Pulling the Heads-What to do to them?

[93formulalt1]

well if money is a big factor, I would 1. put the heads on you just bought. 2. get it running without having to worry about a tune etc. 3. concentrait on the boddy work and paint. 4. then save up the money and do motor over the winter next year.

If it don't look good, doesn't matter how it runs.

Money isn't a big factor, I just don't have several thousand to dump into the car all at once, I'm looking at a budget of around $800-$1000 a month, which should be plenty to get what I want done.

Im not going to swap the heads twice, I'm looking to do this once. Have them ported before installing them, do the cam swap while they are off, I'm going to do this all while the motor is already being worked on. I'd rather do it right the first time than have to do it again.

My point about money is simply that cost will dictate the schedule. I have money set aside for the port work on the heads, I'm working on setting more aside for the other parts. Once I have everything I need, then I will begin working on putting everything on the car.

The firebird is no longer a dd, it's a project car, plain and simple. I'm in no hurry to get it on the road, I just though it would be nice to get it running before summer is over.

[TrickyTransAm]

I agree with Plum Nuts with exception on how it looks. Fast ugly cars will always trump a slow pretty car IMO. It's the suprise factor and care free-ness of parking anywhere you want.
Plus, getting blown away by a complete piece of Sh_t is so very..very embarrasing.

If you choose to move forward:
Cam setup has to match the car, converter, gear ratio, tires, etc.
I would Call Comp Cams or the manufacturer of your choice and ask for their recommendation. They don't respond to e-mail requests.
Valve springs must match the cam lift.
Pushrods should be upgraded to a hardened design so they don't flex with the new cam.
Depending on mileage of the motor - look at your cam bearings. If they have a LOT of copper showing, you may want to replace them (Not so easy to do in the car).
Cam lube is very important. Use a good lubricant for camshafts. Do not use graphite lube.
A Cam installation tool is handy as it helps you gently slip in the cam to the block. YOu can't go quick or nick the bearings while putting it in. One hand next to the block to guide, the other to slide it in with the tool. It should slide in freely. Any excessive force may mean you nicked a bearing or there's something wrong. It should spin freely once in place.
If you don't want to buy a tool, three 5/16-18 X 4" bolts also work.
Inspect your roller lifters before you put them back in. Make sure there's no cavitation on the rollers, no odd or loose bearings etc.
Rule of thumb I've used is about 3-4 threads of the rocker stud showing on top of the nut to start the car, then adjust from there.

What combustion chamber size are the heads? If large, the cheapest bang for your buck is to mill the heads down to get more compression.
You shouldn't need to buy new cylinder head bolts, unless your manual specifically calls out torque to yield bolts - but I think your year was a bit early for that.
At least the 95 caprice iron LT1 doesn't call for torque/angle.

I would seek Westers Tune for the E-Prom chip. I haven't dealt with them directly but I hear good things.

Alright, I need some input here. . .

I picked up a set of heads, intake, and 1.6RR's last week from Dan (Thanks for the great deal, Dan, I wouldn't have been able to swing it otherwise!), and I'm mulling my options over in my head. . . I want a respectable car with decent street manners (will be a "weekend warrior" for the most part, but I don't plan on really racing it, mostly just cruising around town, maybe drive it to work a couple times a week), and according to everyone I've spoken with, now is the best time to go a little wild with the performance parts. The problem is money, as usual. I can swing buying the parts a little at a time, but until the heads are swapped, unfortunately, the car will be "out of commission". I'm thinking that to get the most "bang for my buck", I want to have the heads ported and rebuilt (new seals, springs, install the roller rockers), do a cam swap to something mild with decent low- to mid-range power, install a torque converter to compliment the cam, port the intake (at least gasket match to the heads), have the true duals I've been planning for a couple years now installed, and at some point have it tuned (if I can ever find a place that has the capability to tune a '93, since it requires replacing the PROM chip, rather than just hooking up a cable and hitting "enter"), then get started on the appearance/structure of the vehicle.

The car has some rust, which requires immediate attention. I'm going to be taking the car to a shop to have the major rust taken care of, and I'll then prepare the car for a full paint job, which will be taking place in my garage at home. The color has been chosen (it will be unique, but not overdone), the equipment is already on hand, I just need to get the car prepped and ready for paint before I start ordering materials. That's not my priority, however. For now, I want to get the car running again, put some miles on it, and get the rust repaired. That's Phase I, and I'd like to have this accomplished before winter hits, since I can prep the body for paint and send it off to the body shop while there's snow on the ground.

