its a 2004 escalade AWD 6.0 lq9 (obvi)

i was going to do a cam swap this winter because im sick of no lopey idle... the cam i have chosen is the VHP (vinci) trucker cam 216/224...

heres the dilemna... the truck has 122 000 miles on it i have talked to my tuner several times about the swap and other various things, but it always comes back to "might as well save up for heads" debate because of the milage and doing the headgaskets..

i know that the all powerful invincible LQ9 can surely make alot of power and hold (transmission permitted of course) but can someone tell me whether or not the head gaskets will be ok? or should i do the head gaskets cuz of the miles?

anyways ive made a list for my cam and or head swap and future parts
my truck is a winter beater/ DD so the 2600 yank wont be coming out because i am loveing the trans temps and i may tow black Sabbath one day so ya

-PRC LS6 heads assembled stage 2.5
-VHP trucker cam
-7.4 pushrods (or do i need a diff size? )
-double roller timing chain
-edelbrock XT
-90mm tb
-44lb delphi short truck injectors ( too small ? )
-Dr. X thingy ( can someone link me the site? )
-head gaskets? (mls cometic? )
-ARP Headstuds
-Pac 1218's (if people say that HG's are fine)
-Titanium retainers ( or stock if there strong enough )

im shooting for as close to 400whp as i can get n/a i hope this is close enough... idealy (cant spell that) i want mid 13's i went 14.85 @ 91.55 this year so i think my goal is within my grasp no?

anyways help, suggestions, opinions even drama is welcome (who dosent like msg board drama lol).. so its all on you guys help me out i would love to get away with the cam for the winter so i could post some seriously good winter drifting (mind you ill prolly post that anyways because im the escalade king drifter in these parts lol)

thanks guys
Jordan

oh and also why do people upgrade the oil pump? more pressure? more consistant pressure? pump wears out???

 

I don't think that edelbrock intake is in your best interests. You'll be taking a pretty decent hit in torque if i'm not mistaken. Not what you want with weight, a small stall, and a baby cam.

 

I have the same cam that I will eventually be putting in my LQ9, except I'll be using yellow LS6 springs installed into a set of WCCH StageII 317's. As mentioned, there's no need for the Edelbrock intake, the stocker will be fine. You can also save some cash on the titanium retainers as they won't be necessary (they're nice but not needed). I'll also be using an LS2 timing chain and factory MLS head gaskets (as opposed to the double chain and cometics that you listed). As for pushrod length, it all depends if the heads will be milled or not, I'd recommend using a pushrod length checker. Most aftermarket cams and stock heads work well with the 7.4's that you listed.

I'll be running a 2800-3k converter with my setup, which should compliment the cam nicely. Something in a 2600+ will go well with the Vinci Trucker in a 6.0

The injectors that you chose will be fine....hopefully more than fine since I have a set of gas 8.1 injectors which flow 29.9# that I'm hoping will work.

 

I can't find the paperwork around here to be sure, but IIRC I used 7.250 pushrods(Crane) with my Trucker cam. Might be different for me because I'm running the Crane Gold roller rockers on ARP studs. I'm not sure.

 

I think that I remember reading that the Crane Golds call for a slightly shorter pushrod since they are adjustable.

 

I’m with the other guy’s on running factory MLS head gaskets as well. Some people tend to have issues when running the Cometic’s when just performing a head swap. The Cometic’s are sensitive when it comes to the Ra of the deck surface (heads as well), which during a complete build is not a major issue to obtain, but when just cleaning up the decks with whatever method someone ends up using, the surface is not correct. Besides having the right surface, the components need to be really clean and sometimes this is hard to ensure in the vehicle. People end up trying to use copper paint or other sealant methods to keep leaks at bay.

Don’t get me wrong, the Cometic’s are good gaskets, it’s just my belief that they deserve to be used under the right conditions and the factory MLS gaskets are way more forgiving.

 

+1, I've heard more than once of folks having problems with the Cometics...it's a shame too because they're big bucks. tdrumm ended up with an external coolant leak after doing a head swap on his 5.3, he then picked up some factory MLS gaskets and was good to go

 

sounds like you're gonna have a strong setup when done

 

Check out this thread: https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...d.php?t=446380. Your setup will be very similar to his, so you should be close to 400rwhp. Without the heads than you'll be about 10-20hp less. If you do get the heads, you should consider getting a custom cam, one with lift figures to match the flow of the heads. I might be doing that in the future with my truck, since my cam only has .556" lift.