I have never driven a different LT1 before. I haven't even looked under someone elses hood while one was running. My power is down a lot and if the compression test is good would this lead me to believe that if i replace the heads with new ones that it might solve my problem? The noise under the valve covers is not extremely loud and can barely be heard with the hood down but open it up and you can go up to the valve covers and hear noise from several spots under them. I can get a pair of trick flow heads for a good price completely assembled. How long of a job it is to just do the heads and nothing else right now? Would it even be worth it since i have the stock cam?

 

Replacing the heads may not be neccessary. Just pull the valve covers and check all the rockers, pushrods, springs for looseness or damage. It sounds like a few may be loose, which will cause you to be down on power. Are you hearing a tapping noise in these certain spots under the valve covers? If so, thats probably your problem.

 

The last time i popped the valve covers off nothing looked out of the ordinary. I have no idea what would be to tight or to loose and the springs are at different points of compression so besides obivious damage which i didn't see how do i check them?

 

is there a big advantage to really good heads on a stock cam or say hotcam or even a 503?

 

try using "greased lighting engine fluid" 7 bucks at kragen and it solved my problem when my lifters were stuck. dont know if thats whats wrong with it btu mine made a ticking noise everytime i gave throttle only while in gear. but after i poured that in their it took about 20 min of idle and the car sounded smooth again.

 

BAD IDEA...If you're gonna do anything likw that just get your stock casts milled, p&p etc.. It makes no sense to do what you're wanting w/ a stock cam. If you want driveability a hotcam, 227, lingenfelter etc. would suite you just fine. Or perhaps look into some AI 185cc w/ 227 or custom grind since you're running a little boost...

You need to figure out why you're so down on power 1st though...perhaps you should look into a dyno tune and see what's really going on. I wish you luck man, because you ought to have a pretty decent amount of HP w/ what you have invested in.

 

out of the box TFS heads and the stock cam with the stock shortblock would probably slow the car down due to the lower compression.

 

^exactly my point... Why don't you just get some 1.6rr and some decent valve springs...that will most defientely give you a little bit more power, I don't know if that would solve your mystery problem of why your car is running so badly though.

 

what cc are the stockers?

 

I believe they are 56cc , LT4s are 54 . TFS heads are 62cc out of the box. They would drop the compression into the high 9s with a stock replacement head gasket .

 

look here for LT1 VS. LT4...good info http://www.grandsportregistry.com/lt1vslt4.htm

back on subject though... What all have you done MRMINT to try to get your car running better? Have you checked Fuel Pressure, vacuum, IAC counts etc. I'd like to see if we could get you back in better shape man.

 

He has a blower... which I suspect it why he is asking about the Trick FLow heads, with the lower CR.

 

Wouldnt lower compression be good??? More boost less compression makes more power then the other way around right?

 

I assumed with a supercharger you would want lower compression. It sounds like a cam is necessary or i shouldn't even bother.

 

How many people here are rolling around with thousands of dollars invested in a set of heads, on a stock cam?

not many...more like 0

IMO Mint you need to get that car to a dyno, get the timing optimized, fuel, spark etc, with that alone I wouldn't be surprised if you pick up what you should have @ 6psi, and have a huge net gain of HP after it's all dialed in right. Otherwise your car will probably never run the way you expect it to.