Porting LS1 heads

[Stu Seitz]

I'm trying to develop a plan for my LS1 before I start moding; just like everyone else I'm trying to make the most power with the least amount of money ( I don't want to run N2O). Porting my LS1 heads sounds like I would get a lot of bang for the buck (and yes of course i would be running an ls6 intake).

Can anyone give me a ballpark idea of how much this would cost? Also I don't really know a lot about porting but I have heard that I would have to get my heads milled meaning the CC would would become smaller. I really wanna stay away from raising my compresion too much because I'm still trying to drive this on pump gas (91 in CA)



I have at ls1tech.com but can't seem the find it with the search .

Thanks in advance!

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Some LS1 head porters off the top of my head are:

www.motorsporttech.com
www.cartek.com
www.texasspeed.com
www.patriotperformance.com
www.airflowresearch.com
www.lingenfelter.com
www.totalengineairflow.com
www.absolutespeedls1.net

I'm also forgetting a ton more.

[Novacane]

Porting can run anywhere from $ 1500-3200 depending on what you are trying to achieve.

I have done many LS1 head/cam setups and seen quite a few different port jobs. The LS1 head is very unique in it's design. The combustion chambers should not be touched at all as it is it's "fast burn" design that allows these motors to make over 1.5hp/cubic inch!

These heads are also very sensitive to the valve job. We have seen crazy improvements to head flow with the right valve job. Also for a strong street head you do not need a huge hogged out port. It will just kill torque which is king on the street.

I happen to be a dealer for Cartek and have used many of there ported heads. Using a Stage 2 LS6 head a cam in the 224/228 cam with .590" lift on 113 degrees we have repeatably laid down between 440-460 RWHP in a C5. That is about 530 at the flywheel. If you looked at these heads and compared them to another porters you would think that they held back. The point is it's in the contour of the port and not the volume. My 420 cu in LS6 motor in my C5 on the other hand have 238cc runners that are huge. These heads on a N/A 346 cu in motor would not make great power in the mid range.

Let me know if you need help with a package.

Howard

[Lowend]

I have used several different ported LS1 heads over the years.
The best ones I have used are from www.cncheads.com
Expect to pay ~$3000 - but they are insane.
Using a smog legal cam (212/218) , with shorty headers and a set of these heads on a otherwise stock 98 LS1 we pulled 408RWHP on the dyno

[CCH]

Here's a link that will give you more info on the new AFR 205cc LS1 heads. Should be one you look at.

http://www.classicchevyheads.com/afr...hevy_heads.htm

Let me know if you need more info. Thanks

Scott Lindquist
Classic Chevy Heads
Office: (559) 897- 9500

[Nine Ball]

Excellent response Novacane. You nailed this one. Over on the other site the hand-ported heads tend to show slightly better results, especially those without hogged out ports. Don't worry too much about milling the heads and gaining compression points, there are 1000s of LS1 owners out there with milled heads (even some with LS6 or 5.3L heads) on their daily drivers. You can safely run pump gas without any problems up to around 11.25:1 CR with these engines, as long as there aren't any catalytics on the car. I've run 11.5:1 no problem in TX.

Tony