$2500 for upgrades.. what to do

Well I got some spare money for some upgrades but I want your input before I spend it all lol Here is my situation...

My truck is finally runnin after being broke for almost 3 months. During the time it was down I sold my 20s to pay to for the tranny and got some stock gmc 16s real cheap. So the truck looks stupid but I can make due cause its runnin good... real good lol just cant hook up at all lol Next thing is that I have a bad lifter that needs to be replaced. From asking around (thanks Tyler) I was told that not only the intake has to come off but also the heads to replace the lifters. I know the lifters arnt real expencive but while I have the heads off then I would like to either get them worked on or replace them with somethin better. Other than the lifters I need to get a good locker in the rear end (still have factory G80). So what would you guys do... I plan on doing the all the work with my buds so no money for labor

1) Get some 20's(I only have to get two tires cause I kept 2 from my old wheels), replace the lifters, arp studs for the heads, freshen up the heads,new locker, and put the rest toward a Nitrous fund

2) replace the lifters, buy some heads, custom grind cam, arp studs, and a locker if I have any money left

3) replace the lifters, have local guy work on the heads ( p&p, valve job, mill), arp studs, locker, and put the rest toward a wheel fund

I dont know but these are just a couple of ideas, Im comsidering the WCCH 317's if I buy new heads, im not talking about the expensive afr's or trickflow's lol Me and my wife are thinking about the first option but I just wanted to see what you guys think... Keep this in mind, its not a DD so its cool if the truck is down a lil while I just hope its not another 3months. All ideas are welcome

Thanks
Chris

replace lifters, get some ls6 heads bare for $2-300, have them ported and assembled, arp head studs, locker, wheels, and rest towards n2o kit. you can pick up factory 20's pretty cheap. i remember theres a guy on here selling a set like u want puuuurty darn cheap!

4. you could put a down payment for my turbo kit. lol

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Originally Posted by turbo4.8

replace lifters, get some ls6 heads bare for $2-300, have them ported and assembled, arp head studs, locker, wheels, and rest towards n2o kit. you can pick up factory 20's pretty cheap. i remember theres a guy on here selling a set like u want puuuurty darn cheap!

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243's arent expensive at all hmm... yeah that guy was prob me lol the VHO 20s were too heavy I was thinkin about some black 20s with a chrome lip and keep the 16s for the slicks

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Originally Posted by foggy

4. you could put a down payment for my turbo kit. lol

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You take payments! lol

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Originally Posted by wayfastw86

You take payments! lol

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Sure but it won't ship until paid in full.

Buy the turbo kit.

Then I wont have a rear end or a tranny to hold the boost lol... and will still have to pull the heads to replace the lifters... maybe next time lol






now my wife is yelling "HELL NO YOUR NOT GETTIN A TURBO!!! YOULL BREAK MORE STUFF"

I'd get a set of heads for sure and a 150 wet shot. Texas-Speed.com sells the LS6 heads reasonable assembled.

i got a set of ls6 heads and ported them myself ... took about 6 hrs with a die grinder. the openings are huge now.... you ever think about some aluminum wheels?

I like the l92s but after the rocker arms, intake, throttle body, and no tellin what else then ill be way over my budget. Thats not a bad idea, wonder what the 2.5 ls6 flow compared to the stage 1. Its almost 400 dollar difference but the springs alone are 250. That would be nice with a different cam too. Now yall got me thinkin

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Originally Posted by turbo4.8

i got a set of ls6 heads and ported them myself ... took about 6 hrs with a die grinder. the openings are huge now.... you ever think about some aluminum wheels?

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yeah id love some al 20's but dont wanna pay for em. Its cool if I run around on some heavier wheels now that I have my al 16s for the track. Why... you got some...

are you running the heads now, i bet it made a big difference

Alllllright! Chris has some cash-money to spend! Schweeet!

Ok--this is what I would do:
1. Have the 317s get a PnP job; have a 3 angle valve job done; milled slightly; ARP studs = ~$750
2. LS7 lifters = ~$150
3. Detroit TrueTrac = ~$400

That leaves you with roughly $1200... A little bit of it will go to fluids and a Master Install Kit for the TrueTrac. I would get those things done and see what you've got left. I am sure it will be enough for a decent little Nitrous Dave's plate kit... :D

Just because the heads have to come off to replace the lifters doesn't mean the heads need worked or replaced. It could still be pretty strong without the worked heads and that might save almost enough for a locker or other G80 replacement. Not sure you need a cam unless you want more power and less lope. Looks like already have a DQ cam that must idle nice. Do you even really know you need a lifter? I mean....if there is another cause for the noise or it's normal all of this would be a $$$ waste that would put you behind.

Is there still a GIANT pile of engine blocks in Lindale? I think I asked you that before....

Im not running the heads yet. im waiting for more $ to get rod bolts and head studs. then the motor will go in the truck and start assembling things until its all done. gotta a turbo in gonna throw on it. its a build in progress. but itll be done soon.

option 2

howd it get the lower stance? you buy a drop or wat? whatd u play with to get that?

dont get studs!!!! quik has 16 psi at 700hp with STOCK HEAD BOLTS they are a waste for a na motor IMO now get ls7 lifers and a cam package of some sort
http://texas-speed.com/shop/item.asp...d=172&catid=48 380 springs and push rods
http://texas-speed.com/shop/item.asp...d=690&catid=50 120 lifters
http://texas-speed.com/shop/item.asp 185 bolts and gaskets
new cam 400 ish
1100 ish
then buy spray!!!
or heads if you must i would suggest wcch

btw if you self port heads be VERY CAREFUL! there is alot that can go wrong, if you take to much material out and hit a water passage you've got urself a nice aluminum brick! they done weld back up very nice, also you can actually make things worse, there is alot that goes into how a head flows and if you go in blind you can loose power, also do not under any circumstance gasket match!!! this is bad usually to much material is removed, it takes alot of practice and time to be able to make a quality port job now if u want to polish em up that should be just fine

yeah im too scared to port my own stuff lol Ill pay someone that knows what there doing first... I dont know... Im thinking about doing new heads completly cause I know thats what I want one day. I dont wanna waste money tryin to get my heads to perform when I could go ahead and spend a lil extra money and get the heads Ive allways wanted. We'll see... Yeah its the lifters, fo sho. I drove to Nelson to get a live tune after the cam swap and thats when I knew something was wrong. Alan said that they wern't real bad but I sould start thinking about replacing them. Its weird if I stay around town they dont make any noise, but if I stay at highway speeds for a few mins then I can hear them start ticking. But when I stop and let it idle for a couple mins then it stops. I just need to break into the motor and replace them before they go out completly and make me replace the motor... thats no fun. Ill do some more research and pricing before I make my final decision. Ill keep you guys updated... Thanks

As far as lowering my truck, I took the factory 2in blocks out, installed 2in shackles, took the torsion key adj bolts out completly and got an aglinment. Works great, but I did have to do some cutting on my bumpstops. So in all I spent less than $100. Its nice that the VHO's came with torsion bars or it wouldnt have been so easy

Thanks everyone, I may wait and save just a little bit more money so I can replace the heads completly, lifters, locker, and get some purdy wheels lol

Thanks
chris