Add me to the list of harmonic balancer victims. In my case it wasn't that the balancer was defective but the bolt seems to have loosened and allowed the balancer to slide forward. This allowed oil to get past the front seal and get the cradle and componets really dirty/oily.

So I have the steering rack out and accessories off to clean them up. I have a new timing set and melling oil pump to do since I'm this far in. Now I have a delima of do I want to put a cam in it as well. And if I am going to put a cam in, is it worth it to do without changing the heads... and on and on.

The car is a 6 speed 99 with the 853 heads and 75k miles. Convince me one way or another if I should swap the cam.

My initial thoughts at the moment are:
Oil pressure sensor relocation (mine went to 130psi a bit before I tore it down)
LS6 intake
Headers
Leave the heads on the engine
Hardened Pushrods
Springs (918's nothing radical)
A little 224ish cam with about 0 overlap
timing set
oil pump
new LS2 style water pump
ATI underdrive pulley
Billet idler pulleys
Air Delete
Maybe injectors??


I have a hard time convincing myself taking the heads off is a good idea. I worry about the older style head gaskets that need to be scrapped off and getting the new stuff to seal properly. The thing that most makes me want to take the heads off though would be to replace the lifters if a more aggressive cam is in the mix. I am not looking for a max effort build with 24x duration cams with 650 lift. The car is quick, but if I have do to all of this I want it to be perceptively better without sacrificing too much reliability.

Any tips on deagreasers that are kind to the plastic and rubber components are welcomed as well.

 

Simple green cleaner works good. Heck, install a cam. Why not, LS motors loves more cam.

 

This alone is a deal breaker for your valve train as far as reliability without changing them every 10-15K or so depending the hours of high rpm or revving high when the springs are cold.

.590 or less is fine for your current heads flow capacity anyway.

 

If your going all the way here to replace the oil pump, I'd at least put a baby cam and change to 243 heads.

 

Pin your crank and use an ARP crank bolt instead of the stocker.

 

If it's down that far, go ahead and either get new heads or at the least have your heads get a better valve job and/or CNC ported. At the VERY least get a 5 angle valve job/with mill and pick up at least 20hp+ for very little cost ($400-$500).

 

You could also find some slightly used 243 heads for a few hundred.

918s pac or Comp are fine springs

a 224/228 581/588 on a 113+0 would be a very good cam with this combination.


Good Luck

 

really it depends on the lobe profile and springs dont need to be warmed up like times of old anymore..
But the heads arent the greatest for sure.


OP
Dont worry about cleanup its not that hard. Depending on your budget you could put some better heads on there to go alone with the cam... or hqave yours worked over a little.... an LS6 intake would help as well.

 

After speaking with some more people I think they've made good arguements to take the heads off. I still dont know yet what direction I am going with the heads quite yet. I will keep my eye on some of the classifieds. I think not replacing the lifters though would be a mistake.

I started with some dawn/water and a soft brush this evening and it worked alot better than I thought it would. Still a long way to go. I'll try to get some picks up as I progress. Really should have had some of the oily before shots.

 

plastic scrapers work well,,,, sucking the water out of the bolt holes and then chasing them is tedious but not that hard to do.