you need more. At least I do. Enough is never enough.

[mrr23]

Robert, we did heads on mine first. Mine has 122k on it too.

sure did. i did heads before cam on the wife's car as well. in reality, you do the cam last. but people do a cam before heads because of price for gain. you design the cam around the motor. which is why it should be last, or at the same time as heads.

[99Ls1fever]

look at Patriot Performance heads they are half the price of AFR's and will give you with in a few horsepower of the AFR's for less than half the price summit racing is the cheapest for them. Plus at your mileage I would be thinking rebuild first...

[Frankthetank]

hehe im sorry im one of the many....its just so hard not to go straight for a big cam.....They sound so good !

[99Ls1fever]

hehe im sorry im one of the many....its just so hard not to go straight for a big cam.....They sound so good !

FULLY AGREE, I am the same excact way..lol Love the big cam. My brain doesnt work in modest gains

[99Ls1fever]

before heads
13.144 @ 105.67

after heads no tuning
12.918 @ 107.55

after tuning
12.822 @ 108.59

Is that Just Heads? or did you already have a cam?

[mrr23]

Is that Just Heads? or did you already have a cam?

just heads. stock cam.