best heads for me?

[ported]

Just picked up and fairly clean vk calias 5.0 of a mate of mine. The motor is a lil tired. Mainly the top end is rately. The cars on gas and its my daily driver so dont want to spend a fortune on just get a lil more power and know that its reliable (id rather spend the money on my rx4). So i need to put new heads and valve gear on mite chuck a cam in while im at it. So whats my best option? I was thinking of geting some ported vk heads for, so how much do they go for? Or i could put a set of vn heads on it whitch means i then have to put diferent extractors and inlet manifold, how much will this cost? Is it worth going to the vn style heads or stickin with the old schoolers?

[vkberlina]

VN-VT heads are the way to go, they flow heaps better than any earlier heads. You will notice a big difference over your current ones.

But if your not wanting to spend big $$$ on the engine probably a clean up of your current heads would be better for you. By the time you buy a VN-VT top end, new headers, rebuild the heads (you will need the rocker covers as well) it wont be cheap.

cheers
Scott

[Goon]

If its your driving ride mate, best to just rebuild the whole engine? she will run allot better then what it is probley running atm.

[ported]

If its your driving ride mate, best to just rebuild the whole engine? she will run allot better then what it is probley running atm.

Yea it would probably be the beast but as i said its just a daily driver and i dont want to spend much on it. The bottom end seems to be ok theres no smoke or noise coming from down there its just the valve train thats a bit ratly (probably cause its been on gas for the last 10 years). So what would it be worth to
A) Put vn style heads manifold and extractors?
B) Rebuild the heads i have and maybee port em out a bit?
C) Get some heads that are already ported in good condition?

Also would stock vn style heads flow better than a set of ported vk style?

[atrail308]

unless you wanna make a major drag car out of it, you'll be wasting your time and money with the VN heads... Ported out 308 heads will flow as much as you'll need, and you wont have to go out and by EFI style cam, extractors and manifold...

[craigvk]

Mate that rattle coming from the motor, or TICK is basically worn out lifters making the rockers rattle.

I am going to be replacing my cam, lifters and timing chain in the near future as my lifters have worn a bit. Depending on the cam I get, I will probably replace my valve springs with performance ones and replace the valve locks as well.
It's a general thing to replace the cam and timing chain if you are replacing worn lifters. After all, the cam and timing chain are probably worn out too.

The whole thing is a few hundred bucks and a few hours work. Add another $500 or more if you get a local mechanic to do it. The heads might be fine, meaning the valves. You could get them inspected if in doubt.
My barge is running dual fuel. I haven't had any issues with gas. I chuck in the unleaded and it gives me even more power.

The crow cam I will get is about $180 and I will just buy it through Autobarn, the rest I will get from ebay.

[ported]

I'll proably go with the vk heads then and chuck a cam and lifters in while im at it. What kinda rwhp would it make with these mods plus a set of extractors running on dual fuel? Also whats it going to cost?

[Pub247]

Are they the original heads? have they been converted to run gas? by that i mean hardend valves and seats. I had a mate who vk calais was on gas felt like it went alright went and got a comp test and found out it was down on 4 cylinders with burnout valves and vsr. If i was you i'd get new valves and seats inserts especially if your keeping gas. If you get anew cam suited to you'll make decent power depend how good your gas is. I think they make 119kw at flywheel from factory? correct if i'm wrong though. As for cost you could get exchange heads it'd be cheaper i'd say. If you can do it yourself (it's pretty simple with the right tools) you'll save hundreds.but shop around and get qoutes find someone who does good work.

[ported]

i will do all the work my self i have a fair knowlegde of whats going on. More so rotarys but ive never really pulled a piston engine apart before. Cant belive they only made 119kw factory. Thats wat 80 or 90 @the wheels? How hard would it be to get around 200rwhp?

[Pub247]

ok i checked 308's 121 kw and 304 122kw some say 126kw and high output 4.9 (304) 175kw which i assume is group a and 3's. Making that power might be hard with the stock bottom end and with gas unless you want to spend dollars on a good gas setup. I think a new manifold would be a must to achieve that power. There's a bit of money involved and better off going the full rebuild and much easier to make 200hp. Also Maybe someone can tell me if i'm right or wrong but a 333 stroker is a standard crank with an offset grind? which is what the crankshaft grinder at work told me. That would defently help in getting that power. Might also be worth looking at getting an efi setup with heads to bolt on top probably get you almost there and would save a full rebuild. don't about price of that though

[SL/ENUT]

Ok all Holden(not HDT) 5 litres(and some 304s) are VB-VH 125kW-126kW, VK 117kW. The HDTs well SS, Calais Director, Group 3 are V5H 5 litre 177kW. The group A has 196kW and the rare Grp A/Grp3 are 200kW.
To get 200rwhp you only need ported heads, the right cam, modded manifold, modded carby and a great set of extractors/sports zorst.

[atrail308]

The right combination is the best result... no point getting some massive cam or hugely ported heads if the rest of the engine doesnt match the same level... like SL/ENUT said, nice mid-range cam, bit of head work, good ignition, well tuned carby and a good set of strackies, and you'll be well on your way to make power most people will be happy with, especially when you're dusting the doors off EFI V8's...

[atrail308]

also, a manifold change will be needed, such as a performer, even if you still stick with the rochy 4-barrel...

[ported]

Thanks for that guys seems like it might cost a lil bit more than im willing to spend to make the goal of 200rwhp. I spose id be happy with around 150 @the tires. I've got my eyes open for a set of ported heads get a nice cam that suits gas and probably modifiy the manifold i have already got to flow a lil bit better and i already have a decent set of extractors. If i get bored with that i think i'll change the manifold and put a gas research carb on it. My rx4 will make around 300hp @ the tires if i ever get it finished so I cant have the commodore going to well or else i'll have to build another 13b with a turbo on it