LS Performance Mods | Heads and Cam Upgrade - VE/VF Commodore

[@jimmyjackson1086]

At 11.00, never get tired of listening to the red VF idle...

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Jimmy, glad you liked the cheeky inclusion of Clunie in the video! I could listen to Clunie idle all day!!!! 😍

[@angry9901]

You are not the only one, when is that fuel system arriving and stick Clunie on the dyno.

[@donkeyha6053]

Love the tape over the intake ports when your pulling the heads off anyway......

[@Captinfun101]

Love my Higgins heads on my ol Ute .

[@bush7788]

fully sick vid

[@ClunieGarage]

Thanks Bush, glad you liked it!

[@vickidouglas8146]

Sharon has just taken the Getz down to Dan Murphys to get some Vodka Cruisers so we can watch this episode together. We have our fingers crossed that Frankie will star in this episode!! What a way to spend Friday night on the couch!! Are you going to put out some merchandise soon or wot.....

[@angry9901]

Shouldn't take long with those Nankangs on the Getz, super grippy.

[@ClunieGarage]

Hi Vicki, make sure Sharon picks up some Maccas on the way home! Merchandise is coming soon. I see Angry has commented on your post, maybe you can provide an update on how your new tyres are going?

[@bigal878]

I like the new cam & heads. As a suggestion, In future if you are going to try show some detail (eg. Ports in heads and cam spec card) consider pausing more on the detail (less movement) or take some photos and let people look at them and talk while the photo is up then move back into the video.

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Big Al, noted and will incorporate your feedback in future vids mate. Thanks for watching. 😀

[@showusyabits]

@@ClunieGarage Also side by side comparison of old vs new for reference, would be helpful too

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day mate, unfortunately they are an exchange unit so I can't compare them side by side. I did show how different they are to a LS1 cathederal port head in the video.

[@angry9901]

Gee they look pretty trick. What a difference from the standard heads. Are you replacing the exhaust valves for some sodium filled ones? Hopefully this motor gets put together soon.

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Angry, we might try and lap the current valves in and see how we go. This engine is seriously coming together now and thanks for watching!!

[@garysmith3559]

Those heads look amazing. How much did they charge?

[@angry9901]

Whatever it was, it was cheap at half the price.😁

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Angry and Gary, you are looking at about $2k for an exchange price on the heads which includes CNC porting etc.. Not bad when you look at the end result!! Other aftermarket heads retail in excess of $9k from what we have heard....

[@angry9901]

Hard to beat those Mast heads. Well worth the money.

[@1tarbaby1]

love your work guy`s those heads look awesome, but if i am not mistaken it is pronounced trunnion, nit trinion . good show.

[@showusyabits]

trunnion like onion

[@ClunieGarage]

Correct, I inserted the disassembly clip from a few months back. We did a whole episode on installing btr trunnion upgrades as well where we managed to pronounce them correctly!

[@angry9901]

Trunnion, Trunnion Potato, Potarto Tomato, Tomato. I know what you are saying.

[@dimitribartos6539]

Choice bro!

[@ClunieGarage]

Thanks Dimitri, glad you liked the video!

[@ThriveMindsetCoaching]

Hi Guys, love your work.. I am all inspired and have an eye on a project car -2009 Holden Ute SS VE Manual, doesnt seem to have the DOD / AFM. Would this be a good starting point to build something fast and fun? Cheers Gerald

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day mate, sounds good. Yes, if you have a L98 engine VE, we believe you will be lucky in missing on the DoD. Best of luck and they are a great platform.

[@ThriveMindsetCoaching]

@@ClunieGarage Thanks Guys, my head is spinning as there are so many good looking utes on offer, I am inspired by your $1000 mods and the big step up by doing OTR, headers and exhaust plus a tune.. amazing. If I coud avoid the AFM / DOD delete that would give me more cash to spend on the goodies :-). I am zeroing on on 2009 / 2010 as I think you said that should be pretty good for a manual w/o DOD. Seems the money is around 30K - 33K for a low k model. Cheers

[@ClunieGarage]

@@ThriveMindsetCoaching G'day mate, yes they have sky rocketed in value and low km ones are a good investment for the future. We were so lucky to get our ute for $5k after the hail storms and of course before prices went bat poo crazy with covid.

