Heads for 204/214 cam and TA-49

[tminer]

I am thinking about going to the 204/214 cam and am wondering if having some head work done too would be worth it. Motor has under 30K on it so I would assume that the heads are in decent shape.

I'd like to get a solid 400hp at the motor on 93/94 octane. I have the base mods plus THDP, V4, and the TA-49. Also planning to add 009's and a Translator/LS1 maf with the cam. I'll probably get the TB & upper plenum ported too. I'll use alky or propane if necessary, but hoping not to.

Maintaining streetability is more important than all out performance since this is a driver and rarely if ever will go down the track.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Steve Wood]

Without getting into the validity of your goals, etc., I think the simple answer is yes. Relatively minor porting of the bowls, and a clean up elsewhere, can make an obvious improvement. You can do it yourself...instructions of gnttype.org... or have one of the guys here on the board do it for a reasonable price.

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

I look at it this way .... you can port the heads even if just a minor port and have your power all the time or you can go with a bandaid like alky and turn the boost up higher to meet your needs

If you port the heads go on and get 50's instead of 009's you wont be sorry

 

[tminer]

I am not too worried about the cost of the headwork as much as my r&r time, and just wasn't sure if there is that much to be gained over the cam swap with a small turbo.

Is there an optimum amount of head work that should be done to match the cam and turbo? Keep in mind that drivability is important to me. I don't want compressor surge during part throttle accelleration and other crap like that.

My goals may be overly optimistic. I mostly don't want to go much over 400hp, hoping for some degree of durability with the stock block, internals and drivetrain if I don't get too abusive.

Thanks again,
Tom

 

[JDSfastGN]

I had my heads fully ported and polished with bigger vavles and am running the pte44 with the 204/214 cam. It is an awesome setup for the street. I think 380 at the wheels is possible, with 19 #s or so. We'll see once I get my tranny finished and everything dialed in. So I'd definatily recomend the heads

 

[turbo buicks]

tminer, i am planning on doing the EXACT same thing to my car within the next few months. let me know how it works out for you planning on edelbrock or speedpro 204-214 cam and fully ported 8445s. i like the idea of going faster with less boost, that way you always got more left in it to go even faster if you want.

 

[GNX]

I run 22lbs of boost (no KR) with a PTE49 (John Craig rebuild), FM, THDP, ME 16 pos. chip, BlueTops, 2800-3000 converter, Don Wang street/race tranny, ATR dual 3", Hotchkis springs and boxed control arms, air bags, 2 stage alcohol, xylene mixed with 91 and 100, UR5's, and can't get traction ON THE STREET with 255's VR rated, That's through 1st and 2nd gears...part of third gear can be iffy depending on the road surface. I've tried about 6 different brands of tires...just about the same deal. I've beaten guys with 60 series turbo's off the line until we shut off around 90mph only because they couldn't get as much traction as I was getting through 1st and 2nd....and even I was spinning!!! They were usually SMOKING. It's all about traction!!!

IMO you can or will have more power than you can get traction with, off the line, for an EVERYDAY driver with your setup.

You could try a cam...I don't think it's necessary for street...but I wouldn't screw with the heads. You will never get them to seal with the same type of gaskets...like the original factory seal. I have over 125,000 miles, with hundreds of blasts over 20 lbs of boost and they're still holding. I'm sure I would have blown a gasket by now if they weren't the factory originals...especially when the hose to the wastegate came off...a couple of times early on...when it zinged to 25+ lbs. in 3rd gear...Yikes!!!

I have a set of heads ready to go...ported etc...but they're not going on until I blow a gasket or rebuild. JMO

 

[tminer]

Thanks again to those that replied.

I don't have traction issues now (except 1st gear) even with alky, and don't see much sense in building more power than I can put to the road. Maybe my tuning sucks. I am running a Thrasher 92 chip, so I haven't added any timing with the alky and haven't customized my PE tables. I am still using a stock D5 and pretty good tires (Dunlop SP8000, 245/50-16) so that probably helps.

I am willing to notch the frame to run wider tires if it becomes necessary.

Anybody else with an opinion?

Tom