This sounds good, but I'm not sure where I would get these. We honestly don't have any salvage yards here, would have to drive to Tulsa (about 45 miles) and dig through junk yards. And I don't know that I have the time for that.
Honestly there aren't many sets on Ebay (for an L59) that aren't 706/862, and several of the ones I can see obviously have the Castech mark in the pics, which is a no-no for me, and others I can't see if they do or not. I haven't had good luck with Ebay sellers when I've asked questions about this topic, mostly not getting replies - and surprisingly, even one highly-recommended engine remanufacturer I contacted in Tulsa acted like they'd never heard of a problem with the 706 heads. That freaked me out even more, as this seems such a common issue and well-known, I can't imagine
someone who remanufactures engines for a living hasn't heard of this on one of the most common motors on the road! And these guys are charging over $2k for a remanufactured stock motor -
with my core exchange. Sure doesn't inspire confidence. I don't care if the heads are "still" in good shape, I've read enough about them I don't want to risk another set of Castech heads. I do see lots of L83 heads on Ebay (Gen V Ecotech motor?). I don't know about mixing and matching, etc. That's why I just jumped to buying "new" heads. I know that I know that I know I won't be getting Castechs.
You say in your area - where do you find them? I'm not 'plugged in' I guess to the scene, a lot of these things seem to be word of mouth, I think. I don't do FB, either, I've been told "You can get a motor on FB for next to nothing" but I purposely stay away from that platform and would rather continue to do so.
I see a "racing" LS9 cam kit on Ebay for around $400, or just a camshaft with springs and seals for anywhere from $160-200. I think this would be an acceptable drop in upgrade. I don't want to overcomplicate things with having to have heads overbored or any of that, as it just means more people in the loop, have to drop parts at a machine shop and wait till they get around to doing the jobs, etc. Sort of like having too many cooks in the kitchen, another reason I thought going with new heads would make things simpler, if it was $100-200 more, I'm not on THAT tight of a budget. I just don't want to spend $4k on this.
That's cool, I'm not
opposed to more power - I just don't want to overbuild it and spend a lot of money
looking for more power, as I just didn't feel I needed it. I know how easily it can turn into a neverending money pit looking at the various add-ons for "moah powah!" But I get it, if it does more power and works easier, it will save fuel. For fuel, I usually use premium non-ethanol anyways. I have to run this in my 370Z and just always stuck with it in my Tahoe, as well.
If I'm correct, this would require other exhaust work, too, right? I don't think I want to have to redo the exhaust right now, although I would like to later, since it appears I'm going to be keeping this a long time. Better sound and flow, but I've got a lot on my plate right now - and tax time is also coming up.
No stimulus checks OR tax refunds for this guy.
This is on a 2004. I've had it for 10+ years, bought it with about 83k, it's now at 275k miles. And I've put 70k or so on my 370Z since I bought it in 2013. I used to drive a LOT, the majority of those were pre-2018, since then I went from commuting 150 miles a day, to under 2 miles a day - round trip. Honestly, the Tahoe has been a great vehicle for me, the only real things I've ever had to do were routine maintenance. I did electric fans, replaced wheel bearings in one wheel, and have the problem with the blend door actuators and rear heat/AC which I cannot get to work right regardless of changing out the actuator. But in general, mechanically, it's been wonderful up to this point. Starting to have some niggly electrical stuff like seat motors, cruise control wonky, etc., but I really have loved my truck. If I can get it back on the road, then start to work on the little things myself, and I am thinking I'll need to do a trans sometime in the next 100k or so, too...
But I really REALLY don't want to take on a car payment again. So this is where I am.
Sorry if this is too longwinded.
