I plan on a cam swap on my LQ4 and was wondering is it worth my time to work on the heads a little. I was thinking maybe milling .040 and 3 angle valve job at a minimum. Anything else I should consider? How much will this cost me?

 

Cost can be different at everyshop, if your going to pull the heads i would do lifters too.

Here in phoenix a valve job, and some bowl work is about 400-500 and that was with milling like .010 to assure straightness.

 

prefer 4angle valve job with 30* backcut on valves, new seals. thinner ls2 head gaskets. mill no more than .030 for correct intake to heads alignment.

 

What thickness of head gasket?

 

LS2 is around 4.045 bore .051 compressed
so assuming your piston s around .010 protruding. will have around .041 quench area

 

How much tq/hp gains am I looking at from doing the head work?

 

I would just save a little longer for a set of CNC heads from Texas Speed for $1025. You can sell your #317s for $200 or so, so the heads will only be $800ish.

They will increase your flow and compression at the same time, youll enjoy it a lot more than a valve job.

 

2nd that. A lot more bang for the buck. If you keep an eye on the classified section for a used set of Patriots or WCCH's.

Rick

 

So going with the CNC ported heads, what kind of gains can I expect? I plan on a cam that focuses on low end torque.