Alright so my car has a leak in the heads or valve cover or something, and it's making a good deal of lifter and/or valve noise. I will most likely be taking it to a performance shop to have all the work done.



These are the parts I've bought to have the head job done:

Custom Grind Cam - 226/234 @ .050 .556/.565 LIft (1.6 rockers) w/ 108 CL & 104 ICL
Comp Cam 918 Beehive Valvesprings/retainers/locks
Comp Cam 1.6 Magnum Roller Rockers
Bosch 36lbs Fuel Injectors
LS7 Lifters



I will also be getting:

Comp Cam Lifter Kit
PCM4Less Custom Tune
Gaskets (Head gaskets, timing chain cover, valve cover, etc.)




What other parts do I need or are recommended?

Timing Chain?
Cam Gear?
Pushrods?



Also, should I have my heads ported and polished by a local machine shop that is known to do good work with LT1's?

Let me know what you guys think and/or recommend. Thanks.

 

I am looking to add some decent power to my bolt on T/A and hopefully repair the problem it has while I'm at it. I want to keep it streetable but able to run good times with some drag radials.

 

So, no ones done a head and cam job and knows if I should look into getting any other parts? Wow, I guess I'm a pioneer then. I'll let you guys know how it goes. lol.

 

Wow, you might want to give people a chance to reply.... 3 posts in one day.

Yor list looks fine and I would certainly have the heads ported. You should change the timing set and new pushrods are a must. Buy them after you assemble the top end so you can get the length right.

As for the injectors, what is your power target? You size injectors by the hp target, not by the poll your friends method.....

 

A leak in the heads (oil leak, water leak, in BOTH heads???) is one thing, a leak in the valve cover is minor. You might want to do a bit more investigation of the problem before throwing up your hands and dumping it on a shop.

 

Oh, no bro. It's only something on the passengers side that is leaking. Something in the back. Might be the valve cover, maybe head gasket, maybe something else. I recently sealed up the hole in dipstick and tighten the fitting on the vacuum line that runs from the valve cover to the throttlebody on that side. But it's still smoking so, I'm guessing (or maybe hoping) it's either like a head gasket or the valve cover.

I also bleed out the coolant system and mad sure oil and coolant levels were good. Still smoking. Something weird is that it seems to only do it when idling below 1k rpm. Like I'll stop and it's take like a second or two to start smoking. Then maybe I'll move a few feet forward, and it'll stop smoking, and then start again once I stop. But, I figured since I have most of the parts for the head reassembly and have that new cam, I'll take it to a performance shop so that they can hopefully fix the problem and add some power at the same time.

I don't think it's something very serious with the engine, because (I could be wrong) but then I think it would always run bad, which isn't the case. It drives pretty normal, until it warms up, then it starts smoking like a steam engine when stopped and loses low range power. Once it goes over the 2k hump, it climbs pretty good though. Just take a while to go that first through those 1k rpms.

 

Send your heads to http://elliottsportworks.com/ or http://advancedinduction.com/Abare.html

 

Like said above a new timing set, hardened pushrods, and if those are regular "magnum" rockers i would ditch them as they are only roller tip not full rollers. Get yourself a set of Crane Golds or Comp Pro Magnums. Depending if you go with NSA rockers you will need guideplates to add to your list aswell.

 

You shouldn't have to guess. If its a valve cover leaking, the fix is as simple as a new gasket. Its a 15-minute fix for a couple bucks. Appears you are anxious to have someone else tear the engine down, and spend thousands, so go for it if your mind is made up.

 

Yeah, I thought about it, but since i don't have any where to tear down my car and it would most likely have to stay torn down for a while, I thought taking it to a performance shop would be best. Also, they would have a better idea of what they are doing and would most likely do a better job.



Sweet, thanks for the info. I'll look into those.



They're not just gonna fix the issue (leak most likely) they will be reassembling my heads with some serious parts, installing a new cam, and tuning it. Only thing is that while they are doing that, they will also be correcting that issue for me. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty anxious to have this work done. Might have the heads ported too, still haven't decided.

Also, my lifters and valves have been making a good deal of noise. That's why I'm having all these parts put in and adjusted right. I figure since they will be taking off the heads anyways, it'd be best to have all these parts put in so they can be like new.

 

Alright, so my car basically started losing power while driving the other day. I stopped and let it cool down for a bit and once I started it and tried to drive off, it was backfiring and shooting out dark smoke out the back. I took it to Pep Boys for a diagnostic and they said it is most likely something in the valve train. So, I figured I would just finish getting all the parts and have someone do the head and cam job. But, would it best to buy some heads in good condition from someone else and have all the parts I bought put on there, and then have that put into the car, or should I just take it along with the parts and have them do it all together? Because if my car has a bent pushrod or stuck valve or something, then it would probably be better to start with a set of heads in good condition and then have them reassembeled with the parts I bought. Right? Then once that is set I can have that and the cam put into the car.


Here's the thing though, the guy from Pep Boys said it would be cheaper to get an engine and just do an engine sawp. Now, I find that hard to believe since engine vs. heads is a huge difference in price. And the labor for the engine swap would most likely be greater than that for a head job. So, what do you guys think?