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I picked up a pair of these to compliment an upcoming cam install. I'm going to have .030 milled off of them and use a 040 head gasket, which I understand will take about 5 cc's (~2%) out of the combustion volume. I'm not necessarily worried about this, I'm more wondering as I sit here and stare at them, whether they could benefit (and if so, how much) from a little additional port/polish work.
Does anyone have first hand experience with this, that can tell me what the payoff is? Additionally, if you've been down this road, what kind of cam did you select and what were your thoughts?
Hi Daniel these are the must kick A$$ ls3 heads money can buy imo as they come out of the box they flow way more than the (stock factory cnc ported ls7 heads) with less intake port volume, you are rite in that you'll remove 5cc flat milling .030 off. I have these heads in my gs with a llsr E85 and can tell you are on the right path but there's no need to touch these heads.
I took them apart to inspect them and found their cnc work to be perfect, I have a 440 Ci ls7 with Mast heads and love those heads as well but when I inspect them they had a cross ridge left in the short turn radius just before the valve pocket which I took off of course been in the must critical area (highest intake air speed turn just before the valve pocket) But when compared to these Trick flow, that same turn was absolutely perfectly smooth and polished, enjoy your build & led us know your results cheers, David.
Hi Daniel these are the must kick A$$ ls3 heads money can buy imo as they come out of the box they flow way more than the (stock factory cnc ported ls7 heads) with less intake port volume, you are rite in that you'll remove 5cc flat milling .030 off. I have these heads in my gs with a llsr E85 and can tell you are on the right path but there's no need to touch these heads.
I took them apart to inspect them and found their cnc work to be perfect, I have a 440 Ci ls7 with Mast heads and love those heads as well but when I inspect them they had a cross ridge left in the short turn radius just before the valve pocket which I took off of course been in the must critical area (highest intake air speed turn just before the valve pocket) But when compared to these Trick flow, that same turn was absolutely perfectly smooth and polished, enjoy your build & led us know your results cheers, David.
thabks for the info. But if we know the milling will consume 5cc, wouldn’t it be prudent to take that back out with a little more work?
thabks for the info. But if we know the milling will consume 5cc, wouldn’t it be prudent to take that back out with a little more work?
There's only one guy I will trust to do any work on them and he very gladly will do it for you and will flow just a few cfm more but at a hefty premium and that guy is the original designer Anthony Mamo last I checked with him included lighter intake valves and softer springs for 1.700. again not need I would personally employ that money to remove un-sprong weight instead like .250 thous thick wall two pc rotors or/and lighter wheels.
There's only one guy I will trust to do any work on them and he very gladly will do it for you and will flow just a few cfm more but at a hefty premium and that guy is the original designer Anthony Mamo last I checked with him included lighter intake valves and softer springs for 1.700. again not need I would personally employ that money to remove un-sprong weight instead like .250 thous thick wall two pc rotors or/and lighter wheels.
Tony Mamo was the Chief Cylinder Head Designer for
Air Flow Research (AFR) at the time that
Trick Flow Specialties (TFS) released their LS3 Cylinder
Heads. While Tony did a lot of Moonlighting for individual
Enthusiasts on the side before Launching
Mamo MotorSports (MMS), He did not design the TFS LS3
Heads for the major rival and competitor of AFR while he
was still there LOL!
That said, he did MAMOFY a lot of TFS LS3 Heads for
Cadillac CTSVs, and Corvettes, which became the basis for the
AFR LS3 Heads which were the last Heads he developed
before leaving AFR to launch MMS.
I have a set of Tony's MMS TFS LS3s which have the lighter
valves and were set up for a Cam Motion LLSR on my 396"
they flow between 12-19 more CFM from .300"-.700"
on both intake & exhaust, IIRC.
Both AFR & TFS flow outstanding out of the box, the AFR
just a little more as you would expect with 5 CC more
volume and Tony developing them from his work on the
TFS (call it 90% on the way to a MMS TFS LS3).
