If I were to swap my original 5.3L heads with ported and polished heads about how much of a gain would I see? Is it worth it? What are the good and bad things about doing this? How much does it generally cost to have heads ported and polished?

 

bad things=cost. good=everything good performance wise. Bone stock about 30-40 hp with a good set. More mods done to motor more hp.

 

so about how much does it cost?

 

i would say more like 15-20 on a bone stock truck with a set of really bad *** ported 5.3 heads with 2.02/1.60 valves. i doubt 30-40, well, you would make 30-50+ with a heads CAM package. but not with heads alone. if you're gonna do heads you might as well spend another 300 and get a cam for the extra power. you'll have to do coolant and all that **** anyways.

 

yea deffinatly do a cam swap while you have it all apart. Just cause it is easier and hell it is apart. As far as cost you can spend like 800$ with some one doing it in there garage to like 3,000$ for a good set.

 

if you want a set of great quality ported 5.3 heads with whatever chamber size you want with 2.02/1.60 valves and strong spring then the Patriot Performance Stage 2 5.3 heads can't be beat for performance and price. they are about half the price of anyone else's head and perform just as good. save ya plenty of money for that cam

 

Pardon my ignorance, I am new to the LS1 Truck scene, coming over from the Lightning crowd ;-)

Why would you not want to put a set of ported LS1 or LS6 heads on the 5.3? I was thinking of doing that with a decent cam before I go the whipple route.

Thanks in advance for the help...

 

I got 37rwhp from the cam swap alone. The heads should be worth another 30-40rwhp whenever we get around to it. Money well spent if you ask me. Expect about $2200 for a good set of heads/cam/pushrods.

 

LS1 heads have a bigger combustion chamber and would lower compression. LS6 heads are sweet but $$$$$$$. 5.3 heads are good. Got a set on my Camaro, and of course my truck came with them. If I were to do heads on my truck, I would be conservative, so I wouldn't loose low end power. Of course if you go with a blower you won't have that problem.

Bruce

 

Where is a good place to drop the 2k worth of parts you mentioned, AND what heads would you recommend in that particular combo?