should I buy a new set of heads or have mine ported and polished. I was leaning toward having mine done but by who. Any suggestions.

 

What size engine? And what other mods do you have in mind?

I had WCCH do a set of stage 1 heads for my 5.3 and I am very pleased. They were fairly inexpensive as far as heads go and they certainly gained me quite a bit.

I gained 29 lb-ft of torque and 6 hp at peak from them without tuning. SOTP meter measured gains from idle all the way up. I'm sure they have potential for more hp, but I don't have enough intake duration in my cam to really fill the cylinders above 5K. Before that the hp was about 20 hp above my previous cam only dyno.

 

I have LQ9 with CAIT,LT headers, true duals with twin 18 magnaflows, 80mm tb, comp 224/228 581 cam, pro mag roller rockers, stronger springs, rods, retainers, grantelli MAF, Nelson tune.

What do you think? How much is inexpensive and long did it take?

 

get this month's HiPo Chevy mag. They review 8 heads for under $1000...granted they use a Chev 383 test bed, but its good info. U can always go with a set of Dart's or AFR. I'm having a set of LS6 heads ported for my 370 that I'm building...thats prob the cheapest alternative, but has the least amount of published info too! R/

 

Those stock 317's kick ***... I'd definitely either have yours CNC ported by a reputable company like WCCH or buy an aftermarket set that have been worked. A non-worked set vs. 317s? Not much difference on the street imo.

Definitely give Richard at WCCH a call -- he'll tell you the straight deal even if it means you don't buy parts from him -- he's a straight shooter and you can trust what he says IMO.