The biggest issue with both of these heads out of the
box IMO is the HEAVY Intake Valves. If you plan to
Spin beyond 6500 RPM & or use a Cam with more than
.630" lift these valves should be changed out and the
correct springs fitted for your application.
(MMS can set You up with both)
Daniel also
Last edited by Navy Blue 210; 05-14-2018 at 04:05 PM.
Thanks for the correction I said as I understood it.
True those intakes are heavy and in my heads with the 460 lbs open pressure springs they come with I spin to 7.3 quite often about 5k miles so far no problem.
should I consider replacing the intake valves? I'd like to potentially spin right up to 7k rpms. And I've heard multiple people now comment on the heavy intake valves. Is there anyone that sells a direct replacement off the shelf titanium or hollow stem intake valve that will work with these? How hard would it be to swap them out?
should I consider replacing the intake valves? I'd like to potentially spin right up to 7k rpms. And I've heard multiple people now comment on the heavy intake valves. Is there anyone that sells a direct replacement off the shelf titanium or hollow stem intake valve that will work with these? How hard would it be to swap them out?
Personally, I would only mill the heads.....
Unless it's Tony Mamo, I wouldn't have ANYONE monkey around with the ports. These heads are just about as good as it gets for LS3 heads.
Short of having Tony port the heads, you can contact him and just order a set of lighter weight valves.....but I really don't see that as necessary. I'd be just a tiny bit surprised if you'll get to 7000 rpms with a high-220's duration cam. And if you did, you'll already be on the downward side of the power curve.
Unless it's Tony Mamo, I wouldn't have ANYONE monkey around with the ports. These heads are just about as good as it gets for LS3 heads.
Short of having Tony port the heads, you can contact him and just order a set of lighter weight valves.....but I really don't see that as necessary. I'd be just a tiny bit surprised if you'll get to 7000 rpms with a high-220's duration cam. And if you did, you'll already be on the downward side of the power curve.
KW
so what I'm getting is, if I am redlining anywhere south of 7krpm, the valve weight shouldn't be an issue?
so what I'm getting is, if I am redlining anywhere south of 7krpm, the valve weight shouldn't be an issue?
With good valve springs, no issue at all.
If the springs that come on your heads are the 448LB springs (part# TFS-3261T002-C01 or TFS-3261T004-C01), then you're good to go. If they are the 370LB springs, then you'll need something stouter.
Just understand.....that whichever spring you have on your heads, if they're the TF springs, they're only advertised to be good to .650" of lift.
If the springs that come on your heads are the 448LB springs (part# TFS-3261T002-C01 or TFS-3261T004-C01), then you're good to go. If they are the 370LB springs, then you'll need something stouter.
Just understand.....that whichever spring you have on your heads, if they're the TF springs, they're only advertised to be good to .650" of lift.
Thanks for the correction I said as I understood it.
True those intakes are heavy and in my heads with the 460 lbs open pressure springs they come with I spin to 7.3 quite often about 5k miles so far no problem.
are you running the standard valve setup from tfs, or a lightened intake?
I have these heads on my setup and we speculated that the heads had some turbulence that was not allowing the power to carry. But I'm sure it was a combination of blower being maxed out and the heads. But here is a before and after on some light port work. Once the heads are on we did some tuning and the power comes in sooner and carries further. Blower is still maxed out.
This thread is about the Trick Flow 255cc ls3 heads their advertise flow numbers don't seen to match the stock flow numbers on above heads or even the ported numbers as they are still lower than the stock 255cc ls3 heads out of the box.
This thread is about the Trick Flow 255cc ls3 heads their advertise flow numbers don't seen to match the stock flow numbers on above heads or even the ported numbers as they are still lower than the stock 255cc ls3 heads out of the box.
I think I'm going to be happy. Tony really knows his stuff, and has been more than patient with me and my constant waffling, indecision and overthinking of every aspect of this thing.
05-11-2018, 11:47 PM
Additional Port work on Trick Flow 255's?
