I have just recently purchased another bottom end and I am in progress of building it now, I already have pistons, rods, rings etc. Now I was thinking about going ahead and redoing my top end too. I looked at doing a factory rebuild but the intake cam alone is $286. I can get Crane 14's for cheaper. So the question is, is it worth it to get the top end performance kit from Howell? I have searched and there are only a few post about it that I can find. What does everyone think? Yes or No?

Buy a set of crane 12's. They'll work with stock valve springs.

**EDIT**
The crane 14's are fairly weak. They're better than stock, but the exhaust cam sucks, and the intake cam is equal to the 12's.

The turbo I am going to be running is a 14b but I will upgrade to a variant of the 16g. Is the kit worth the money? I followed the disscussion on cams in the advanced forum but at the end it just kind of fell off. Will the 12's give me a bigger gain than the 14's? $1000 is a alot of money and I want to get the most I can for my money because I am also ordering a Zeitronix system and OFE clutch from sbc.

I ordered the kit but i belive that the 12's are better then the 14's, but at the same time if your going with zex kit you may want to look into the 16's or 18's as too they work better with the nos, depending on the shot it may be a better option because you are running a realtively small turbo.

Originally posted by drhess06259
if your going with zex kit you may want to look into the 16's or 18's as too they work better with the nos

He said Zeitronix, not ZEX, it's a WBO2 data logger.


Just go with the 12's, they have more exhaust flow than the 14's, which should spool the turbo nicely.

Thanks guys! I am going to order it this week hopefully!

I personally wouldn't upgrade the top end until you can prove you need to. This is around the 20+ psi, 300-400hp point.

Chances are, you'll have a headgasket problem around the time you need to look at upgrading your top end anyway, so wait until then to mess with it.

There's a lot better things to spend your money on before you get there, like engine management, injectors, and fuel delivery.

The reason I am rebuilding is because I am really building. I have a spare head at my house that I am going to use on the block I have. I figured there would be no point in rebuilding a stock head when I can get performance products for the same if not cheaper. No point in spending 1000 to build a stock head and then turn around and have to build a performance head for another 1000. This christmas is going to be a good one!

Originally posted by thedawg
Chances are, you'll have a headgasket problem around the time you need to......

Nothing like a little optimism. Of course some may say realism. :order

MB

Yeah but why would I not use an mls when I put the head on the new block??? Be kind of stupid.

Thanks for all the help guys. I just ordered the kit and I got the 12s. I will let you guys know how it looks when it gets here in 6+ weeks! :( Damn Howell shipping!