# need some input on heads



## dieseltweaker (Jun 2, 2009)

first question is. what is the differances between l92 truck heads and ls heads? i see alot of guys just swap them out for the l92's. 

next is. i know a guy who has a set of heads off a ls1. are they the same heads? i thought they were but not sure though. he wants $50 for them theyre full dressed too. i was goin to gasket match them and polish them. also do a polish job in the combustion chamber and behind they valves also looking to do the intake manifold to match.

does this sound good for a $50 upgrade? and would it match power gains of a l92 or be better? figuring new heads cost about $1700 more


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

L92s are LS3 heads with solid valves instead of hollowstems. Looks like you have an LS2 from your av? I wouldn't put LS1 heads on an LS2. I also wouldn't put L92s on without adding cubes. Ported LS2 heads are the best bang for the buck, especially if you already have the cores.


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

For $50 buy'em and flip'em.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

dieseltweaker said:


> first question is. what is the differances between l92 truck heads and ls heads? i see alot of guys just swap them out for the l92's.
> 
> next is. i know a guy who has a set of heads off a ls1. are they the same heads? i thought they were but not sure though. he wants $50 for them theyre full dressed too. i was goin to gasket match them and polish them. also do a polish job in the combustion chamber and behind they valves also looking to do the intake manifold to match.
> 
> does this sound good for a $50 upgrade? and would it match power gains of a l92 or be better? figuring new heads cost about $1700 more


For $50 I'll buy LS1 heads.

You can buy L92 heads for your LS2, but you'll need a decent sized cam to go along with those heads to take advantage of the extra flow that they provide. Your also talking headers and tune also. We have a member that just done so with some really nice results.


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## dieseltweaker (Jun 2, 2009)

yea my car is a ls2. sorry i didnt say. now my question is whats the differnce between ls1 heads and ls2 heads. if u look in catalogs some say ls1/ls2 heads.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

LS1 241 (older 8xx perimiter bolt heads) have larger combustion chambers and smaller runners than the LS2 heads. LS2 heads are LS6 heads w/o the sodium valves. LS2/LS2 243 heads smaller combustion chambers= higher compression and larger runners more flow also D shaped exhaust ports.


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## dieseltweaker (Jun 2, 2009)

o ok. so now since these heads are the ls1's would i benifit from porting them out since mines a ls2? what is the larger combustion chamber going to change or affect then.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Larger combustion chamber = lower compression ratio.

Port your stock LS2 heads...srsly. It might run you $600-1000 depending on what goodies you want, but they're the unsung heros of LS heads on an LS2. Damn near L92/LS3 head performance for half the price.


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## dieseltweaker (Jun 2, 2009)

yea i think im gonna stay away from them. wish they were ls2's tho. some day i might pop mine off and port and polish them my self. then get em bench flowed for a few hundred.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

dieseltweaker said:


> o ok. so now since these heads are the ls1's would i benifit from porting them out since mines a ls2? what is the larger combustion chamber going to change or affect then.


Ported LS1 head will out flow stock LS2/6 heads. The LS1 heads have a slightly larger combustion chamber so your going to take a approx .8 hit in compression. Could have an small effect on horsepower numbers. But that .8 hit would help slightly if your going FI.


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## dieseltweaker (Jun 2, 2009)

yea im not thinking of ever useing FI. i knew that if you supercharge you add about 2-3 to compression. so i think im gonna look for a set of stock ls2's to port out or maybe next winter yank mine off and do em. im tryin to avoid parking my car for long, since i love to driving it


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

dieseltweaker said:


> yea im not thinking of ever useing FI. i knew that if you supercharge you add about 2-3 to compression. so i think im gonna look for a set of stock ls2's to port out or maybe next winter yank mine off and do em. *im tryin to avoid parking my car for long, since i love to driving it*


I know what you mean. I thinking next year pulling my stock heads off and working them myself. Hopefully if everything goes well I'll have a truck by then. This is my DD so we would be down to one car. I could allways ride my bike to work and put the GTO emblems that I took off on my bike


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

I just put Texas Speed CNC ported LS3 heads on my car. As previously mentioned, the castings of L92 heads and LS3 heads are identical with the only difference being the valves. I think I paid like 150 bucks to upgrade from the standard valves to the hollow stem intake / stainless steel exhaust valves with titanium retainers making them LS3 heads. Along with the custom ground Comp cam that Texas Speed had ordered for me to compliment the heads, the car put down 455 rwhp and 415 lbs-ft. trq through the 4 speed auto.

Here's something to think about that the article in High Performance Pontiac neglected to tell me when I got the idea to do the cam/heads swap in the first place. If you are going to go the L92/LS3 route you also HAVE to buy rocker arms and an intake manifold. The LS3 rocker arms don't use the same rockers for intake and exhaust like the LS2 does. They are offset because the valves in the LS3 heads are so big. I paid 350 bucks for OEM LS3 rocker arms and had to pay an additional 200 bucks to buy Comp Cams' needle trunnion upgrade kit to beef the rockers up so they could handle the high lift choppy cam. The needle bearing in the stock rockers can't handle anything more then a GM hotcam. You don't want needle bearings winding up in your oil pan. So for 550 bucks additional bucks that I didn't plan on spending, I got rockers to go with the heads. 

When I bought these parts GM had not yet released the LS3 intake manifold to the public so my only options were the OEM L92 intake manifold off the Cadillac Escalade for around 400 bucks or the FAST LSXR 102mm LS3 intake manifold for around 950 bucks. I did some research and didn't like what I found out about the L92 intake so I splurged and bought the FAST (that was suppose to give you up to 20 more hp over the stock unit). I went 1500 over budget on this project because I didn't do enough research before I started buying parts and took the damn HPP article I read for gospel. After the smoke cleared, I couldn't be happier with the beast I got back from the speed shop with the exception of losing 4 mpg, but I can live with that. I'll attach a pic of the heads and rocker arms so you can see the offsets I was talking about.


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## dieseltweaker (Jun 2, 2009)

wow thats interesting. thats exactly wat i dont want to get into rite now. im on a tight budget now anyways with building a hotrod and redoin my boat. but i really think that p/p on my stockers will do plenty for me. its alot cheaper and then i get to say i did that not a bought bolt on.


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