I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

[ChronoGN]

Since my valve train is taking a crap on me, I'm just gonna take the heads and rebuild it. This is the first time for me to do this and I want to make sure I do this right.
Right now, I'm pretty sure that my valve gasket(s) are gone. It keeps leaking oil in the motor causing rough startup, smoke, etc. Also, there is a clicking noise coming from the valvetrain. Which I am suspecting is the lifters going bad.
So, this is what I am planning on doing.
Comp Cam Lifters
Stainless Steel Valves
Valve Seals
Valve Locks
LS6 Valve Springs
Valve Spring Retainers

So, to do that, I would need to get all that and a head gasket kit right? Is there any parts I'm missing? Should I replace more stuff on it while I'm at it? Also, am I gonna need any special tools?

[WickEdSix9838]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Get a valve job and might as well do a .002-.005" clean up cut on the deck.
\Add bronze guides to you list for the heads if you're going to use aftermarket valves.
You don't need new valve locks, the stock ones won't go bad.
Other than that, you need all the gaskets.

[slow6]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

special tools? i love my air tools! gets stuff done so much faster!
besides gaskets, your also going to need new:
head bolts
and rocker arm bolts

autozone has the cheapest head bolts.
gm parts direct has the cheapest rocker arm bolts.
unless you want to get ARP, which is probably a good choice.. i dunno

[97rs4life]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

get those heads p&p :)

[ChronoGN]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

get those heads p&p :)

Don't have the money for it. I need to start saving up for grad school so, I'm just gonna 'fix' whatever that is broken and get the car tuned for 9psi and I'm just gonna try to stop myself from modding the car any further and hopefully it will run mid 13s.

[ChronoGN]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Get a valve job and might as well do a .002-.005" clean up cut on the deck.
\Add bronze guides to you list for the heads if you're going to use aftermarket valves.
You don't need new valve locks, the stock ones won't go bad.
Other than that, you need all the gaskets.

Is the valve job and clean up cut on the deck required? Those are something you are gonna have to take it to the machine shop to do right? While my car is down, my only transportation is going to be the bus and my bicycle so I don't really want to find a machine chop and haul the heads onto a bus and walk to the machine shop from the bus stop if you know what I mean....

[Sparticus]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Port & polish them.. get a valve job.... Bronze guides..... Viton seals.. Comp OE-R lifters..;-)

[WickEdSix9838]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Is the valve job and clean up cut on the deck required? Those are something you are gonna have to take it to the machine shop to do right? While my car is down, my only transportation is going to be the bus and my bicycle so I don't really want to find a machine chop and haul the heads onto a bus and walk to the machine shop from the bus stop if you know what I mean....

If you're going to change the valves, get a valve job. If it has as many miles you say it does, it needs one anyways. You can't just throw new valves on old seats and expect it to seal.

[ChronoGN]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Alright, then I'm just gonna get a spare set of heads so, I wont have to worry about dragging them to the machine shop.
Does anyone know if the L67 heads are interchangeable with L36?

[Hib Halverson]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Since my valve train is taking a crap on me, I'm just gonna take the heads and rebuild it. This is the first time for me to do this and I want to make sure I do this right.
Right now, I'm pretty sure that my valve gasket(s) are gone. It keeps leaking oil in the motor causing rough startup, smoke, etc. Also, there is a clicking noise coming from the valvetrain. Which I am suspecting is the lifters going bad.
So, this is what I am planning on doing.
Comp Cam Lifters
Stainless Steel Valves
Valve Seals
Valve Locks
LS6 Valve Springs
Valve Spring Retainers

So, to do that, I would need to get all that and a head gasket kit right? Is there any parts I'm missing? Should I replace more stuff on it while I'm at it? Also, am I gonna need any special tools?

If you've diagnosed your oil use as a problem with valve stem seals, then, yeah...you need to rebuild your cylinder heads. However, if your camshaft is stock and you're not blown or running nitrous, stainless steel valves are a frivilious waste as are the LS6 valve springs. Save some money and reused the valves, as long as they are in good condition and can be reground and the springs, as long as they test ok in a valve spring tester.

If this "clicking" noise seems to come from the valve covers, it might not be the lifters. It could be rockers. I'd diagnose the noise more accurately before I've fork-out the cash for new lifters.

[slow6]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

heh, how can you diagnose more accurately and tell a lifter click from a rocker click, they are so close together. sorry

[Hib Halverson]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

heh, how can you diagnose more accurately and tell a lifter click from a rocker click, they are so close together. sorry

Well....from someone who probably has no experience diagnosing engine noise that's a good question.

If the noise seems to come from the front-center of the engine or from under the intake manifold, it's more likely a lifter. If the noise clearly comes from the vavle covers, it's probably a rocker. If the noise comes from the side of the head, right next to the exhaust port, it's probably the valve hitting the seat on closing...a common noise from engines with aftermarket cams having high velocity closing ramps.

What really helps in a noise diagnosis is an automotive stethoscope. You can buy these from tool vendors and many auto parts houses.

With the magazine project car, we had a lot of occasions to listen to valvetrain-related noise. Our initial quick assessment was lifter noise, but once we spent more time listening to the engine carefully, we decided most of the noise was coming from the heads. Use of an electronic listening device we got from Kalequip confirmed it was valve noise and not lifter noise.

The reason the noise was an issue was it was loud enough to cause false knock retard.

The solution was a second camshaft with a slightly less aggressive profile in the closing ramps which set the valve on the seat just a bit more slowly.

[96whitemaro]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Port & polish them.. get a valve job.... Bronze guides..... Viton seals.. Comp OE-R lifters..;-)

just wondering how much would that run?

[slow6]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

do you really need comp oe-rs? I heard that they were noisyer than stock

[ChronoGN]

Re: I'm going to take off the heads. What mods should I get while I'm at it?

Well, I just decided that I'm going to get a really low mileage L26 heads and call it good.
Do I still need to do a clean up cut on the deck with this? Or can I just clean off the old gasket with the gasket scraper?