[@ThriveMindsetCoaching]

Hi Fred and Frankie - I found an 09 ute manual L98 it is low k's, but has done a bit of track work. I dont see this as a negative, cos I see how much love and care you put into your track ute and I guess it has to be safe even under pressure... So what items do I need to check for wear and problems? - Thanks for your time - happy to send you guys a case of Beer...

[@mrnicktoyou]

Are you aiming for 500hp at the wheels? Because you can get that power at the crank with the standard heads. No need to upgrade. Edit: ignore me, I just watched to the end and you explained it.

[@ClunieGarage]

All good!!

[@gtools9137]

Any progress on this beast?

[@brockholder902]

How do mods like this effect reliability of the engine?

[@LurcherVonPapsmear]

Following this with interest but nothing for 5 months... Any updates or none because of Covid?

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day mate, yes the virus has slowed down a couple of things including this rebuild. We are trying to get the VF finished as well at the same time.

[@LurcherVonPapsmear]

​@@ClunieGarage Understandable. I look forward to the next installment!

[@quad2036]

Where's the spec list big fella? Looks like it will be pretty tuff but still streetable.

[@angry9901]

I don't think streetable is particularly important to this build. I am hoping that it is grumpy and a pig to drive. Should add to the intimidation factor to other track cars.

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Zack, I showed the spec list of the cam in the video and I will update the description of the video with the full details tomorrow as well. I don't think it will be streetable. Frankie and I are getting a Organic clutch, lightened flywheel as well which will make it a nightmare to drive around town but a beauty on the track!! 😍🙏

[@steve1714]

Hi, did you have any piston to valve clearance with that cam and shaving 30 thou off heads?

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Steve, we haven't fitted them yet but our engine builder has indicated that we will be OK. Its a massive cam so we were worried about that.

[@pedroangelo4244]

Are you going to boost this engine or keep it n/a?

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Pedro, as we have documented throughout the build, this is going to be a normally aspirated build. We are focusing on cams, cubes and compression!!! Thanks for watching.

[@jameswilson8820]

What's the CR

[@angry9901]

With 30 thou shaved off the face it should be north of 11:1.

[@angry9901]

My vote is for a sneaky Nitros system.

[@dimetime0]

That is a massive camshaft! Not sure it'll make any power under 5000rpm

[@ClunieGarage]

You betcha, we can't wait to hear it idle. On the race track I spend little time under 5000rpm so should be sweet. New track day video coming out in next few days and you will see what I mean! 😝

[@dimetime0]

@@ClunieGarage I'd just be curious about your valve clearanc, I guess you find out on the build

[@jamestehuna5915]

If you don’t mind what did them headers set you back to do ?

[@angry9901]

Those headers are the little Xforce ones but seem to give a great result on a stock 6.0 litre.

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day mate, we got them second hand for $800. They are the small size but work pretty well!!

[@jamestehuna5915]

@@ClunieGarage cheers mate

[@marcelburkhardt2710]

Fuck clunie sounds good

[@ClunieGarage]

Thanks mate, it certainly brings a smile when it is idling and on full noise.

[@claytonvankuyl4268]

how many kms did this engine have?

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Clayton, just over 100,000. Local car with full service history as well.

[@claytonvankuyl4268]

@@ClunieGarage my series 1 vf redline has done 160,000km and wanting to do a head and cam package, wanting to get a turbo killer cam from GM motorsport down here in Melbourne. There the biggest cam they offer. Do you think my reckon my car should be able to handle that much power without issues being a high km car?

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Clayton, oh jeez big can of worms here. If its a series 1 redline, I am guessing you haven't done the DoD delete yet? This will be a must if going forced induction. Also, those are high kms for a city car as well. I would think about doing a recondition and freshen up before going forced induction. Tear down, number 2/3 cam bearings, DoD delete, trunnion upgrade, gapped rings, new bearings, LS7 lifters and full flush etc. at a minimum. Have you got a budget in mind? Things can escalate quickly!

