PWR SHFT

Same here. I am going to be pushing the stock short block pretty hard this summer. But it will be an AI cam only car with a 150shot. Too broke for head work.

I watched one of the vids...porting really is art work. Not within my wheelhouse.

redline9570

I have plans for a forged bottom end in the future along with a 150 shot. Also want to keep it a 350 ci motor and not stroke the motor. The power band for the heads is 3000-6500 he said with different valve springs I can hit 7000rpm with this head. The heads are max ported stage 4 with epoxy tubes. I know what other charge for this level of modifications and I can safely say I paid half that. The heads went from a stock 170cc to a 190cc head, he said it will flow near 300 cfm at 28". He also worked the exhaust ports and opened them up so later I can add juice. The only thing I will have to do is get a set of stainless steel 1.97 seat saver valves. I picked a off the shelf cam "xfi 280 comp cam 230/236 576/570 w/1.6 113lsa" which compliments the current configuration, I could of went with a custom grind but budget is my concern at the moment and I got a great deal on the cam. I have no intention to tacking it to 6500 with this bottom end but I do think it can handle 6000. With bolt-ons, head work, cam, intake port, CAI, Tube and headers this engine should be in the 430-450hp range. Now lets tickle it with some juice =).

redline9570

Ditch the NoS, what you will pay for a good NoS system you can get a nice port and bowl job from him and you wont burn your motor up so fast.

PWR SHFT

Already have the nitrous. Just need to rebuild the solenoids.

Good luck to you! I look foward to see what numbers you car puts down. Sounds like a lot of fun is coming your way.

redline9570

I doubt it will see the track before a new rear end. I am keeping an eye out on the "parts for sale" forums hoping to catch a deal. The car only has 25k original miles on it so I will ride out the old rear for a little bit and try not send it into oblivion. I got a new HD clutch installed already also but I am sure the first 1/4 mi. pass this car make it will get pulled for no roll bars. For now it will be a lot of tire smoking fun and ricer burning enjoyment. Not that ricers were an issue before but now I can smoke the tires past them =).

RamAir95TA

Why are you trying to sell this guys' work so hard when there's no definitive proof they are even worthwhile?

That 430-450HP goal you mentioned, is that rear wheel or flywheel HP?

adam85

With my LE2 setup I rev to 6500 easily on the stock bottom end. I have taken it to 6800 many times too. I think you will be fine going ove 6000 rpms. if it is in good shape.

redline9570

Got a good deal on the port work and there is alternatives to the high priced AI, Edelbrock, Trix Flow and other manufacturers. How much did you spend for your AI heads? I was looking on AI site and for 190cc heads full cnc, studs and valves it was around $2.4k. Does everyone have to follow mainstream for you to consider worth while?
I got stage 4 porting and if you watched the videos you will see all the other work that it entails. I know we can sit here now and discuss "again" how there is no industrial standard for "stage" that you guys made clear in my previous post mocking me. Now I plan to make you eat your words and discredit you. I will have it dyno tuned and post the results.
What really bothers you, that some people can get the same level of performance for a fraction of the cost as you? Besides these forums are for having discussion and exchanging ideas, you only criticize everything with your negative nanny attitude. Why not tell me why do "you" feel that these heads will suck and his port work is no good? I mean what proof did AI hand you that their heads are the sliced cheese on the wonder bread? You went to their site they got this generic flow chart posted and that's it. Why don't you prove that those head actually do what they claim? He CC tested the heads on one of his videos and clearly shows the level of work. I tend to believe what I see.
Side note I also thought people would enjoy the videos, lot of use full information in there for the "want do it yourselves".

redline9570

Got a good deal on the port work and there is alternatives to the high priced AI, Edelbrock, Trix Flow and other manufacturers. How much did you spend for your AI heads? I was looking on AI site and for 190cc heads full cnc, studs and valves it was around $2.4k. Does everyone have to follow mainstream for you to consider worth while?
I got stage 4 porting and if you watched the videos you will see all the other work that it entails. I know we can sit here now and discuss "again" how there is no industrial standard for "stage" that you guys made clear in my previous post mocking me. Now I plan to make you eat your words and discredit you. I will have it dyno tuned and post the results.
What really bothers you, that some people can get the same level of performance for a fraction of the cost as you? Besides these forums are for having discussion and exchanging ideas, you only criticize everything with your negative nanny attitude. Why not tell me why do "you" feel that these heads will suck and his port work is no good? I mean what proof did AI hand you that their heads are the sliced cheese on the wonder bread? You went to their site they got this generic flow chart posted and that's it. Why don't you prove that those head actually do what they claim? He CC tested the heads on one of his videos and clearly shows the level of work. I tend to believe what I see.
Side note I also thought people would enjoy the videos, lot of use full information in there for the "want do it yourselves".

adam85

I do not think anyone is mocking you. You post the vids and seem to expect everyone to go nuts but whats wrong with people asking questions? I watched All the vids btw and enjoyed them. I hope you follow through with posting the results you get and meet your goals. Good luck.

RamAir95TA

CCing the heads doesn't mean they'll make power. You also mention that he says they will flow 300cfm yet in a post of his own typing he says they'll get about 280 max.