What I need from you guys is this: I've never done a cam swap before. I don't know what all I need in the way of parts, I really have absolutely no clue what I'm doing, but I'm a quick study, and there are plenty of walk-throughs out there to help out in a pinch.

So far, I'm looking at the following:
-Cam (undecided, if you have suggestions, feel free to share, but I want something mild/streetable)
-Torque Converter (stall speed will depend on cam largely, so feel free to share suggestions here as well)
-Valve springs (I've been told upgrading these is strongly recommended when upgrading to 1.6RR's)
-Gaskets (obviously)
-Replace Optispark and Water Pump (Since I'm already going to be down there. . . )
-Pushrods (Might as well, stockers have 170k miles on them)
-Valve seals (cheap insurance, don't want to sink all this money into it for blue smoke on startup)
-True Duals (dumped before the axle, 3" w/ X-Pipe)
-Tune (would prefer a dyno tune, but I may be stuck with a mail order tune, depending on availability of a shop that can dyno tune a '93 due to the PROM chip issue I mentioned above)


Aside from these things, and the other, unrelated items that I'll be picking up (tires, paint, rust repair, seats, dynamat/other sound deadener, carpet, etc.), I'm not sure what I'll need to get before I can start turning wrenches on this car. I'm hoping to have it back on the road this summer, but as I mentioned, funds dictate the schedule. I have other expenses that are more important than this vehicle, but it's sat for too long, and I've already started buying parts, so it's going to get done.

Here's the deal, I know we have a few resident experts on the site, you point me to the stuff I need, and I'll break open the checkbook. Aside from the rust repair, I will be doing the work myself, with some help from friends. I need to find a decent cam, get the heads dropped off for porting, order the valve springs, figure out which converter I need and get it ordered, and start contemplating a basic schedule to get the work done so I can enjoy this thing again. Just point me in the right direction, and I'll make it happen.

As far as overall goals for the car go, I'd like to keep up with stock LS1's, maybe some bolt-on LS1's, and possibly woop on some bone-stock 5th gens, although I know that may be a bit out of reach.

Thanks in advance for the help, and I really hope I can get some of the gurus here to help me out when the time comes to piece the parts together.

[93formulalt1]

I agree with Plum Nuts with exception on how it looks. Fast ugly cars will always trump a slow pretty car IMO. It's the suprise factor and care free-ness of parking anywhere you want.
Plus, getting blown away by a complete piece of Sh_t is so very..very embarrasing.

If you choose to move forward:
Cam setup has to match the car, converter, gear ratio, tires, etc.
I would Call Comp Cams or the manufacturer of your choice and ask for their recommendation. They don't respond to e-mail requests.
Valve springs must match the cam lift.
Pushrods should be upgraded to a hardened design so they don't flex with the new cam.
Depending on mileage of the motor - look at your cam bearings. If they have a LOT of copper showing, you may want to replace them (Not so easy to do in the car).
Cam lube is very important. Use a good lubricant for camshafts. Do not use graphite lube.
A Cam installation tool is handy as it helps you gently slip in the cam to the block. YOu can't go quick or nick the bearings while putting it in. One hand next to the block to guide, the other to slide it in with the tool. It should slide in freely. Any excessive force may mean you nicked a bearing or there's something wrong. It should spin freely once in place.
If you don't want to buy a tool, three 5/16-18 X 4" bolts also work.
Inspect your roller lifters before you put them back in. Make sure there's no cavitation on the rollers, no odd or loose bearings etc.
Rule of thumb I've used is about 3-4 threads of the rocker stud showing on top of the nut to start the car, then adjust from there.

What combustion chamber size are the heads? If large, the cheapest bang for your buck is to mill the heads down to get more compression.
You shouldn't need to buy new cylinder head bolts, unless your manual specifically calls out torque to yield bolts - but I think your year was a bit early for that.
At least the 95 caprice iron LT1 doesn't call for torque/angle.

I would seek Westers Tune for the E-Prom chip. I haven't dealt with them directly but I hear good things.

In response to your previous message (that you deleted), I already have a set of heads, picked them up for a great deal from Dan, and I'll be having them ported by the same guy that did Meissen's heads.

So, in your opinion, should I get the cam first and then get new gears, converter, tires, etc. to compliment it? When it comes time for the actual installation, I'll be relying heavily on anyone I can get to help that has done it before. I'm not opposed to pulling the engine either, I realize that may be the better option, but if this can be done without pulling the engine, I'd rather go that route.

