First a little background on my car. Its an L98 with most (if not all) of the bolt-on type mods including Accel intake, AS&M runners, ported plenum, LT headers, 1.6 RRs, etc, etc, etc. Its a relatively strong runner considering the mods I have done to it as it normally sees high 12s at the track in normal weather and down to mid 12s in great weather.

As of now the car is stock heads/cam, but shortly I'll be buying an LPE 219 cam from Vic'89. So in the not too distant future this cam will be going in the car and I'm figuring it will be a good time to do something with the heads as well. All other parts are going back on the car, meaning I'm keeping the LTR set-up. I could see possibly going to a SR down the road, but for now I'm thinking it will run fairly decent with the current intake, plus I'm curious about how quick the car will run while still retaining this set-up.

My goals are simply to get the car to run quicker in the 1/4 without a huge amount of money. I'd like to see the car running in the mid 12s consistently and low 12s in good weather (high 11s would be cool too ) I'm really not looking for anything wild, just a street car that holds its own at the track.

Looking at my goals for the car and the set-up that will be in the car am I best off reworking my stock 113 heads (some porting, maybe larger valves) or going with some aftermarket heads. I really don't see any big plans for builds in the future so I don't want more head than I need. I know there's a vast amount of aftermarket heads out there, but I'm wondering if my current heads re-worked a bit would get me where I want to be.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

T.A.

 

I have been wondering the same thing. I don't know that we can get that much more out of the 113's. Just curious, have you had a custom chip done? With the cam you will need one.

 

Are you thinking possibly of buying the AFR 180's?

 

Do you have a reliable shop, you trust to do machine work ? Are you going to have the heads completely redone ? It can cost as much as new heads. I bought new heads because I have had too many bad experiences with the local shops. We have a good ballance shop, but thats all they do.

 

I do currently have a custom tune. I have 24 lb FMS injectors and I wasn't able to get the AF ratio in check without tuning. I do realize I'll need a tune after this project. In my limited experience I've learned that SD isn't very forgiving.

AFRs would probably be at the top of my list if I go aftermarket, but I was hoping to be able to get away with a less expensive route.

I do have someone local I trust, but honestly I haven't yet priced out what it would cost to have work done to my heads. I guess I assumed it would still be cheaper than new heads. I'll admit I don't know a great deal about the process of head work(hence my post here) but I figured at least some port matching to the intake and possibly larger valves. If this won't get me the gain I want though, I may have to get new heads.

 

Is it Joe Prince? I've met him and heard nothing but good about his work.

 

My initial thought was buying a set of 113s off Ebay for around $300 or so then spending around $700 (just a wild guess) on them in port work, valves, etc. I'd then sell mine when they came off the car for $300 or so and I'd only be out $700. Is this realistic or is my $700 figure for head work way off.

 

He wasn't who I had in mind, but I do recognize the name.

 

I think your off about 500

 

Damn, I guess that means I need to start looking at new heads.

BTW, Joe I'm looking forward to seeing your car run with the new set-up

 

me too still a few weeks away though provided everthying goes ok the rest of the way

 

http://www.racingheadservice.com/WhatsNew/

 

I spoke with cfe in Michigan earlier in the year about porting my 113s.

They claim to have developed the CNC program for LPE. From the conversation it sounded like they could get around 270 cfm intake flow, at a cost of around $1000 or so, with the cost being somewhat dependent on the hardware and the extent of services, milling, cc'ing, etc.

I thought this sounded pretty reasonable, compared to the LPE and TPIS pricing.

For me its still a toss up over putting $1000 or more into my 113s or buying a set of trick flow 175s for around $1100.

I like the idea of having them done locally.

Here's a link to cfe

http://www.cferacing.com/products_gm.htm

 

Since you mentioned Vic, you may know that he just ran 11.6 with his worked #113s.

On the financial side, if you can buy performance heads ready to install for $1,100 and sell your #113s for $400-$500 there no contest.

 

exactly

 

I am not sure when you are planning this, but I would say in about 6 weeks or so, My motor "should" be done, and I will be selling my 113's. My motor has 75000 miles, and I am pretty sure my heads will be a good start if you go that route.

 

270 cfm is alot to expect I would think from a head that originally was in the 190cfm range. Wouldnt that make the casting a tad on the weak side when "fully" hogged?

 

My opinion is to go out and buy David Vizards book "how to port chevy small block cylinder heads" and some porting materials and do it yourself on your current heads. You will learn more about airflow from this book than you will ever learn reading this forum, and will discover that porting a set of heads is not the dark art it is always purported to be on here. You will also be able to spend more time on details on them than most head porters will be willing to.
If you can dissasemble your motor then you can port your own heads. I have probably done 20 sets at this point and it has never failed to make an enormous difference in the motors output. For me porting a set of heads and a $200 local valve job is free horsepower and it is the way to go for what you have expressed that you want.
My last effort was my 94 LT1 automatic and it put down 326 RWHP with little more than a set of shortys, home ported heads, and a cam so mild most people would have told you not to bother putting it in.
Roy

 

I reworked my heads because I wanted the experience and like the satisfaction of doing things myself. It was time consuming but enjoyable and the end result did look impressive. I didn't go crazy making the ports larger, I concentrated on the pockets and chambers.
The machine shop that did my new guides and valve job was impressed with my work, that made the job even more satisfying.

 

TA, your car is a good runner to begin with and if I were looking to improve on what was already there, it would be aftermarket heads.
My consideration includes by the time it is said and done(porting, valves etc. etc. VS/aftermarket done) you're almost at the same investment, this would additionally allow for future changes (small stroker etc.)