I tore my engine down at 130,000 miles it had no measurable signs of wear. They are good for well over 200k. I would just change the oil pump and timing chain when you change the cam unless you really want a new engine and plan on keeping it long enough to put serious miles on it.

 

well i have had the pleasure of spending the last 16 years in the navy, not near as stressful as the other branches of the military. i am stationed at Navel Station Norfolk, at the Helicopter Squadron HSC-22. before here i spent 6 years at HSC-9, before there was 2 years at HSC-2, and my first tour was done at HM-14. All 16 years of service was done here in the great state of Virginia. i have done 3 deployments of 7 months and 2 at 9 months. i have a ridiculous amount of sea time as well. i know my time in service is coming to an end, as i come up on my 20 year mark. you are correct that i dont get much wrench time as my time is more spent teaching which i am sure has something to do with me buying an older car to wrench on. the bases do have the hobby shops however they dont like for you to leave your car there over night as they dont want the liability for it. i have almost every tool i could possible need for the tasking and if i dont have it i would go out and get it.. i can never have to many! plus with the corvette sitting in the driveway it would motivate me to get the job done quicker.

i know i get thanked alot for my service, but the real heros are those that are actually out more then i am. i can complain all day long about sleeping in a 200 man birthing on a ship, but those in the Army or Marines have it way worse then me. those are the real heros in my eyes. so with that being said give your son a hug the next time you see him and give him my thanks. he is the real hero!

Mike

 

The extra stress of adding bolt on modifications, that would add between 100 and 125 hp or so most likely wont harm a well taken care of engine.

The parts that would be suspect would be replaced during the heads and cam process. The bottom end is very strong on the LS1 and will easily support the power of mild to moderate bolt on's and cams. If the compression is good on all 8, and there is no abnormal particulate matter in the oil, you can postpone the rebuild. IMHO

 

College roommate did heads and cam on his FRC at more than 70k and the car has 150k on it now. He started running HPDEs at Road Atlanta in addition to street miles. The motor is not showing any signs of needing a rebuild.

I did heads and cam at 65k on my old FRC, last I heard the current owner was over 120k.

LS motors with regular maintenance are 300k+ mile motors.

 

This is all information I did not know.. looks like a head and cam swap for me!

 

So with that being said I have read alot of things about the 243 heads... do I rework those or do I buy new?

 

You can get used ones on eBay for around $550 or 799 heads for around $350 which are the same casting without the sodium filled valves. Make sure they don't have broken exhaust bolts in them. Disassemble them and take them to a trusted head shop for valve refacing and deck resurfacing if they need it. Some of the used heads available on line are already rebuilt.

 

i should have clarified a little more Rob, i already have the 243 heads installed. should i rework those at a trusted shop or should i look into buying the head and cam combo?

 

Aftermarket heads (TFS, Mamo) likely get more power. Is it worth the money? That is your call.

TEA, Advanced Induction, TSP have good CNC options for the 243s.

 

You can get the heads reworked for ~$200 if you disassemble them.

It is over $1,000 for aftermarket heads. I don't think you would see a huge gain from them. Every little bit counts.

 

if you aren't going for a max effort n/a build (and it doesn't sound like you are) then personally I would just work with the 243s that you already have... if money permits it you can have them ported/polished, valve job, seals, springs, etc... no doubt the higher end heads like mamo/afr/etc are super nice and will make more power but they are easily $2k+ and to some they may not be as cost effective for that extra power bump... that being said, 243s can still make decent power and if you ever decide to go forced induction later they will still work great... you can easily make 800+ with stock cast 243s and some boost

 

if you are still searching for the 500whp then I would suggest Mast motorsports heads a stable valvetrain and (at a minimum) better rod bolts. because you will have to spin it past 7,000rpm to hit your number. if you are going the re-worked 243's then disregard this... and go with what the others have suggested... 500rwhp is very possible. I went to high school with Cary Chonaird. and saw a vette with his old ETP heads put down 512 at the wheels... (cary is the "head chief" at mast.... pun intended )

 

yeah i think i will re work the heads i have, have a mild cam put in, headers/exhaust and a tune. where ever that lands me in the HP rating is where it will be at. i want to thank everyone for there repy's. you guys are going to make this possible.

and my apologies for being absent the last few days, i ended up trading in my RAM 2500 for a new REBEL. its a great feeling buying a new vehicle!

mike

 

IMHO - start by doing a Compression Test - and if possible - a leak-down test. Then do an oil change, and send a sample of the oil to Blackstone for testing. If the compression / leak-down test and the oil analysis look good - I would not bother rebuilding the motor.

You have a base LS1 motor - correct. The base LS1 heads do NOT flow anywhere near as well as the heads on the LS6 did. So - a Cylinder head change WILL pick up some high RPM power. Your call if you want to go with the LS6 heads or an aftermarket head - AFR Heads are highly respected - but there are plenty of other candidates out there. Along with the heads - a cam, long tube headers and a tune done by someone who knows what they're doing should get you into the low 400 HP at the rear wheels. (BTW - if you do go with the LS6 Heads - make sure you go with aftermarket valve springs - the 2002 factory springs are known to have "issues"....). The good news is that pretty much everything on the above list is in the Do It To Yourself category, and let's see... Say $2,000 - $2,500 for heads, another $1,000 for headers and exhaust, and another $700 for the cam kit. Add in another couple of hundred for misc gaskets etc, and you're at the $4K - $4.5K mark in parts. Then figure a good tune will run around $500 - and you're still at under that $5K mark.

If you want to go for more power than that - there are lots of options - but all have bigger $$$ associated with them.

 

You can use LS6 springs if the lift on your cam is under .570", 580" is probably pushing it.
I'm using the LS6 cam but if I had to do it over I may have gone with the Lingenfelter GT2-3 or similar. This is probably too mild for a lot of people but I'm in to reliability. I don't want to change springs every 10K miles.

Neither cam has much of a lope.

 

I would talk to the Cam manufacturer and discuss spring recommendations, lift is only 1 factor in determining the spring. Ramp rates may vary and require different pressure.

I like Cam Motion or vendors such as EPS who use Cam Motion to grind their cams for reliability

Given the parts you have and the budget discussed, I like the basic combination below:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/dynamomet...vid-added.html