*El Ocho*

Ok guys, I'm getting around to fixing the heads. Unfortunately due to a VERY small garage I can't do the work myself, so I'm looking for a shop.

Found a very reputable shop that mainly works on LS7's & got a quote, but it seems a bit high to me.

I was hoping you guys could help me out in determining if all the things they quoted me are really necessary.....

I'm planing on getting the heads from AHP, getting them with the BTR dual springs w/ titanium retainers.

Now, for the quote from the shop they would add:

- Custom grind cam
- Dual valve springs with titanium retainers (which I'm going to opt out of, since getting them from AHP)
- pushrods
- Rocker arm trunnion kit
- LS2 cam chain tensioner
- Cam Sprocket w/ ARP bolts
- New GM gaskets & seals (ok, pretty sure I need those)
- Oil & filter change (I'm ok with that too)
- NGK Spark Plugs
- 160 degree thermostat
- New gaskets & seals (isn't this redundant?)
- Tune

So do I really need all that? I don't want to be cheap, but I also don't want to have to take out a second mortgage to pay for this, lol.

I'm sure I'll need new gaskets & I'm ok with new oil & all that, but do I absolutely NEED a new thermostat, an LS2 cam chain tensioner & stuff like that?

The C6Z is a 2008 with about 7000 miles & what I mainly use the car for are weekend cruises with the wife, I don't track it & only take it to 7k every now & then. So I'm not looking for monster numbers, what I really want is reliability & drivability.

any help would be appreciated guys, because I want to get this done in the every near future.

Thanks again.

Must_Have_Z

They quoted you an entire cam swap package along with your head repair. That's because it's usually not a whole lot more money to do the cam once the heads are off. But is that what you want? Do you want to keep your stock cam? If so, just tell them that and they will remove many of the above items in their quote (cam, springs, pushrods, trunnion, chain tensioner, sprocket, spark plugs, tune). Those items are at least $1,500 if not more.

*El Ocho*

no, I want to add a mild cam. I'm fine with that. Might as well since I'm going to have the engine apart.

spy2520

At 7k miles i doubt you need a cam sprocket. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. If it shows excessive wear on the teeth then sure.

As far as I know the LS7 already has a timing chain "tensioner" and it has no moving parts.

A debate can be made about the thermostat.

Other than that everything seems mostly legit.

UniTink72

The trunion kit isn't necessary. If you change your mind in the future, its the easiest thing to add later.
I'd probably skip the plugs too unless they are cheap. I'm at 700+ crank hp on stock plugs, never heard of a reason to change.

Unreal

Trunion no
T-stat no

Pushrods have to measure and see, maybe
I would add a c5r chain while in there. Cheap insurance.
New tensioner is never a bad idea. They are stupid cheap so I wouldn't bother trying to save $25 there.

outhouse

Very few stock chains or gears fail, so I didn't do any of the above. Left the tensioner on never took it off, its just a nylon block with almost no wear.


You did not have it listed but there is a cam retention plate, mine looked perfect so it went back on.


If you had a high mile motor I would replace everything but trunions. Your motor already has new parts as far as I'm concerned so you could get away with being frugile for some items.




Trunions are a downgrade not up.

Unreal

I've seen timing chains fail. Friend skipped it on his build and 2k or less later the chain snapped, pistons hit valves, bad stuff. The c5r chain is a good upgrade with no failures. Well worth the piece of mind IMO.

*El Ocho*

I'll spend an extra $200 on the C5R timing chain. I trust Unreal's opinion.

I just don't want spends an extra $500-$600 on stuff that I don't really need.

I understand that a shop will try to upsell you stuff. i'm sure they have their little bit of mark up on the parts & then the labor to install it. So if I can cut down on unnecessary stuff, which will not hurt if I don't have, I will.

Unreal

Would get a list of which actual gaskets/seals they are replacing. A lot of places reuse a lot of them, which can be fine, other places replace them all. I personally reuse everything besides water pump, head, and crank seal. Valve covers, valley cover, front cover, exhaust manifold are easy to reuse.

outhouse

Absolutely!

MTPZ06

AHP can supply all the gaskets/hardware needed for a head swap as well as a head/cam swap. Just get everything from them, unless the shop has better pricing? As for eth springs, make sure Kohle has your cam specs so he sets you up with the right springs...but I sounds like you're going mild.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1594235659

Jayfabs

Water pump gaskets? I just pulled mine off they look reusable with no issues.

*El Ocho*

yeah, I'm about to call AHP in a bit. I sent them an email, but hven't gotten a response.

I'm definitely going mild. Apart from the peace of mind of the valve fix I'm just looking for a little more Ooomph.

Unreal

They could be, but they are sooooo cheap I don't see why not replace them. They are like $3.28 each.

Nowanker

From a shop's perspective, nothing too excessive... I haven't seen anything positive on the trunnion upgrade, just lots of bad. Katech uses stock rockers, I figured they would be OK for me too.
Nylon T-chain tensioner probably still looks unused... ditto cam sprocket. Agree with the mob on the C5R T-chain.
T-stat is optional insurance. At 7K miles, I'd skip it. (ditto water pump, a common 'while it's off, no extra labor' opportunity)
And again, from a shop's point of view... if there's even the slightest doubt, replace a gasket. 'Slightest doubt' translating directly to: "is it worth the risk of me redoing this job for FREE, in order to save my customer $40 worth of gaskets?", with the most frequent response as "#@$&* NO!"
The extra cost of the cam upgrade is going to be a huge component of this!

*El Ocho*

yeah, for an extra few buck, I have no problem going with new gaskets. Last thing I want is for it to leak some where.

American Heritage

Sorry about the slow reply time. We get alot of emails, sometime it takes us a bit to get to them all but we do always reply.

If for some reason your email was not one of the ones I replied to this evening please shoot us a PM and I will get right to you.

http://www.americanheritageperformance.com/

shane p

Looks good to me other than the gaskets and seals twice and the trunion kit, that isnt a must especially with a mild cam and I have heard some bad things about some of the kits. I would find out what trunion kit they are using and do a quick search on it.

*El Ocho*

lol, yeah you replied.....at 12:44 am, your time. Thanks.

get some rest, brother!