Hey all, I am going to do a cam swap and thought I might have my stock heads worked over some. I thought about milling them to raise the compression a bit and having them ported.
Now is this worth this effort? I have a second set of heads and can probably get this done for around the 250 mark plus gaskets and bolts.
If the gains are minimal then I will save for something else...
Thanks
Dave

 

my 5.3L heads have been milled .035, ported and polished along with a 3 angle valve job. i am also running stock ls1 valves. i'd say its a definate worthwhile mod but i'd be weary of someone only charging 250 dollars.

 

thanks, I wasnt planning on going that extencive on the larger valves and all. I had not been in to talk to him just on the phone so the price was quite a bit higher but he had new springs in so I took those out I need to take these in and get a better idea. He has a good reputation locally.

I will get a better idea on what he thought should be done.
Dave

 

so anybody else?
maybe I should just install the cam and go on...
Dave

 

Im with hawk23 its well worth it, I took .050 off and 5 angle with bigger valves.

 

How much is safe to mill off of the heads on a 5.3?
Is it neccecary to modify something to make the inlet manifold fit after milling the heads?

Increasing compression is one of the few mods that increase BOTH milage and power.
Well worth it.

Br//

 

With the way the top half is designed you dont have to modify the intake to fitup to milled heads.

As far as how much to mill that really depends on P/V and with the 5.3 dished pistons I dont think anyone has had problems with mild cams in the 222 range.

 

The cam I have is the GT2-5 the specs are 222/222 .566/.566 112 CL. Did you guys just go with the stock type gaskets then?
Dave

 

I was actually wondering how much material that can safely be milled off.
The resulting increase in CR is not the problem, I just donīt want to risk warped heads or simmilar issues.

Br//

 

Thats the cam I have Im really interested to hear how it performs for you. I used the stock MLS gaskets.

I first did the h/c swap with the stock exhaust and gains where minimal, that cam needs a good exhaust to perform I would go with a smaller primary and 2.5" collector. Im using thorleys I feel like they make good mid range it helps to get the truck moving since the stall is a 3k but they die on the top. If I had to design my own headers theyd have smaller diameter primaries but theyd be longer.