[@claytonvankuyl4268]

@@ClunieGarage The turbo killer cam is the name of the camshaft. It's just scary knowing that if I go that route I don't want the car going tick tick boom because of the high kms

[@ClunieGarage]

@@claytonvankuyl4268 ah gotcha, I was speed reading sorry mate. Yes, that's the gauntlet we run with modifying high km engines. That being said, if you have serviced it correctly over its lifetime and do the other preventative steps above, you will probably be right for another 100+kms. Particularly if the cam is coming out you can do the cam bearings and other mods listed above. If you are really concerned, have yoh thought about treating yourself to a crate engine from holmart and build something really special with peace of mind?

[@7071t6]

Why not show stock heads flow charts and then these higgins heads flow charts, as far as i know replacing heads is only worth it if your going to drag or race the car or engine, because you have to upgrade so much its not really worth it ,but hey each to their own as they say? Most important is the inlet manifold getting a low runner intake increases the hp figures by about 20 % just be replacing the intake manifold like fast low runner intake like the truck 5.3 intake, which they are based on?

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day, this is a dedicated race engine and we have chosen to do the heads and cam at same time to get the combined compression and flow increase. Will try and locate the flow comparisons and seem to recall the Higgins Heads can flow up to 380 cfm. Need to determine the average factory flow rates as they differ from casting to casting. I wouldn't normally recommend a head upgrade on its own for a street driven car as the changes in performance won't be material.

[@ClunieGarage]

@John Winzil nice gains there mate. Were you happy with that? Any plans for a cam?

[@requis4367]

hey sorry dude coudnt be the first cuz of school

[@ClunieGarage]

No worries Jet!

[@grantreid3031]

With the modern machinery now now lapping valves in is a thing of the past. A lot of the machines have their own vacuum check machine now and you just sit the valve in after the machining is done and look at the gauge. Most garages should have their own small vacuum unit for checking the valve seal. As a reconditioner myself in the early days we lapped valves as the equipment used was nowhere as good as that used now. Lapping valves with the modern stuff now is a waste of time.

[@luckyyrr11]

MY VF SSV ,Just got my car back from Cavill's performance in shepparton , i wasnt looking for too much power ,left pistons stock L77 , Higgans heads , comp cam 226 - 235 , .578 -.591 , dod kit , 8 mm push rods , +10% mellings oil pump , comp cams Gold series Roller rockers so got rid or needle bearing problem all together , New Mantic twin place Clutch kit, making 350.5kw and 469.8 HP at the rear wheels im happy with that and didnt want to push it more than that for now, kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqepY4R8bs5qpck

[@angry9901]

Looks like she will be great fun to drive, great result getting 350 RWKW. I hope you are going to rip the interior out and install a cage like Clunie!

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day mate, very nice and we will check out the video. What's next on the mods list?

[@luckyyrr11]

@@ClunieGarage No more mods keeping it as it is now as its still my evrryday driver bit of a pig around town with the lumpy cam tho but heaps of good old grunt . Love Clunie as i have watched from your first video . Love em cheers

[@JETBYE]

they are trunnions not trinnions

[@ClunieGarage]

Tru that.

[@megamindtvsydney3967]

Hi guys ! Would you like to do my car ? Ve ssv has Otr and cat back 3” l98 auto box $12000 budget

[@FredmChoice]

Im Jealous 😩

[@LSturboguy]

CNC heads are a waste of money unless your putting in big cui, a big cam and compression there's other ways to get hp out of a LS especially if you got req port heads as they already flow great engine builder are saying their only see 20hp out of a set of CNC ported heads, theres 10-15hp with roller rockers alone , fast intake manifold for even more, if you want bang for a buck put a stroker kit then you got as much as 100-125hp and huge torque, I had my heads hand ported I'm making 1400hp with my stroker and big 98mm Turbo, dont get caught up in the CNC wank unless you building something that can take advantage of big port head

[@stephenhamer9232]

Noooo, don’t lap them in,, it’s not 1975 anymore,,,,

[@ClunieGarage]

G'day Stephen, that comment was a shout out to our engine builder to make him nervous. All good!