I have a 2007 300 SRT8 with 30K on the odometer. I want to do heads, cam, springs and timing. Only I need some advice please. I did a lot of reading and almost everyone agrees that I should go SRT MAX for my cam and they all say it will work with the stock heads, springs, etc. I have no problem with the SRT MAX, so my question is more about heads. From what I understand a pair of heads for the 6.1 is just the factory heads that have been professionally ported and polished, right? If that is the case, can I just port and polish my heads? If yes, is there anybody reliable in North Carolina or South Carolina that anyone can recommend? From what I seen the cam is under $500 and I can't complain on that price. Heads however are three times that price and if it's just porting and polishing with no discount for a core/exchange then it's kind of hard to part with that kind of money. Any help is appreciated.
It depends what you want. If you are going to be happy with "a little faster" then cam only is fine. If you plan on being seriously faster and drag race a bit I'd get the heads too if you can afford them. You can also wait around for some used ones to pop up. That is what I did. Used heads, cam and ported intake manifold. The HHP stuff really rocks. My buddy Mao has the fastest stock block N/A heads/cam LX car at 11.11@126 MPH with the same HHP Stage II setup.
HEMI heads are significantly different than say an LS head. Because the HEMI market is relatively small, most shops haven't put in the R&D to produce a quality porting job. The quality of the porting is what you're really paying for. Most HEMI head vendors have spent a lot of time and money getting their porting jobs right. I know one vendor worked with the Dodge NASCAR head guys to do his porting. Another has worked with Mondello and wet flowed our heads. These guys have also cut heads apart to make sure their porting didn't make the runner wall too thin. Another consideration is that its very easy to over-port our heads and lose a lot of torque, the first generation of ported and polished heads from Indy had HUGE ports that were too big for the cams most people had. Just a few things to think about. Personally, I wouldn't take my heads to a local guy who is basically experimenting on them and charging you for it.
Stick with already proven, current HEMI aftermarket vendors, and you won't go wrong. Their is a core exchange, check with each vendor, and discuss your goals in mind. Stu at Inertia is always a good choice. PWR, HHP, SHR, and BMC (no particular order) are all good choices for quality HEMI aftermarket parts. Pick ya poison, and good luck...don't forget tuning!
Custom tune will be done IMMEDIATELY after the install. I talked to a few guys about porting my heads, they all talked a decent game but none really had the experience. I'm going to wait until I get enough cash for a new set and if a used set becomes available in the mean time then I'll go that route. Right now I got enough for the cam and torque converter. I might just do those two and get it over with. Then do the heads afterward.
One thing to keep in mind if you do heads and cam separately is the cost of install. Most places will charge a heck of a lot less if done together. Doing them one at a time could cost almost twice as much...
So... what can be expected from a good set of heads from one of the recommended vendors? Are the gains only in the upper rpms?
