Big upgrade question

[Bubbafire88]

Im a junior in high school and tomorrow my camaro is going into our shop so i can take out the engine to put a cam kit along with all the supporting stuff (afm delete, lifters etc.) i will be porting the heads at our shop myself, nothing too aggressive just to take off a little extra material. im also planning to mill the heads to increase compression to get a little bit of extra power, im not sure how much to mill the heads and would like some guidance.

Parts will be tsp stage 2 na ls3 cam with stock thickness mls gaskets. not very aggressive of a cam so id imagine pvc wont be too much of a problem. just looking for some input.

Thanks

[blake-b]

there is no reason to remove the engine to do the stuff you stated. Unless the shop needs the room and the car can't stay in there while you do this. Honestly, what you are wanting to do can be done in a day.

I swapped cams a couple of times using this thread:
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125123

In order to determine how much to mill, you have to do some math. it is .006 per cc. Decide what compression you want and then figure out how much you have to remove.

Your CR is already 10.4:1. I wouldn't go too much higher if any. You didn't state what type of fuel you'll be running.

For the heads, I would do just enough to clean the surface up and make sure they are flat. I doubt you can mill enough to get a noticeable increase in power without starting to worry about PTV clearance.

You didn't mention it, but you will need a tune after doing this stuff.

[CamaroCracka]

If you are hand porting the heads, be careful. It's very easy to remove too much too quickly on aluminum.

Not sure if you have long tube headers, but you will see as much gain from a set of headers as you will from the cam or porting.

Milling heads for compression is a bit old school. You won't get more than a couple 10ths increase and a full point increase in compression increases hp by about 3%. Not worth it IMO.

Stock valves can only take .560 to .580 lift, so be sure your cam does not have more lift than that unless you are replacing springs. I have an ASA cam in a stock spring engine and it's pretty aggressive. There are a couple others. If you are replacing springs, you can go with a bigger cam and get more power than milling heads would bring.

When you get to the drive train class, put a 3.91 gear in it and you will really be getting quick. All of this will make your mileage suck, btw.

[Bubbafire88]

Originally Posted by blake-b

there is no reason to remove the engine to do the stuff you stated. Unless the shop needs the room and the car can't stay in there while you do this. Honestly, what you are wanting to do can be done in a day.

I swapped cams a couple of times using this thread:
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125123

In order to determine how much to mill, you have to do some math. it is .006 per cc. Decide what compression you want and then figure out how much you have to remove.

Your CR is already 10.4:1. I wouldn't go too much higher if any. You didn't state what type of fuel you'll be running.

For the heads, I would do just enough to clean the surface up and make sure they are flat. I doubt you can mill enough to get a noticeable increase in power without starting to worry about PTV clearance.

You didn't mention it, but you will need a tune after doing this stuff.

i Thought that removing the engine would just be an easy way to get to everything easier and to get to the converter which im replacing. i will be running the go ole` 93 octane.

So you recommend just milling the heads to get a clean surface to work on not necessarily a compression increase, i am starting to debate if it would even be worth it to mill the heads a lot becasue i would need new pushrods etc.

Originally Posted by CamaroCracka

If you are hand porting the heads, be careful. It's very easy to remove too much too quickly on aluminum.

Not sure if you have long tube headers, but you will see as much gain from a set of headers as you will from the cam or porting.

Milling heads for compression is a bit old school. You won't get more than a couple 10ths increase and a full point increase in compression increases hp by about 3%. Not worth it IMO.

Stock valves can only take .560 to .580 lift, so be sure your cam does not have more lift than that unless you are replacing springs. I have an ASA cam in a stock spring engine and it's pretty aggressive. There are a couple others. If you are replacing springs, you can go with a bigger cam and get more power than milling heads would bring.

When you get to the drive train class, put a 3.91 gear in it and you will really be getting quick. All of this will make your mileage suck, btw.

Right now it is FBO long tubes intake etc. with the cam i got everything for a full l99 to ls3 swap (lifters, springs etc.)

I am definitly planning to get 3.91 gears im the car thats for sure. Milage will suck but for all that power and a bit of chop now that worth it IMO

Both of yall seem to be against the head milling strictly for compression and are partial to milling the head for a clean surface, with that info i believe i will just do the milling for a clean surface instead of added conpression

[1JEWLDSSRS]

And don't forget to do the trunnion upgrade on the rockers while you have the heads apart. Great insurance for your valve train. CHE or Smith Brothers, I have the Smith Brothers in mine and have had zero issues so far. 27k miles on my build and getting ready to upgrade my lifters to the GMPP race "caddy" lifters. Currently have the Delphi LS7's.

[CamaroCracka]

Yes, trunnion upgrade for sure. I did the CHE and it was a piece of cake.

OP, I know your young and need to be able to drive this thing but if you want lope and chop, you will likely be disappointed with a mild cam. Whatever you choose make sure the springs allow for the lift the cam produces and realize if you go with high lift springs you will need to replace them every 25k or so. You don't have to do high lift to get lope and chop, e.g. the ASA cam, but it makes more horsepower and I've never been one try to make things sound fast, but it's your choice.

[Black_SS10]

If you mill the heads make sure to check the PTV clearance.

[Bubbafire88]

Originally Posted by CamaroCracka

Yes, trunnion upgrade for sure. I did the CHE and it was a piece of cake.

OP, I know your young and need to be able to drive this thing but if you want lope and chop, you will likely be disappointed with a mild cam. Whatever you choose make sure the springs allow for the lift the cam produces and realize if you go with high lift springs you will need to replace them every 25k or so. You don't have to do high lift to get lope and chop, e.g. the ASA cam, but it makes more horsepower and I've never been one try to make things sound fast, but it's your choice.

I just bought the trunnion upgrade after some more research, the main reason im upgrading is i got lifter tick and after I opened up the engine the lifter destroyed the cam, i got springs to accommodate the cam/ sucks that you need to replace the springs at 25k miles or so, but hey beats the stock valvetrain on these engine

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by Bubbafire88

I just bought the trunnion upgrade after some more research, the main reason im upgrading is i got lifter tick and after I opened up the engine the lifter destroyed the cam, i got springs to accommodate the cam/ sucks that you need to replace the springs at 25k miles or so, but hey beats the stock valvetrain on these engine

Awesome sauce brother!!