Appearance is all secondary to me. I'd rather have a fast car that looks like crap than a slow car that looks like new. The car will get all the appearance goodies once I'm happy with the performance aspect of things. Body panels and painting materials are cheaper than making the car fast, so I'll knock out the expensive bits first, then restore the exterior of the car, one piece at a time.

[TrickyTransAm]

I deleted it as I realized on the next page you already had the heads. - sorry bout that.

I'm suggesting to have a plan. Group your parts on paper first, then pluck away at them as you can afford them. Once all the parts come together it will work well as a system. This will help you map out your performance as well as cost to compare it with other options (Such as an engine swap or new crate motor that's ready to go).

If you go very mild (RV towing type cam) you won't need a converter. Your cam selection usually dictates what stall you need to run.
Cam / Converter/ programming if you had to group them in required installed parts.
You can still drive it around with a different gear and tires if you had to, it just may not put the car in its peak powerband.

These are just my rambling thoughts based on my experience. I'm no expert, just throwing caution into the wind.

[93formulalt1]

I deleted it as I realized on the next page you already had the heads. - sorry bout that.

I'm suggesting to have a plan. Group your parts on paper first, then pluck away at them as you can afford them. Once all the parts come together it will work well as a system. This will help you map out your performance as well as cost to compare it with other options (Such as an engine swap or new crate motor that's ready to go).

If you go very mild (RV towing type cam) you won't need a converter. Your cam selection usually dictates what stall you need to run.
Cam / Converter/ programming if you had to group them in required installed parts.
You can still drive it around with a different gear and tires if you had to, it just may not put the car in its peak powerband.

These are just my rambling thoughts based on my experience. I'm no expert, just throwing caution into the wind.

What cam would you suggest? I was thinking of something with the same manners as stock, but I definitely want something that's actually worth installing, you know. I was thinking of an LT4 "Hotcam", but I think there are better options out there for the money. I don't want it to be blatantly obvious at idle that the cam was swapped, but a little "lope" would be fine. It's going to have dumped true duals, so whatever I decide to go with is going to sound good regardless.

The rear end will be getting some love as well, I have a Detroit Locker sitting around that is just waiting to be installed, I was going to have a set of 3.73's tossed in at the same time. I'm all about percieved improvements. 10-15hp is all well and good on paper, but I want the "seat of the pants" dyno to be able to pick up the difference in power output. I think combining ported heads and intake with a nice, mild cam, 3.73's and a locker, and true duals, all at the same time, would really wake the car up. I was already happy with the car's performance after just headers and a mail-order tune, but I was only able to keep up with bone stock LT1's that had lower miles. My car definitely has some miles on her, she's starting to get a little "tired", I just want to wake it up a bit, that's all. Not looking to be the fastest car on the streets, but I'd like to be able to keep up with a couple of friends. lol

What springs should I get to go with the 1.6RR's? I'm sure I'll need new pushrods after replacing the cam and rockers, so I'll have to measure for the correct length after that work is done. Anything else that I may be missing that hasn't already been discussed? Does anyone know of a reputable shop that can dyno tune a '93? I don't know of any locally, I'd be willing to drive a bit to get the car tuned, but at this point, I'm more inclined to go with a mail-order tune than anything, I know most of them can get pretty close just based on the specs you give them, and as long as I can drive it without major issues, I'll be in decent shape until I can get the car in for a proper tune.

[TrickyTransAm]

Well, hopefully the boys on the board can help with that a bit based on their experience with cam swaps in LT1s.

Use Camquest from Comp Cams to search out a cam, and Desktop Dyno to compare them with basic general engine parameters to get an idea what will work better in your particular application.

Just for grins I fired up Camquest to see what I could get in a hurry.
I found a Comp Cams 268XFI HR13, 218/224 .570/.565 cam that's good from 1800 to 5800, requires a mild stall, and churns out an estimated 321HP with everything stock and small tube headers. ~very rough estimate. It would have a bit choppy idle with the 113 degree lobe separation. You'll notice it.

Don't take that to heart though - that is only my 10 second look at your setup. I'd still call comp to get an idea what they can provide for you.

Comp Cam 26918 springs are good to 0.600" lift cams, and are the recommendation from Comp.

Tuning is definitely the hard part. Try Nelson for mail order tunes. Its about $400, but lifetime re-tunes and upgrades and they answer their phone.

[Fox Slaughter]

Springs Patriot Gold springs is what Lloyd Elliot runs. They are like 330 bucks for titanium retainers and everything else need. Good up to a .650 lift.

Compression ratio and cam choice are also going to be dictated on what future plans hold for the car. Need more exhaust duration for nitrous set up, need less compression to run boost. So.