243 Head Porting
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 61
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From: Tucson Arizona
243 Head Porting
So I’m purchasing some used LS2 243 heads with 60,000 miles on them for my 98 C5 that is used for Autox, track days and as a daily driver and I’m researching porting and milling options. A Tech from AI said that I should go to with complete Head and Cam kit with the upgraded springs if I plan to run a non-stock cam but were talking $1795 plus shipping for the kit. Question is: what are some less expensive options for these heads that would still allow me to do a performance cam down the road or can I get a substantial HP/Torque gain by just getting them polished and using them with my stock cam?
Thanks for any advise you might have.
Thanks for any advise you might have.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 12,212
Likes: 2,814
From: Fort Worth, Texas
A stock cams low lift won't really take advantage of the ported heads as well as an aftermarket cam. TEA does nice work on stock 243 castings and are reasonably priced, either way a set of headers would help exhaust the extra air flow and I would consider running a thinner head gasket instead of milling depending on how much you want to raise compression.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,572
Likes: 9
From: Jackson Tn
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09
AI offers an optional CNC head job that I used and it produces nice results. I have a set of 243's and I didn't want the intake ports opend up so AI ported the exhaust ports and both bowls blending them into the Newen valve job. Then they milled them down to increase the compression. This is a nice option if you don't want to spend a lot on heads and gives great results. The reason I didn't want the intake ports opened up was I wanted more low end torque for things like auto cross.
here is the flow chart on my heads.
here is the flow chart on my heads.
