I’m stock ls1 with ls6 intake, 315 gears and borla exhaust. I want to do LT headers and cam but not sure what the going price is, what power to expect and what supporting mods to do? Having a pro shop do it but want to make sure I don’t get bent over. Thank you!

 

You own a Corvette and are talking about mods? You have already assumed the position😜. You’re talking at least $1500-2000 just in parts if you’re buying new from what I have seen and observed/researched here. Labor will depend but there is a good amount of work and tuning you will need for it all to come together. $3k wouldn’t seem out of range. Package deals offered by speciality shops might cut that down a bit good LTs aren’t cheap. Good luck.

 

I agree - for good quality parts, labor and a tune I would say $3K+ is not unusual.

 

Keep us posted on your results op.

 

Welcome to the forum! I agree with what others have said about price. My personal recommendation for the LT headers are Kooks. Since you asked about supporting mods, I will bring up a few things. The headers will kick off some heat. I would suggest that you either wrap or ceramic coat them. You may also consider some heat shielding for you plug wires, and your starter/starter wires. Some will tell you they've been fine without this, others not so much. It's better to be safe than sorry. If you're really worried about the extra heat, you might consider hood louvers or a heat extractor aftermarket hood (although I don't really think you'll need them). Since you're adding power, you might also want to consider upgrading your tires and suspension. Extra power is useless if you can't get it to the road. I would suggest a good set of summer tires (such as Michelin Pilot Super Sports). You'd be amazed at the difference a good tire makes. For suspension, I would recommend C6 Z51 sway bars and C6 Z06 shocks. These are direct bolt on replacements, and will make your car feel like it is on rails. Modding a Corvette is a deep deep rabbit hole that is both easy and a lot of fun to fall into. I wish you the very best of luck with your build. Let us know how it goes.
Don't forget to SAVE THE WAVE

 

Welcome to the asylum...

 

Skip the cam and go procharger. Cam is 75% the price of going FI gaining 30-40hp.... Unless you do heads etc then it's as much or more than a supercharger. Supercharger you gain 150hp+ and you can unbolt it if you need to sell. Just my $.02

 

On what planet is a cam kit 75% of the cost of going with a blower?

My cam kit cost me $800. A&A Corvette blowers start at $5,650 before you pick options.

 

I agree that a supercharger is better bang for the buck. However, I don't agree with Walter's price assessment. My A&A kit with install and tune was around $8K. The extra power caused my transmission to blow on the Dyno, and I upgraded to a stage 5 trans from RPM. That added several thousand dollars more (on top of the $8K).

 

Definitely depends on the goals. I picked up 60hp with a cam swap and stock heads. Heads and injectors can get me another ~40 if I want it, but I'm not really looking for max effort NA performance either.

A blower is great, but it all depends on how you use the car, too.

 

I second the blower. I've gone the internal mod NA route. It is great when there are no problems. If I had it to do over again, I'd go this route myself. Stock reliability/driveability/fuel mileage, with internal mod power......

 

This planet, if OP can't do his own labor. If not 75%, a cam install with tune will be at least 60%......

 

I'd like to see the shop that charges $4200 in labor for a cam swap and see if they're looking for investors. That's quite a lucrative operation they've got running....

 

Exactly. Even though I said if I had to do it again, I'd go FI, a large plus of going NA with cam, heads, etc., is you can do it in stages, while a blower install is a blower install. No $2,000 upgrade this year, and a $2,500 upgrade next year. You have to have the full monty, $6,000.00+ up front with FI. Luckily, I've never had to upgrade my A4. Its still going strong@116,000 miles. However, #1, I may have gotten a really good unit from the factory, and/or, #2, I've run nothing for stickier tires other than 315-30-18 Michelin PS IIs, so with drag radials, my story may have had a much different history.....

 

What ever you do. Know what power you are shooting for. Never pay retail for parts.
Have a plan. Know that you can count on your estimate of costs to be too low. There is
always more expense than you thought you will have. Power is not cheap.
Good luck

 

I love how this post has evolved. I have had the same ideas about headers/cam but continue to dismiss them due to cost. $3k for better exhaust note and slightly more power makes little sense in a $12-15k car. Add to that all the other parts that may be stressed and break or make sense to change along the way and it’s even less appealing. Makes more sense to wait until other repairs open up a path for changes.

Ir does make sense to do upgrades IF you can do the work yourself ( and like to) or get it done with a knowledgeable friend.

 

Here's the thing, I got my car for 12k. I don't think "but it's such a cheap car why would I spend $X dollars for that?" because that's silly. I bought it because it was a decent price for a lightweight, easily modded platform that will do whatever I want to do. Now some things I just don't care about as much as others and budget is always a consideration. For instance you'll never see me buy Kooks headers. I wouldn't buy them for any car though. I'm sure they are very nice and the fitment is probably spot on and all that jazz. But they are out of my league. My HUD will probably never be visible because I don't care enough to pull apart my dash to fix the cheap plastic hinge pin they used in it. Just not a priority for me. A cam should be at the top of the list for anything with an LS in it though. The factory left so much on the table that it would be crazy not to do it. Just do the water pump and harmonic balancer (and maybe the oil pump) at the same time to save on labor cost.

 

I love a cammed car, and am in my second built C5 Z06. I had a number of toy cars in between both Z's including an '04 cobra (FI) that was a 662 rwhp monster of a land yacht. My two Z's are my favorite cars of all time because of the stop light to stop light f'in around fun driving. A blower applies a huge amount of horsepower in a smooth easy transition that can be gentle on the drivetrain yet throw you back in the seat......and that blower whine . It's a win win choice for anyone! I like my cars to shake like they have parkinson's at a stop light.

 

The long tubes are more frustrating than hard, the cam swap however is something that requires the removal of the steering rack. Does not "require" an alignment but its a good idea after.


Another thing to note, cam/heads or blower both will need injectors and a tune.

 

It's not $4,200 for labor. If you paid only $800 for a cam kit, you got a VERY good deal. My PAC springs, Ti retainers, and cam came to a LOT more than $800.00 Not trying to start a pissing match, but stock reliability is worth LOT. I dont agree that cam kit installs are near 75% of the cost of a blower install. There are NO cars out there with a good cam kit that will go 250,000 miles like a stock LS1 will, without tearing into the motor. A blower kit is totally stock reliability, unless your drag racing everywhere you drive. In that case, it would still be more reliable than a cam kitted engine. You won't need to change valve springs every 30,000 miles, or worry much about cam lobes and lifters being eaten, or cam bearing wear, either. You'll pay considerably more up front with a blower, but it will even out over time. Like you said, it depends how you use the car.