I will be picking up my motor Sat. Its a 2002 Lq4 with 317# heads. 20k on the motor. Its been sitting for a while, so I was thinking of freashing it up alittle for the sts turbo. Arp rod bolts and Head studs. Gaskets. What head gasket should I use with boost? I was thinking of putting the Comp cams RPM Kit on it. It comes with Valve springs, Ti. retainers, and push rods. The kit is for 7500 rpm. Is that usable with the stock cam? What else do you guys think I should do to the motor before I put it in.

 

with all that work you might as well put a cam in it, doesnt have to be anything drastic but it will make a huge difference in the end with a turbo setup.

 

I would like to just use the stock cam, but I am thinking about it.

 

Get a cam, even if it's a small one. It will make a difference, especially if you are going to spin the motor that fast.

 

hell yeah
itll be out with the heads off and everything

couldnt be a better time to do it

 

Anybody know of a good cam that will pass California smog?

 

Note about the head studs: They require the motor to be out to pull the heads off due to not having enough room to physically remove them. Someone else may be able to confirm this on the Gen III trucks, but I know several other vehicles the motor has to come out. ARP head bolts may be the better choice IMO.

And to agree with the consensus.....go with an aftermarket cam

 

Yeah, I'd rather do bolts. I thought it was better to do studs. I will be doing this before I put the motor in. Thanks for the info. Ok, what gasket is recomended? I was just thinking, I might not want to rev that high. Thats alot of stress on the motor. If the stock clearences are not percise, things can go kaaboomb! And I will not be a happy camper.

 

Stock mls head gaskets are as good as any aftermarket ones.

 

I was reading that the stock intake also restricks peak hp around 6400rpm. So maybe I should not use the comp rpm kit, cause I don't think I could use the extra 1000rpm. I would have to convert to the ls1/ls6 intake to take advantage of the high RPM. In theory, right?