some of you have seen me post about blowing up my 5.3L. i hate to ask this question because i just know better than this. but please understand im on a budget. to bore and dip my engine the machine shop is charging me 250 bucks, the rotating assembly is 2200 its an eagle forged crank and rods with weisco flat top pistons, the heads and cam are another 1900 and are 5.3L stage 2.5 heads and i have not decided on the cam i want. all parts are coming from texas speed.

the question im asking is where can i essentially cut corners or better yet are there any parts that i do and or dont need. i dont plan to do any FI. i already have LT and high flows, stage 3 4L65E(needs a stall) TBSS intake and 90mm edelbrock throttle body and a tune from wheatley. any and all advice is welcome unless you are going to tell me to build a 408.

 

Instead of spending a ton of cash on "2.5 stage" heads, why not just grab a set of normal 4.8/5.3 heads, pull the seats out, put in bigger seats and a standard 2" valve like the other heads out there, then have a local head porter streamline the roof and guide, and blend the bowl and layback the short turn just a bit. That would be alot cheaper than some "2.5" heads from some shop that overcharges the **** out of head work.
No offense to texas speed- but your in CALI- there is a hundred shops there that can do the same job for less money- and you save on shipping.

If you lived in Nebraska or something, I would understand. But California has some of the best machine shops and speed shops in the nation. Outsourcing all the way to Texas is gonna cost you alot in shipping alone-

Beyond that- there's pretty much no way to strip down costs unless you get a set of 243's and just mill them .030 and live with them till you can come back later and have them ported. I don't know what your paying for those heads, but used 243's go for 400 on the extreme end stock, and milling is less than 80 bucks for both heads at most reputable shops.