I have a completely stock 03 Z06 and will be going to HPE to get their Stage 2 Stinger special in two weeks. I have already talked to them and was told that if im planning to with port and polish heads, that their Mega Death cam would be a good choice. But if im gonna go with AFR heads, a slightly milder cam would work best due to some clearance issues that the Mega death cam would have if mated to AFR's. Now i have never owned a Heads and Cam car before, so i wouldnt know how much of a difference in Horsepower their is between AFR's and port - polish stock heads. Just trying to figure out what type of heads i should go with that way i know what cam to pick when i go to HPE. My Z06 is mainly used as a street car but it will see the track occasionally. The car is only used on the weekends so street driveability isnt to much of a concern, which i heard is common with aggressive Heads and Cam combo's. So if any of yall out their with heads and cam Z06's - Is it best to fork out the extra dough for AFR's or just port and polish my stock heads due to only a slight increase in HP between the two. I forgot to add also- I will be spraying nitrous as well. HELP ME !!!!

 

First off, I would never buy a cam named after a bad 80's hair band.

Here's a real good example of a great use of mild heads and small cam.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-500-rwhp.html

I believe forum member "Toque" runs the AFR 205 and G5X1E setup as well.

PS - I don't like nitrous...but that's just me. For the last 20+ years, my saying has always been "All throttle, no bottle".

 

Thats crazy how milled AFR heads with a small cam can produce that much power. I guess bigger isnt always better. huh. I wonder if anyone on this forum has ran with a Megadeath cam. Ive seen only seen one on youtube that pushed 447 rwhp with a Megadeath cam, Longtubes, x-pipe and a underdrive pulley.

 

Well, your profile isn't filled out, so we don't know where you're from, but several well known tuners have gotten over 500 RWHP with Trickflow heads. Myself achieved 483 SAE corrected with a smallish 228-232 cam. Since the trend lately has been to use cams with cute names, I'll call it the "Excreter" cam. I recommend calling TEA (Total Engine Airflow) and get them to set you up with a set of their TF heads. If you're on the east coast, ECS, Vengence, and England Green are just a few of the tuners with H/C packages that're proven performers. I think some of their cams have cute names, too.

 

Call England Green in Houston. Not knocking anybody else, but since you are in the Houston area, they are more than worth your time.

 

You may also want to do a little more research regarding polishing the heads. I've spoken with a couple engine builders, as well as the tuner I use for my needs, that have the opinion that porting can be good but polishing can actually create turbulence in the airflow. I would think if a builder is going to do something that would cost him money from lost services, there might be something to it.

I'm not recommending one way or the other, just suggesting you might want to evaluate further.

 

I've also read that polishing doesn't help. Think of a golf ball - it doesn't have a smooth surface but instead has dimples. I'm not saying you should have your heads dimple-ized, but you get the idea.

 

A set of tfs 215 heads will work great out of the box. Best option is to go through TEA.
That would be worth the money IMO.
My car has run 9.9x's@ 138+ with these heads.

 

I assume this package comes with lt headers or you are at least getting a set ??? all this is for nothing with out
Steve

 

Yes this package comes with Kooks 1 7/8 Longtubes, catted x pipe, comp pushrods, My choice of cam, Duall valve springs, Double roller Timing chain, Msd wires, NGK plugs and dyno tuned as well. I live in Odessa, Tx which is an 8hr drive to HPE in Houston. Not familiar with any good Tuners but am willing to give these guy a try and see how much HP they can pull out of my car without blowing it up.

 

Do those Trick Flow heads work more better with small cams than they would with a big size one ? I will be looking into that head set up for sure.

 

The problem with porting the stock heads is they have to increase runner volume to get more air flow and loose flow velocity. The AFR and Trickflows outflow most ported stock heads and have runners with less volume, which means they are flowing at higher velocity. Higher flow velocity increases power and throttle response everywhere in the RPM range, so the aftermarket heads make a lot of sense especially for a street car. Mega Death sounds like a buzz word for a very agressive cam, and might get tiresome driving it around on the street. I'd do some more cam research and self searching about how you want the car to behave before making a decision

 

if you are serious about making power and you're going to spend the money for the afr or trickflow heads,do yourself a favor and spend some time reading up on cams.this is a link to the best info you can find on cams for the ls1.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/genera...cam-guide.html

in this thread there are various links to other discussion with more info than you could ever ask for.here are the links to the other threads i would check out.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/genera...4-comp224.html
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/genera...n-part-ii.html
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/genera...-part-iii.html

after reading these links you'll realize the best thing you can do is get the heads you want first,then have one of the "cam experts" over at ls1tech spec you out a cam for your needs/wants of the car.it will cost you about $100-$200 more for the custom cam but it will be money well spent.

 

I think great heads work with either a large, or smallish cam, but the TF heads are a great foundation for whatever direction your build takes you. If you just want max power though, FI is the way to go. If you do it step at a time like I did, you'll wind up there eventually.

 

Thanks for them links. It helped me better understand how the different ratios work as far as duration, lift and lsa. I made my appointment already at HPE now i just gotta let them know what kind of cam spec i want. They said they can do a custom grind for me if prefered a different cam from what they have. You kow of a good cam spec that works great on the street with excellent mid and top end power but doesnt lose to much torque as well? I know i cant have my cake and eat it too but its worth a try.

 

to spec a cam is pretty involved.you'll want a flow sheet for your heads,let them know what headers and exhaust you have,other supporting mods,where you want the power band,weight of car,manual or automatic,etc...
that's why off the shelf cams are ok but for max performance,custom is the way to go.
when building a motor,you can't just buy this part and that part (because people say they are the best) and get an efficient motor.you might end up with a high max rwhp number but not making good power across the board.

ALL YOUR PARTS NEED TO WORK TOGETHER.

another think i would suggest is,when you buy your heads,ask them which intake manifold they recommend.some heads need a 90mm and some work great with the ls6 intake.again,it's all about matching parts and the heads (imo) are the most important part.

 

Did you see this?
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/perf...cam-video.html

 

I dont have a H/C package, but am thinking about it... have heard of drivability being a side effect of this being done to the car. What exactly are the usdesirable things the car will do with a H/C package?
Any info would be appreciated to those of us who havent driven one.
Thanks

 

The drivability issue is completely controlled by your tune. You can run a big cam on the street if your tuner is good. Will a big cam be the best choice for you? That depends on where you want your power band. I went with a med-sm. 228-232 cam on my H/C pkg., and the results were excellent after it was tuned. I had more TQ from off idle, and lots more HP all the way to redline, and no peakyness or transition at all. In fact, with the increase in compression, my highway gas mileage was better by 2 MPGs over stock.