Well, I decided to pull the TA out of service today. Might as well pull the engine and do a rebuild while i'm at it, maybe do 383 while i'm at it.

Smart move, you don't want to do any extra damage. Good luck when it comes time for the rebuild.

And "THAT DOG AINT GONNA HUNT" is any better?

Sure it is. Because it's not a flame directed at anyone showing utter ignorant arrogance.

Yes. Doubly so since you also said:


Besides being mostly just attacks, your post struck me overall as being from someone who hadn't bothered to read the entire thread.


In addition, your analogy that
also doesn't work very well. First of all, I see no parallel between the two situations. More significantly, while there probably is part of the "LT1 community" that would "make an *** out of" someone for waiting to make an informed decision about exhaust rather than a hasty, uninformed decision, those parts of the "community" generally don't hang around on this forum and for the most part they haven't participated in this thread...

He is trying to make an informed decision which is nice, and smarter than most of the population, but still it seems like a counterintuitive move to make.

Like I said before he can buy the hot cam kit and have an extremely nice sounding car that could run twelves. Not only that but the kit is in high demand and would be easy to sell back to many people who constantly ask about it on the board. So you have the already low price of the kit and the resale profit, which leaves for a small investment. The other nice thing about the kit is that all the parts are packaged together which leaves no chance to put the wrong valve train kit together, because that should be left for the people who know what they are doing and have done it before. Many people have the kit so it would be easy to tune and diagnose if there are any problems. He also doesn't have to tear the heads off and send them out, so it could be done sooner. Statistically speaking there is less chance for error because the heads remain on the car. As he stated before, the car has high miles and the hot cam kit is in no way and extreme high revving kit so that would ensure reliability.

If he does go ahead with ordering the LE kit, he has to decide on LE1 or LE2 heads. As most car goes know, your goals are constantly changing, and my goals 2 years ago are no where near what they are now. In other words making decisions for the future should be made carefully if some other financial problem occurs. What happens if he wants the LE3 kit when he is able to make a informed decision on the cam? As stated above he has to send the heads out and wait on them to come back. He has the option of buying a basic spring kit or going all out and buying for the future, but it sounds like money is tight. He would have to buy two different sets of valve train components, one for his 1.7 LE combo now and one for his goals in the future. He has the uncertainty of almost no one doing this before and the unknown results that he might receive. He has to redo the valve train twice and decide on the proper parts again for the right cam. He has to go back and sell a quasi mixed set of 1.7 rocker parts which the demand for is unknown. He has the chance that something could go wrong when he pulls the heads off.

It seems like a lot of effort, time, money, and uncertainty for not much of an end product. A lot goes into the process, and not much value comes out in the near future.

Well the reason the heads are coming off is due to a small head gasket leak. It has not leaked into the oil yet so I stopped driving it before it did. Also as stated before, I'm not wanting to do the cam due to the mileage.

Heads are in, along with ported intake, 1.7 rockers, and lifters. Now I just need to get an updated tune from MadZ28.com, all the install parts (Impala head gasket, ARP bolts, etc.) together and time to install it. Also putting in a new 10% HV oil pump with GM HP spring while I'm at it.

I'll post results once I'm done, both dyno and 1/8 mi. I'm hoping for 330+ rwhp, and since bolt on LT4's typically dyno that, and I'll have more lift and better heads and intake than a stock LT4 as well as more lift and flow than a stock LS1 also, that I think I will at least do that or more.

Sorry for the delay in getting back as my plates been kinda full lately.

I'll have to look but for sure but believe my LT4 never ran @ Ennis with the headers n heads as the car went very quickly to 396 stroker stage just after the heads.

It did run as quick as a 8.19 in the 1/8th and 12.6 @ 113mph with just exhaust mods without the heads on stock tires @ Ennis. (It's a C4 Vette) Don't think with the heads it ever ran better than that just going to Kennedale.

My SS was mostly run @ Denton and pretty consistently ran in the 8.0 to 8.3 @ 86 mph with the 211/219, MTI heads and shorty headers. Going to a 306 cam and long tubes got me into the 7.8's @ 90 mph. Think a 12.3 was the best my SS ran @ Ennis but that was ten years ago runnng in the heat and a lot has changed since then.

For those who have done both, which is easier to swap from a labor/time perspective, a cam only, or heads only? (assuming you don't have to take the existing heads off and wait for them to come back after being ported.)


Dan

I think this is a combo that you're going to want to get tuned locally or do it yourself. Mail order tuners will not have seen many if any combinations like this, so they will just be guessing.

Well I should be installing the stage 2 heads this week, already installed oil pump, found out I have a 4-bolt block , cleaned up the pistons and top of block, threads, etc. Everything in the top end is new. Will have to measure and order new pushrods though, so it won't be running until next week. Will post results and hopefully 1/8th mi and/or dyno results shortly after.

Did you ever get any numbers?

Not yet, my 4 month old twins have been taking a lot of my time, I'll be measuring to order for pushrods today. Hope to have it back on the road next weekend.

Well tonight the car is FINALLY back together and running. Just drove it to work and back, but seems to pull a lot harder up top than it did before, now with the ported heads and 1.7 RR, but this is going off of memory from Jan when the car was last running. No dyno or track numbers yet. I'll try to go the local 1/8mi (no 1/4 nearby ) within the next few weeks or maybe dyno if possible. I'm hoping for at least bolt-on LS1 territory of 330+ rwhp.