how much of a performance gain will i actually get either having stage 1 valves put in my heads or 400/430 big port heads with or without stage 1 valves as apposed to port matching my 71 heads. The car is never going to be raced it currently has 1-7/8 headers, and i am in the process of deciding on cam,intake combos Your help is much appreciated as i am pulling my hair out over this one! :rant:
See if you can find a used set of ported Stage 1 heads from this board rather than building a set first. Or if money is no problem try the aluminum heads. It all depends on how you are using your car. What kind of HP are you looking for? Street car with little use or a lot of use? Too wild and it gets expensive and harder to drive. First suggestion would be the used ported stage 1 heads, B4B intake and 118 cam. But we need more info to make this advice more accurate.
In my opinion, port matching with no other work is a waste of time. Unless you are going to some bowl work, port matching will gain you nothing, or next to nothing. Jim Burek
If the area around the valves isn't opened up, you may not see a gain at all! Mine were opened up to the bore diameter when I had them done.
From what I hear fully ported heads are the way to go. No matter what head or valves. Aluminum heads already have a lot of issues solved. John
Like I said, it depends on what you want your whole package to be. I have seen the 118 cam work with mostly engine built with around 10.0 to 1 compression, but will work with yours which may be around 9.0 to 1. If you look at the TA website or others they usually give good description of what the cam will want like more gear, higher stall, more compression, etc. If you think a cam is too big for your application then I would rather go smaller. If you get stuck with to large of a cam then you will have to spend more money on a higher stall torque convertor, more gear or just change to another cam. Tells us what you have and what you want out of the engine and car.
I bought my GS with a 118 cam,Holley,B4B,2.0" headers.With stock 8.5 pistons,stock stall and a 3.42 gear it was a dog off the line From what I learned the 118 needed more compression.Anyway,after getting more educated I was able to "Parts Match" better.As the other guys stated,it all depends on what you want and what you can afford.For a decent budget minded street engine I would just do some bowl work on the standard valve heads.A 800 QJet,B4B/Performer,headers and a cam to match your converter/gears should get you in the game.Choosing a cam also depends on compression ratio and can be a tough decision to make, many guys overcam and get a "Dogger" because of that ou: I hope my basic info here can help you along,the boys here will probably throw some more info at you to help :TU: Later,Tony.
