CDNZ

I bought this car in October, drove it for a month and parked it with the plan to pull the heads and send them out over the winter. Heads came off this weekend. The job was very straight forward and hats off to everyone that contributed to the DIY LS7 Headswap thread as I leaned on it for guidance along the way. here's a couple pics and a short vid:​​​​​​​

CDNZ

The vid shows movement in a couple of intake valves. I found the exhaust did not have as much movement. I know this is very crude, but it doesn't look good :-( I am new to the LS platform, but this engine was definitely a tick-er...particularly in the 1700 to 22-2300 range. I found myself shifting to get away from the clatter. Otherwise, heads are quite clean and to me are good color in general. Now I just need to box them up and send them out for the "fix".

Edit: I only wiggled a couple intake valves in the video, there were more that I could move by hand.

CDNZ

Vid here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Wp...ature=youtu.be

SLOWRYDE

Wow... that is some bad valve movement. I loved my C6Z & the LS7. But, I just didn't want to continue dealing with this issue and finally sold it. Damn shame GM didn't get the LS7 right when they built it. Good luck with the repair.

Gearpuller

When I bought my 2010 Z06 in Oct. 2014 it had 21,500 miles on it.

Pulled the heads at 22,000 miles. 7 of 8 intake valves wiggled and 3 of the exhaust valves also wiggled petty good.

pdc001

Could you possibly list the parts that is needed for reassembly? Looks like so far I can see are headgasket (2), intake manifold gasket, exhaust manifold gasket (2), head bolts, what else is needed?

CDNZ

Here is the LS7 Head Swap Kit AHP sells:

https://www.americanheritageperforma...ad_install_kit

TXGS507

Its a good practice to replace the lifters while in there... "Some" of the LS7 had "soft": cam lobe issues. If nothing else, simply check them out.

Unreal

Intake manifold gaskets are typically reusable. Same with exhaust manifold gaskets.

CDNZ

My heads arrived at AHP yesterday. I spoke with Jake today and finalized my order. I am going with the following:

- Pkg 4, minimum milling
- MS90 guides
- Ferrea F2042P hollow exhaust valves
- Treat and polish stock intake valves (Kohle had a look at the vid I posted above and he is concerned with that much movement, the stems of my intake valves might be trashed, obviously I am hoping they're ok)
- PSI 1511ml springs
- CHE trunion upgrade
- Head install kit
- New GM lifters

I have requested they send me the data when they measure my stock guides. I will post here when I have that information.

I can echo what many have reported regarding my dealings thus far with American Heritage, Kohle and Jake have been excellent to work with, very helpful and patient with my multitude of questions. AHP are great to work with, just sucks that we have to do this at all... ...Oh, well, I am hopeful the car will be what it should have been all along when I am done with all this.

Innovate

Are you only redoing heads and no other mods? New LS7 lifters would work but I recommend Johnson 2110 LSR's in case the LS7's go bad.

Apocolipse

And shorter pushrods since 2110 are 0.045 higher

Innovate

Definitely, Smith Brothers can have you set up in a couple of days.

MTPZ06

New GM lifters w/ ~9,000 miles and retaining stock cam? Why bother? I have the same exact heads BTW...

CDNZ

Yup, no other mods. I asked AHP about this and they have some pretty high hp builds with stock GM lifters and zero issues, so I expect (hope) I'll be fine.

CDNZ

Nice! I hope I'm as happy as you seem to be with yours

Yeah,lifters are probably overkill, but because it is me doing the teardown and reassembly...for $10 a lifter, not a big deal. It is not a difficult job, I just don't want to HAVE to do it again anytime soon

Mordeth

GM lifters are fine for this application and work well. Also a good idea to replace them when the heads are off, so it's a good move. They are so cheap that they are basically free, so it's essentially foolish not to replace them with new ones, especially as you are right there staring at them. Shop is giving you good advice.

Good luck on the build and thanks much for the pics and video.

Apocolipse

Honestly at 9000 miles chances are the new ones would have a DOA issue vs the originals fail. Prob keep as is.

Mordeth

Everyone enjoys giving an opinion, even when not asked for. This guy is sharing his build, not asking for unsolicited advice. Additionally, the OP complained of a noticeable ticking noise. And while our valve train is essentially a sewing machine of semi-controlled chaos, it could have been a lifter that is worn or sticking. It is a good idea to replace them with the heads off. End of discussion. I assure you I won't be arguing this simple fact. But everyone has the privilege to post whatever non-sense they feel like.

Innovate

Cool, you should be fine with LS7 lifters. Johnsons would be good if you wanted to spend that kind of money, I personally will not use LS7's again.