I am not mocking anyone. I am GENUINELY curious why you are convinced these heads will outperform just about everyone else JUST by seeing a video. They may be great, they may be crap, but you won't actually know until you've done all the work and bolted them on. If they work, terrific! If not well, sometimes it sucks being the guinea pig.

Track results, dyno results, and consistency across the board from one customer to another are results. You don't get that from YouTube.

And I paid $2400 for the heads/cam/intake manifold from AI. I chose to go with their heads after comparing their customers' cars to the other guys and they seemed to be on top. I have no problem paying top dollar to a company who can actually substantiate their claims.

Again I'm not criticizing anyone or saying these heads are junk.

redline9570

I can say I paid less then half for 190cc and close to 300cfm at 28". He did mention in the videos 280cfm but I talked to him later on by phone and he said it will be closer to 300cfm since we bumped the port work up to a stage 5. The guy ports heads for NHRA I doubt I will have a crap set of heads handed to me.
How did AI substantiate their claims to you, did they test "your" heads and post a video for you to see the testing done or did they whip out their generic flow specs, stuff it in a box, mailed it to you and said here is what it will do? Big company does not mean quality and of course small time guy does not equal it either rather I am getting way better personalized service that you wont get from a big company and for a lot less.
Like I mentioned, in your previous responses to my posts, you had nothing substantial to say just that you thought it was a bad idea.
"https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/lt1-based-engine-tech-9/shaving-lt1-heads-871766/" Take a look yourself, and honestly that is why I am rather annoyed with you and I guess our discussion about the term "stage" was wiped off the forums because I couldn't find it.

redline9570

I never though you were mocking me but another poster who seems to always say things like "your setup is wrong" or "what makes you think these heads will out perform" or other comments he made in the past. He tends to tell me that he thinks it's wrong but never says why, not sure is it because he's too good to explain or just a forum troll.
I come to these forums to post my build to get feedback and perhaps constructive criticism. I don't aim this comment towards you.

PWR SHFT

Listen, we all hope you have the greatest results from your head work and we all anxiously await these results because if they pan out, it gives us another avenue for our antiquated platform.

With that said, we have two top notch head porters that specialize in LTx heads. Advanced Induction and Lloyd Elliot. On this site and others that tailor to the LTx platform, there are HUNDREDS of folks who have PROVEN performance from both of these vendors. Proven multiple times and claims to back them up. So although they may be more expensive that what you are getting, we can rest easy knowing that we are getting what we paid for with realistic expectations.

In the past, there have been other porters who have ventured into LTx territory with less than stellar results, bad customer service, and other issues that are way too numerous to go into here. As LTx enthusiats, you can appreciate that we are little "gun shy" and skeptical when someone new comes along with a custom ported head that has no results to go along with them.

Like someone said earlier, you are the guinea pig. We all hope you strike gold and they work out for you. And again, if they are all they are cracked up to be, we would have another option for basically a dead platform with a bunch of devoted followers.

Good luck to you and keep us posted on your results.

Best,

RamAir95TA

If you'd like me to analyze my first post you linked let's get that out of the way now.

I have been dealing with LT1s for 15 years now and have seen just about everything. Some of the other old-timers like Fred, Rob, Rich, Jason, etc., have been here even LONGER and have seen even MORE. Having said that posters like yourself come and go, propose your build idea, run with it, then come back onto the forums asking why are their numbers low, why the track times aren't what they expect, why the drivability sucks, etc. You posted a recipe that would give less than stellar results. Seen it a dozen times. "Stage 3 port and bowl" means nothing especially coming from an essentially no-name in the LT1 world. And just because he ports "NHRA heads (whatever that means)" does NOT automatically make him a genius in the LT1 community. The 280XFI is a good off-the-shelf cam but for the price there are more advanced custom grinds to deliver exactly what you want. You then say you want to keep your compression around 10.25-10.5:1 which makes absolutely NO sense in terms of performance. Typically performance builds target 11.5:1+. And if you think you can't run that high of a compression ratio on an LT1 you are mistaken. My 383 is closer to 12.5:1 and I've got NO problems and more importantly the RESULTS to prove it. Then you say your shop says your combo should be 450HP. Obviously they mean flywheel horsepower which would translate to about 350whp which is about the same as a good cam-ONLY car on stock heads. Considering you plan on using a 280XFI and these "stage 3" heads and you're only going to get 350whp is pretty sad, hence my comment about starting over. All that work and you'll run neck and neck with a smarter owner's cam-only LT1. I shouldn't even mention anything about the "10s on a stock drivetrain comment" because that's just ridiculous.

As far as why I chose AI heads all I had to do was do a search. AI has some of the fastest if not THE fastest stock-casting headed cars in the country. There isn't just one or two but DOZENS of them reproducing their claims on their website. This is called substantiated evidence - results that are more than just a YouTube comment or writing on a webpage. I could have went with LE, GTP, AFR, etc., but the results that I wanted were being produced by AI. It's fairly simple I am sure you can understand that. And why are you quick to dismiss their customer service when you haven't done business with them, talked to them on the phone via email or in person? You're taking stabs in the dark while grasping at straws.

I get frustrated when I see posts like that where new members come on spouting off their great plan but in reality it's been done before. Making horsepower is easy if you do your homework and I think it is safe to say you simply haven't. I don't mean that in a negative condescending way but as an obvious newbie you need to be receptive to constructive criticism. In other words, take your own advice.