im trying to figure out what heads to buy for my 94 z28. my friend has a '96 vette w/ lt4, and he just got a set of heads for his; he told me he'd sellhis stock headsto me for $700. i want to have them ported and polished if i buy them, and one of the head gaskets on his car is blown, so theyre probly warped, so id have to get them cut. by the time its all said and done, would it be worth it to just get a set of good aftermarket heads that are used for the same amount of money? i also want to get a more agressive cam forit. i have a hotcam now with the 1.6 rockers, stock heads with lt4 valve springs.

 

If you got your buddy's heads you would also have to get an LT4 intake manifold since the intake runners are raised 0.10". You can actually get your stock LT1 cores ported/polished and with bigger valves and they make pretty decent flow numbers. Check out www.totalengineairflow.com if you're looking at just the heads. You can also check out www.elliotsportworks.com for a whole head/cam package, Elliot does great work. The benefit of getting an aftermarket head is they usually have extra material in all the right places such that you can port/polish them more down the line if you want. If you're looking into an aftermarket head I would go for AFR, I would be willing to say they have the highest quality head on the market and they target mid-lift flow instead of making a head that only flows great at high lift (.700" lift which you'll never get on a street car) for advertising flow rates.

 

idk slvr, i agree that afr makes good heads, but i think trickflow makes a better one for later on porting. most people do believe that you need to buy aftermarket to go fast, but for 90% of the applications and numbers people want, ported stockers are more than sufficient. i haven't heard of the total engine air flow like slvr is talking about(i will check them out now) but i have personally talked to lloyd elliott and he will more than likely be porting my stockers

 

I haven't looked into porting aftermarket heads too mcuh, so that could be true. If I were to go aftermarket I would go AFR hands down because I would probably just leave them as they are. At one point in time I had a set of 220cc AFR LT4 Race heads and an LT4 intake, but I decided to have a local guy (see www.dragonrace.com ) who is very good at what he does give me a whole head/cam package instead (note: this has not yet happened yet, I still need more monies, but it's in the plans )

 

its like i said, 90% of the applications people are going to be using don't require an aftermarket head. i'm not looking to make a strip car or dyno queen, just looking for a weekend cruiser/show car that has the extra umph when i want it. aftermarket heads don't make sense for me, my stockers are going to be ported. plus, aftermarket heads are so dang expensive, haha. and slvr, we better get vids and numbers whenever you get your work done!

 

I'll have numbers, with 33# injectors and a potential 400 RWHP (maybe less through the auto) I have to get it fully tuned, so it has to go on the dyno anyway. Expect results late summer 2009.

 

if i can find a dyno somewhat close, i should have some numbers for ya in the spring...HOPEFULLY

 

yeah, normally it would be cheaper to port the stock heads, all depends on the time required and the machinist rates.

id have a local mechanic or a machine shop look at the heads before you buy them, there most likely is damage if it has a blown head gasket