I am swapping my TSP heads (LS2) off my old car to my new car. They have been installed for years with about 22k miles with the motor having about 66k on it. The new engine has about 47k on it. Should I plan on resurfacing them or just check them with a machined straight edge and if they are true just clean them and rolll with it? I know guys pull heads all the time for various reasons without resurfacing them, but in those cases, they are going back on the same block. Since these are going from one block to another should I just plan to take .003 off of them for safe measure? Am I overthinking this? What say you? Springs will be replaced regardless.

 

I would. My machinist insists on truing up even brand new heads. The guy's been around the block a time or two. I trust him. Also, it's a good time to do a little milling other than a clean up and use a thinner head gasket. Added static compression makes more power, makes for a smoother running engine, and helps with fuel eco too. Depending on the camshaft you're running, increased static CR might not be a good idea. Best to run the DCR numbers.

 

My gut was telling me to resurface them. The cam will be a Cam Motion 224/238-118+4 with 595/.587 lift - much tamer than my previous NA cam. I was planning to stud it with an LS9 gasket. I know studs are overkill for my power goals, but its fairly cheap insurance over ARP bolts. How far is your guy from San Antonio. I wasn't really happy with the machine shop here with some work they did on a Cummins head. I don't mind driving three to four hours for a good shop. I don't want to run E85, so what compression ratio is safe in the 6-8 psi range with a TVS2300?

 

I think that's an excellent cam to go along with a TVS2300. If I did another TVS build, that's really close to what I'd use on a 6.0 or 6.2L. I'd leave the compression ratio as is. Bump it up if you're good with running E85 on a stock CR ratio LS2 or 3. Leave it alone if not. With that cam, you're good if you want to up the boost a little. G&G Performance Engines in Tomball is who I use. Talk to Big Joe.

 

I don't think it is necessary to resurface the heads. I have had the heads off of multiple LS engines and the only thing I did was do a thorough cleaning of the head and block surfaces and then re-install with a new head gasket.

As for compression, I am running an Eforce (TVS2300) on my LS3 Grand Sport. Last year, I replaced the lifters with some Johnson 2110R's and while I was in there I put in an LS9 cam, LS9 head gaskets, and ARP studs. My boost is about 7.5 psi.

The LS9 gaskets drops the compression about 0.2 which really isn't much but does help a little with bringing combustion temps down. And the more supercharge friendly LS9 cam also helps a lot. The Cam Motion cam you have chosen will be awesome with a TVS2300 and 6-8 psi of boost is perfect. I would expect you to be at a nice 600 to 650 wheel hp.

The ARP studs are an excellent upgrade. They are stronger but I think the greater benefit is that they give a much more consistent clamping force than bolts. I have used ARP bolts previously and it was much easier and felt better torquing down the nuts for the studs versus the bolts. The studs also engage the entire thread of the holes in the block which just give a much stronger and solid hold.

 

How do you like the lifters? I was looking at some Johnsons but with the tie bar so I can ditch the factory trays. Curious why you went with the LS9 vs aftermarket? Were you wanting stock idle? 600 rwhp is my goal. I am trying to keep this build sensible, street able, and as relatively reliable as possible. I think the stock bottom end will do fine at that power leve,l but I am toying with going ahead and doing a forged rotating assembly but I honestly think I will be ok at this power level. I will be using a RPM built 4l65e with a 3600 stall paired with a Z06 diff w/3.42. It should be a really fun car on the street.

 

The Johnson 2110R's are excellent. It's the best stock style LS7 lifter. The tie bars would be even better. I changed them out because at the time I was chasing an intermittent lifter bearing squeak.

As for the LS9 cam, I wanted a more supercharger appropriate cam but didn't want to exceed my fuel injector's limits. If I would have gone with an aftermarket cam, I would have needed to spend more on a set of injectors. I think I would like to eventually go with the same Cam Motion cam you have chosen but when I do, I will be putting in a set of IDX1000's as well. And the LS9 cam is a cheap but reliable upgrade. Last I looked, it was $150. And at the time, I honestly wasn't interested in replacing my stock LS3 cam but I figured since I was in there and it was only $150 plus no other parts needed, why not. And I picked up a lot more power than I figured I was going to. My previous whp and wtq was 520/520. With the LS9 cam, I am at 565 whp and 510 wtq. Lost the tq in the midrange but at 4900 rpm and up gained quite a bit of both hp and tq. At redline tq was significantly increased from about 420 to 450. I was extremely surprised by how good the LS9 cam did. And it was on a properly calibrated Mustang dyno. And the tq loss was not enough to even notice.

Your cam choice should get you to 600 whp no problem and be streetable. And I think you will be fine as well in regards to reliability. With that stall and gears, it will indeed be wild but easy to drive. But you will definitely need some grippy tires.

 

Just to be clear, I almost never pull a set of heads without upgrading them. Even just a valve job, checking valve guides, or replacing springs. Just not that much more time and money to true the heads up. I have put a set of heads back on without a clean up mill and regretted doing so. That was on a Gen 1 406 small block though. A diesel motor also.

As far as lifters go, I've been running the Caddy racing lifters in my heads/cam LS3 for over 50K miles now with no issues. That's with a .620 lift cam and BTR platinum dual springs. It visits 7000 rpm quite often. 3 times today. I think the soft lobe style that Cam Motion uses is the key to valvetrain longevity. I won't run any cam that's not ground by them.

The exact cam I'd use for a rig like yours would be a 224/238 116+2. Lift anywhere from .600 to .620. That's assuming stock or near stock static compression ratio. A little negative overlap on that one. Should give any tuner worth his salt the ability to tune in perfect street manners. That would give you a DCR of around 8:1 which should give you a wide tuning window. I'm not a fan of the really wide LSA blower cams. If you're out of boost most of the time, why kill low end power when you're essentially N/A? My last Heartbeat blown LS3 used a 224/234 116+2 Cam Motion grind. It could accelerate quite briskly without any boost. I'd use that one again with just 4 more degrees on the exhaust side.

 

I’d have the heads redone to sleep at night. Or have some degree of warranty. Worn heads can lead to destroyed blocks.

-edited-….i thought they were oem LS7 heads. TSP heads are build very well. In that case I would just have them checked for any weird wear, change valve stem seals, check seats, valve job, skim em.