Grum.man

Recently purchased an 04 Silverado 3500 4x4 drw with the 6.0 engine. It has the dreaded broken drivers side rear exhaust stud which is of course causing an exhaust leak that bugs me. Since I have to pull the head I can’t help but want to upgrade. I still want to run 87 octane so going to 706 or even 799/243 heads is out of the question. Being a tow rig that rarely sees more than 3500-4000 rpm is it even worth it to look for different heads? I was thinking if not I could stick in a set of .040 head gaskets to get a small compression bump. Also plan to do catted long tubes and a small cam and tune while I’m at it. What are the collective thoughts?

arthursc2

iTrader: (5)

Weld a nut to what's left of that stud and twist it out; save all the trouble

LS1 (241) heads will be a comp bump but a flow reduction. Comp bump prob means more power tho and better efficiency

any cam under 220/220 will be a great cam in that thing, imo

68Formula

From the sounds of it, better heads aren't required for what you want to do. Save the bucks, and just do the head gasket. If the heads don't measure flat enough, go ahead and have them milled for a little more compression. The headers will help with torque across the entire range, so worth doing even on a tow rig too. Speaking of which, a good choice for the 6.0L would be the TSP Stage 2 High Lift 212/218 112. This will boost torque where you'll use it most, and still pull hard to about 6k.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

No need to pull the head. If it broke off flush you can weld a nut to the stub that left inside the head. The weld will not stick to the aluminum. Then simply back it out.

Grum.man

I'll look again but I am pretty sure it broke off too deep to weld a nut to even if I could get a torch head in there. It backed out 2-3 turns before falling out with about a inch of thread bellow the head of the bolt.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

It can be done. I have done it several times. Even when they are below the surface.

Grum.man

While we are talking Cams, I reached out to TSP, BTR, Summit, Vinci, and Cammotion. I heard back from Summit, BTR, and Vinci and these were there recommendations:

BTR Stg 2
212/218 .553/.553 111+0

Vinci
DUR @ .050" 205*/ 213*
LIFT .527 / .535
LSA 114*

Summit
205/217 112+2, .500 /.500 or their high lift version with the .550" lift.

The Vinci one seems the mildest but maybe that's the best compromise for what I am looking for without killing fuel economy? What do you all think?

Grum.man

I'll look at it again tomorrow. I've been able to replace two others by drilling them out and using a screw extractor without pulling the whole manifold.

arthursc2

iTrader: (5)

Build up tacks with mig in the hole, super easy

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

My friend ran a reground cam with 206/214 .527/.548 112LSA didn't really effect gas millage in a 2500