Achilles97

I'm sorry for making such a noob post. I've done a lot of searching and reading but I want to be sure I understand everything before I make any decisions.

I took my '08 Z06 to the Corvette Classic 2013 event yesterday and drove on the road course for the first time ever. It was such a thrill!

Well, it made me think that I should really think about getting the heads done. Options include taking the car to 21st Century in DFW and just let them throw on some rebuilt heads; or I could send out my heads to WCCH for their Stage2 job. I don't mind having the car inoperable for a few weeks if I went with WCCH and installed the heads myself.

My question about heads: If I go with Stage 2 heads, is it ok to leave everything else stock - the cam, rods, lifters, etc? Obviously I could synergize the heads with a cam package, but for now I just want to do the heads. Do I need a retune with those heads?

Thanks a lot!

jedblanks

You can do heads without Porting and save a
Few $$$.

You need heavier springs with solid stem valves.

Achilles97

Thanks for the info. Would the stock lifters be fine with a heavier spring?

0HorsePowerAddicts

Stock lifters are fine with higher spring pressures. Depending on mileage it is always a good ideal to replace the lifter while the heads are off.

DaOtherOne

At what mileage should you consider replacing the lifters?

JJC5

You shouldn't need a tune if you're just replacing the heads with rebuilt ones. You wouldn't see much advantage if you ported the heads without doing a cam, T.B. and headers anyway. I'll be doing WCCH myself too real soon.

0HorsePowerAddicts

At 40K+ we always do lifters while the heads are off. We always inspect them if the owners do not want lifters. We have seen a few where the cam lobes started wearing down and the cam and lifters were pited and wearing. One being an 07 Z06 with only 9K miles on it.

Achilles97

Thanks for the info. I think the most I would do down the line would be a mild cam, so maybe I'll just go with rebuilt heads without the porting. My end goal is to do a few road course events per year without having to worry about valves dropping. I think 480ish at the wheels would be enough power for me.

-Reworked non-ported heads
-Increased-capacity oil tank
-CAI
-Torquer or GT19 cam

And I think I would be happy.

FrankTank

I wasted 700 bucks basically porting my WCCH heads and leaving stock cam, I did a tune also with CAI and headers and got 474RWHP

jtjohn1

I am actually thinking about doing the heads (Ported) Torquer cam, CAI and tune (Hoping to come in under 5-6K installed) this winter (Shooting for around 520-530HP without losing drivability)

Not sure if I want to go with headers (My last experience with headers kind of soured me on them. Of course that was back around 1991 with blackjack headers on a 1977 Trans Am/Pontiac 400 so I am sure headers have come a LONG way In the past 22 years. I had to basically tighten the things every week to keep from blowing a gasket and even THEN they tended to develop leaks)

Pfadt Racing

I agree, I usually don't touch the heads unless I've got a cam/headers/CAI package going on...just not a lot to gain for the time and cost. Now if someone is worried about the hollow valve, then fine...but for speed its lower on the list.

Pfadt Racing

Maybe headers are better now??

jtjohn1

Did I also mention I paid ~$200 for the complete set back in 1991(And those were considered GOOD headers not cheepies)

I will probably get a set of these sometime next year as well but I don't think my budget officer (AKA the Wife) would allow me to spend more $$ for the complete rig (And I am getting to old to enjoy something that is REALLY loud and obnoxious) right from the get go

I LOVED the sound of my 77 Trans Am with Turbo Mufflers coming out of the down turned dual tips.

I want to get the head issue looked at and taken care of before I do anything else and it just doesn't make sense to pull the heads and do a cam later on (To me anyway)

Bill Dearborn

Rework the heads and maybe change the oil tank to gain reliability. If you won't be seeing high G long duration left hand turns don't bother with the oil tank. As for the power adders it will be several years before you will be good enough to use them.

Bill

Mark2009

Excellent observation, Bill.

I'm not sure that I would want to beat on my car to the extent that I would be good enough to use all the available OEM power on a road course. Assuming I could even reach that level which, based on observation of others who are very good, I doubt I could.

A good man knows his limitations