Next best option?

[Obsessed]

I don't want a supercharger or a turbo, so what is my next best option? I am not sure what polishing and porting the heads entail, so I am not sure if I want to get involved in that. Also thought about a cam, but not sure that would be worth it without the heads.

This is a daily driver too, already has a Diablo Tune and just a muffler. I don't feel that an intake is worth the money. Paying $300, then trying to squeeze 5-10hp out of it just isn't my idea of money well spent when I could be saving for something better.

[mattcincy]

All polishing and porting the heads does is basically smooth out all of the imperfections for all the intake runners from mass produced cylinder heads. You get a dremmel some sand paper and and go to town. It's amazing what it will do though. I should say what it will do on smaller motors. Never done it to anything bigger than a 125cc two stroke (shifter kart) or a 600cc and 750cc four stroke (pocket rockets). I know it does make more of a difference on more "tuned" motors.

[Sack Rat SS]

I have seen many mods on C-5 and C-6 Vettes. A cam is the best bang for the buck. Not sure about labor on a TBSS but around $1600 turn key or maybe less, I am not sure. Maybe a tuner will chime in here and give you an idea. The cam should give you another 25-35 rwhp depending on how big a cam you use. Heads would add another 10-20 to the cam. Headers perhaps another 5-10 rwhp. :yes:

[John Skiba]

All polishing and porting the heads does is basically smooth out all of the imperfections for all the intake runners from mass produced cylinder heads. You get a dremmel some sand paper and and go to town. It's amazing what it will do though. I should say what it will do on smaller motors. Never done it to anything bigger than a 125cc two stroke (shifter kart) or a 600cc and 750cc four stroke (pocket rockets). I know it does make more of a difference on more "tuned" motors.

:nono:

Contact any one of the sponsors here and they'll tell you why not to do a back yard job. Or read some thread from people that have done it. LOLs

[vetruck]

Too bad about the SC and Turbo, that is your best bet. Either will make outstanding power while keeping your day to day driveability. Cams are good but to get anywhere even close to what FI will do for you, it won't be a great daily driver. If you go too mild it's not worth the money. And with cams you'll want to do other mods too which will get the cost closer to that of a SC or Turbo. Best $ per hp is with FI, unless you want to go N2O. A 50-75 shot may be a good option for you with a mild cam, headers and intake (on juice should get you near SC numbers), but again you may end up paying more than you would for a twinscrew.

[02redhawk]

All polishing and porting the heads does is basically smooth out all of the imperfections for all the intake runners from mass produced cylinder heads. You get a dremmel some sand paper and and go to town. It's amazing what it will do though. I should say what it will do on smaller motors. Never done it to anything bigger than a 125cc two stroke (shifter kart) or a 600cc and 750cc four stroke (pocket rockets). I know it does make more of a difference on more "tuned" motors.

OMG!

Seriously, if you don't know what you are doing when porting heads, DO NOT DO IT. You cannot simply "grab a dremel and sandpaper and go to town".... That is the perfect recipe for disaster. Porting in the wrong locations, wrong angles, porting too much, etc., will reduce your head-flow characteristics dramatically.... Exactly the opposite of what you thought you were accomplishing with the home-port job. Head porting is an art. Simply put, if you haven't done it before, don't have access to a flowbench & also preferably a dyno, then leave it to those that have been doing it for years....

Back on the subject of this original thread, you really only have two options (well, maybe three) for major engine power-adders.

1) Turbo/SC (forced induction)
2) Heads / Cam
3) Nitrous

If you don't want the turbo/SC item, then realistically your only other option is the heads-cam. You can just install a camshaft and realize quite impressive gains (cam-only, no heads). The stock heads on the 6.0L flow very well (LS6 243 castings), and lots of LS1s put up very respectible numbers (and timeslips) with cam-only stock head setups. Cam-only setups can still squeeze out 30-50rwhp on very streetable durations.
Certainly you will realize some very impressive gains if you go with a set of well-ported heads to complement the cam....But its not an absolute must.

[mattcincy]

OMG!

Seriously, if you don't know what you are doing when porting heads, DO NOT DO IT. You cannot simply "grab a dremel and sandpaper and go to town".... That is the perfect recipe for disaster. Porting in the wrong locations, wrong angles, porting too much, etc., will reduce your head-flow characteristics dramatically....

Again, I have never done it to anything but 2-strokes (no valves) and motorcycle motors. All I did was grind down the imperfections. If you have ever looked at mass produced heads they are kinda hard to miss. There is no changing of angles, locations etc...

[mattcincy]

I guess what I did was probably more just polishing.

You're right, the only way to do it right is with a flow bench.

[Obsessed]

Trust me, I was not about to get involved ina job like that. This is a $40k vehicle with a high performance engine, I don't think anything I could do at home to the heads would be a good thing.