im going to do a head and cam swap in the next month or so. i was wondering if i should get the heads shaved or not.

 

what heads are we talking about? stock?

 

yeah, i bought a spare set of 5.3 heads and am planning on getting them set up with springs and everything so my truck wont be down so long.

 

well yeah get them milled and have a valve job done, you can keep the stock valves just have the jernals cleaned up and intake/exhaust runners ported alittle.

 

be careful of how much you mill them...too much and CR will go up to the point you'll need to run 93 octane ALL the time. Take the time to calculate CR BEFORE you mill the heads

 

how much difference will it make. if not much then i should save the money

 

just wondering, if i decide to shave them, how much do i go?

 

Can you tell us what the engine/truck combo is? It's always best to match the heads, cam and compression for your intended application. For example, if you're going to tow a boat or heavy trailer, you would be better off not milling the heads more than a .010" cleanup cut. If your going to run the vehicle at the track and/or stop light races, and is a lighter RCSB model, you could get away with milling .030" or more. Your cam choice will also have an impact on compression and type of pump gas used.
If you could supply a better description, I'm sure a number of members could help out here.

Good luck,

Richard

 

I took .050 off and run a cam with .566 lift 222 duration, plus bigger ls1 valves there is plenty of clearance with the 5.3 dished pistons. Most people who modify and put cams in run 93 all the time anyway and have a tune with high timing; dynamic compression is another consideration if you dont plan on running 93 dont just look at SCR that isnt the whole story. If you plan on getting a tune and running 93 I would take advantage of it with at least 10.5:1 SCR. If you do plan on towing I would go with Richs suggestion

 

mostly i run it at the track, but is also my daily driver. its a 2000 rscb chevy. the cam is a vinci 062 cam. wait 4 me tune is on the way. i already run 93 octane, i got tired of spark knocking.