Head change
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 668
Likes: 26
From: Wadsworth Ohio
Head change
I want to change heads and have a few questions which I couldn't find answers to in other posting under "Head change"
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,722
Likes: 138
From: Florida
St. Jude Donor '09
I want to change heads and have a few questions which I couldn't find answers to in other posting under "Head change"
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
The OEM MLS head gasket are more than adequate, the springs should be fine assuming you do not install a cam that exceeds their maximum allowable lift value.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 975
Likes: 0
From: Norfolk Virginia
I want to change heads and have a few questions which I couldn't find answers to in other posting under "Head change"
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
2. Can't go wrong with the original GM MLS head gasket.
3. I believe yellow springs are good for .550" lift. If you are running a stock cam you have nothing to worry about. As for the 799 heads, if you want to bump the compression up a bit you can take your new heads to any machine shop and have them milled down to a cc of your choice. Should only take a day and cost less than $120.
Just my $.02 Have fun!
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
If you mill the heads, make sure that your pushrods are the correct length as milling the heads will make them theoretically longer by the same amount of the mil on the heads. Although a small amount, it still needs to be taken into account;
A couple of notes that I took during my head swap:
MAKE SURE that you get ALL liquids and dirt out of the block head bolt holes. There blind holes and if they have liquid in them, it will rupture the block!
If you can afford it, install a ARP head bolt Stud Kit. The studs are SUPERIOR to the head bolts and work excellent!
When you tighten the rockers, make sure that you rotate the crank so that the rocker bolts that your installing are on the compression stroke. That keeps the valve spring pressure off the rocker and it will prevent you from stripping out the rocker arm bolt hole when your torqueing them in place.
OEM MLS Gaskets
Make sure you DISCONNECT the ground wire and A.I.R. Check valve bracket on the BACK of the drivers side head before you try to remove it.
There’s also a wiring harness bracket bolted to the back of the passengers side head.
Print out ALL the torque specs ahead of time and have the torque sequences handy.
That’s all the stuff i can think about for now.
BC
A couple of notes that I took during my head swap:
MAKE SURE that you get ALL liquids and dirt out of the block head bolt holes. There blind holes and if they have liquid in them, it will rupture the block!
If you can afford it, install a ARP head bolt Stud Kit. The studs are SUPERIOR to the head bolts and work excellent!
When you tighten the rockers, make sure that you rotate the crank so that the rocker bolts that your installing are on the compression stroke. That keeps the valve spring pressure off the rocker and it will prevent you from stripping out the rocker arm bolt hole when your torqueing them in place.
OEM MLS Gaskets
Make sure you DISCONNECT the ground wire and A.I.R. Check valve bracket on the BACK of the drivers side head before you try to remove it.
There’s also a wiring harness bracket bolted to the back of the passengers side head.
Print out ALL the torque specs ahead of time and have the torque sequences handy.
That’s all the stuff i can think about for now.
BC
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,722
Likes: 138
From: Florida
St. Jude Donor '09
I want to change heads and have a few questions which I couldn't find answers to in other posting under "Head change"
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
1. How long did it take to do a head change if the new heads were all ready to bolt on?
2. What head gaskets would you use?
3. I am putting on 799 heads from LS2 engine which has behive springs with a pink paint marking on them. Does anyone know how good these springs are. The heads are to have only 200 miles on them. I have new LS1 Rocker Arms and bolts to put on them and will put hardened push rods on them.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
