Stock Heads

When I finally get around to building a motor (I hope to pick that one up from Bill this weekend) I would like to get around 290-300 RWHP, but I'm on a fairly tight budget as my wedding is in September.

Do you guys think it's possible to get 340-350 flywheel HP with stock iron ported heads?? Or do the F-body aluminum heads flow better when ported?? I want to do a lot of the head work myself, like port-matching the heads and intake, it seems like it'd be a fun and money-saving job to do.

Or are there any 'inexpensive' aftermarket heads that flow decently out there?

It's definately doable if you gasket match and clean them up. I had home-ported iron heads in my Caddy and it felt like it had just as much balls as my SS does now. And that puts down about 340 to the wheels...

Cool. I've been poking around looking at cylinder heads, rotating assemblies and valvetrains and I can see myself going overboard with all the awesome stuff Advanced Induction has.

Either way I'm pumped that I'll be picking up that motor tomorrow/later today. I don't think my dad is so pumped cuz I have to use his truck to go pick it up!!

Bolt ons will get you over 300 RWHP for sure. Just gotta do the right ones - but its never cheap!

Yeah, that's the issue. I want to do a 'budget' build.

I picked up the motor from Bill today and it looks good. A bit rusty but I'd expected that, nothing a hone or .030-over bore won't take care of.

I feel pretty confident about doing some port/bowl work on my own. Absolute worst-case scenario I have to buy some 'cheap' aftermarket heads (gotta really twist my arm to do that!!!

not to meddle on your conversation but jrs9c1 what are those mods your speaking of new owner of a 95 9c1 and im looking for ideas im more knowledgeable with carb type cars and such but this b body stuff is new to me and on the heads your porting i have a set of dart II that flow 330 cfm portd at home and a buddy of mine in the bronx flowed so hell yeah you can get good # out of steel heads hope that helps

alwyswntd1 - 300 RWHP is possible with all the bolts ons.

Intake
Exhaust
Headers
Gears
Converter
Tune
Valve Springs
Rockers
52mm Throttle Body
Electric Water Pump

This is on stock heads and cam.

Not to mention, the more weight you remove the faster you will go - 100 lbs = .1 in the quarter mile.

yes i understand i mean what are the parts i define.know the more weight you take off the better im talking about the parts what are the stck stuff you would have to replace.



ok i see the parts misunderstood now 1 ques i thought you could not use the 52mm bodies unless you have a cam and stuff or can you.


what would you remove from the cars without hacking it up enquiring mind

Try not to touch the combustion chamber when cleaning the heads. You can polish them, but grinding them will increase there size and lower compression.

And it would take alot of bolt ons to get you to 300 rwhp. Your engine is rated @ 260 at the flywheel. Drivetrain loss is 18%, so that is 213 rwhp stock with no mods. You have to bolt on 87rwhp. A number of things you can do to the LT1 will free up power that is actually restricted. A decent hiflow intake, 2.5" cat back exhaust, throttle body coolant bypass, underdrive pullys, high power ignition, a good tune, ect. Larger throttle bodys and injectors will not give you anything on a stock engine.

But the best thing you can do for your car before modding starts, is simple maintenence items like oil change, tune up with stock AC Delco plugs, A good wire set, fuel filter, pvc valve, air filter, belt, ect. Make sure she runs like a champ before modding. And when modding, do one mod at a time, and drive after each. This will no only alow you to feel the difference that some mods make, but also keep any problems limited to the last mod made. If you do two or three, you know have to look at more than one culprit.

IMPALADAKID wrote:

Try not to touch the combustion chamber when cleaning the heads. You can polish them, but grinding them will increase there size and lower compression.

And it would take alot of bolt ons to get you to 300 rwhp. Your engine is rated @ 260 at the flywheel. Drivetrain loss is 18%, so that is 213 rwhp stock with no mods. You have to bolt on 87rwhp. A number of things you can do to the LT1 will free up power that is actually restricted. A decent hiflow intake, 2.5" cat back exhaust, throttle body coolant bypass, underdrive pullys, high power ignition, a good tune, ect. Larger throttle bodys and injectors will not give you anything on a stock engine.

But the best thing you can do for your car before modding starts, is simple maintenence items like oil change, tune up with stock AC Delco plugs, A good wire set, fuel filter, pvc valve, air filter, belt, ect. Make sure she runs like a champ before modding. And when modding, do one mod at a time, and drive after each. This will no only alow you to feel the difference that some mods make, but also keep any problems limited to the last mod made. If you do two or three, you know have to look at more than one culprit.

To add to Impaladakid's post - Before searching for power, remember that you are dealing with a 15 year old car! Maintenance and refreshing will go a long way toward making that motor work a little less and not feel so tired!

Doug

Like the others are saying. The engine is rated for a certain power 15 years ago with 500 miles on the clock. You can assume that number has steadily dropped over the years. A thorough freshening up will regain some of the lost power which is almost like adding more power

OK SO WHO IS RUNNING AN MSD CAUSE I SAW A TOPIC ON IMP SS FORUM THAT YOU WILL NOT SEE ANY DIFFERENCE WITH AN MSD INSTALLED WHAT IS UR TAKE ON DAT SEE I HAVE 1 AND IF I CAN USE IT I WILL BUT LIKE I SAID NOT 2 FAMILIAR WITH THESE TYPE OF CARS EVERY HELP I CAN GET ILL APPERECIATE.THANKS GUYS GOOD INFO

alwyswntd1 wrote:

OK SO WHO IS RUNNING AN MSD CAUSE I SAW A TOPIC ON IMP SS FORUM THAT YOU WILL NOT SEE ANY DIFFERENCE WITH AN MSD INSTALLED WHAT IS UR TAKE ON DAT SEE I HAVE 1 AND IF I CAN USE IT I WILL BUT LIKE I SAID NOT 2 FAMILIAR WITH THESE TYPE OF CARS EVERY HELP I CAN GET ILL APPERECIATE.THANKS GUYS GOOD INFO

Stop yelling at me.

I do not know what the problem is. I have used msd stuff since the late 80s. I have only had one hei coil go bad in all that time from them. There opti cap and rotor kit is well made. But I hear the opti is junk.

WHO ME I DONT YEELLLLLLLL THANKS FOR THE INFO D MSD BOX WILL BE GOING IN THE CAR THE MALIBU DONT NEED IT SINCE THERE IS NO ENGINE IN IT OH WELL TO BAD FOR THE MALI

alwyswntd1 wrote:

WHO ME I DONT YEELLLLLLLL THANKS FOR THE INFO D MSD BOX WILL BE GOING IN THE CAR THE MALIBU DONT NEED IT SINCE THERE IS NO ENGINE IN IT OH WELL TO BAD FOR THE MALI

When you type in all capital letters, it is considered yelling on the interwebs.

oooooopppppppppss

LoL

Anyways, I'm gonna get elbow deep into the motor over the winter. I don't have any free cash right now, gotta pay for the wedding that's a few months out.

I can't wait tho, the engine has been sitting on a stand covered in a couple of trash bags and taunting me.....

I had blown a connecting rod, and figured while it was apart why not thrown a little more $ into it. I had my stock heads ported and polishied professionally, I noticed a big diference, and he also balanced my engine. I'm not sure how much HP i gained, I would live to run it on a dyno.