FabAddict

I was planning to do a cam in my Sierra some time this year, just did some Stainless Works long tubes you can see here,
https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...-554901/page2/
My question was, since I'm going to have to take the top end apart to do the cam and DOD delete is it worth doing a new intake manifold and/or new heads? I'm not sure about wanting to add a procharger... if I do it will prob be the last mod.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

The more it makes NA the more it makes boosted, keep that in mind.

All up to you. If you are gonna boost it, figure that out now so that you do a blower friendly cam. Which milder cams are usually boost friendly, but you could do a specific blower cam.

Those heads flow 330 out of the box which is great, but a cleanup, valve job and bowl blend would pick up nicely.

FabAddict

That's what I thought but the last person I spoke to (I think texas speed) told me a cam is a cam. And that just didn't sound right. On the quad stuff I use to do the can was pretty specific on what else you were doing.

Also I spoke to Frankenstein today about some head work and sounded pretty promising. Does anyone have recommendations for someone else? I don't want to waste money but don't mind spending it on quality parts.

gonzo 6.2

iTrader: (8)

Check out katech,they offer a $500 cnc job,you strip down your heads clean them ship them off.If and when my heads come off I will look hard into it.How much was Frankenstein?

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Frankenstein is very expensive but they are bad to the bone.

Katech does do it for $500 but I believe it's only port work, you really need to confirm because if you skip the valve job and bowl blend you leave a ton on the table.

And yeah OP, a cam is NOT a cam. That's why tons of power is found on boosted cars when you go from a stock cam to a aftermarket blower cam. Boost is a measure of restriction (at the valves) let more air in and the boost pressure goes down and power goes up.. that's a win win win because lower boost pressure also equals lower heat..

FabAddict

Frankenstein wanted $1,400 for the work. I ship them complete and they do everything. But the truck has 23,xxx miles as of now.
Again, basing my experience off the quad stuff but what about going with larger valves?
Frankenstein did tell me that a larger intake manifold would hurt me unless it was boosted. And they can do a custom grind cam if that is what I was wanting.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Let Frankenstein lead you. They are at the top of the game for a reason.

In general just slapping in larger valves is not a good thing. It will lead to more valve shrouding near the chamber wall and cylinder wall, unless you bore the engine. It also affects air velocity negatively in some cases, mostly in our more stock ish cases. If you do do a larger intake valve the cam will need to be spec'd for it as well since it is spec'd for the flow expected with your particular setup.

There's more to it, like how it affects the discharge coefficient, but that is a little out of my wheel house there and I have to study that more to have enough of an understanding to be able to describe it to others.

Don't forget about Texas Speed too, they have a house full of new bad *** CNC machines and they are lower cost than a lot out there.

FabAddict

Interesting. I'm no motor guy and don't doubt there's a lot of science involved and it's not just, bigger is better.
Thanks for all the help so far. I'll look into Texas speed again too.
How about ARP bolts if I'm going that far? Procharger is last on the list but would it be worth doing since everything would be apart already? What's the difference performance wise with bolts vs studs?

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

You mean head bolts/studs? Or rod or main?

Rod bolts are only needed for high rpm, gen 3 hold around 7k rpm and gen 4 hold I don't know, but higher, some have said they rev them to 8k

Head bolts/studs are good for holding higher power. I really dig the studs but either hold quite well. Honestly the stock bolts hold a lot more than many would think. The studs are at least double the cost of the ARP head bolts but I like the studs the most because they hold the most and are easiest on the threads in the block. You turn them in then as you tighten the nut it just pulls up on the stud. Bolts start pulling on the threads as you turn them in. You'll lift a head from only having a 4 bolt head design before you'll run into problems with the ARP bolts or studs. Tests have been done and even the stock OEM bolts have a higher tensile strength than the cheap studs. So in order of strength.. Low cost studs (around $100) then OEM bolts, then ARP bolts, then ARP studs. But ARP studs are around $300. You can reuse the ARP bolts and studs though. You are not supposed to re use the OEM head bolts. Some people do, but I think it's really dumb especially considering how cheap they are.

FabAddict

Yes, i did mean head bolts vs head studs.
But why do people seem to like head studs more? I would think they would make it more difficult to take apart?