My car has a zz1 motor in it and i have the spec sheet right here. there are no 1205 or 1206 or w/e numbers on it. but it says the heads have 1.94" intake valves and 1.50" exhaust valves if it helps. I am looking to get a stealth ram, victor jr., or ramjet. would any of these fit without modification? thanks a lot.

 

ZZ1 runs 113 heads, which are a 1204 port. If you run a MR, HSR, etc it may overlap the head a little, causing some crazy things to happen to the airflow.

--- Joe

 

mine isnt the usual zz1 though...it was purchased in 1991 and is called the zzz. i have been told that this basically is the zz1, so i thought more people would be farmiliar with it. the head are aluminum corvette heads too if it helps.

 

I know. its a 1204 port.

-- Joe

 

so, which of three cheap intakes would fit easily on this (i.e. the hsr, victor, and ramjet).

 

The RamJet won't fit. The bolt pattern and port alignment is completely different.
The HSR and Victor are for a 1205.
Your heads are a smaller 1204.
So ideally you would port match your heads to a
1205. If you clean and tape everything off with good sticky tape. And stuff the ports tight with rags, you could port them on the motor. But if you have some miles on the motor.
Might as well pull them and at least get a 3 angle valve job and new seals.

 

is it weird that i have a tpi fit on these heads...because that is how i bought it.

 

No because 1204 is the stock port size.
The reason 1204 doesn't come up as stock is due to the egr being blocked IIRC.
With the older 1.94 valve head, it will be a bit of a waste swapping to a bigger intake. Unless you intend to install other things like a cam or heads later.

 

i was pretty sure that was the next thing i needed. i mean with the corvette heads and the cams in there i thought it was pretty good the way it was when it comes to those.

Camshaft: High-performance hydraulic roiller profile with 235 degrees duration and .480" maximum valve lift.

Is that pretty much like a stock cam. And are the aluminum corvette heads also pretty much llike stock. and if so, is there anything special about this motor? I mean the spec sheet says put out 345 hp and 380 lb-ft. with a 750 4-barrel and an exhaust similar to mine.

 

So where can I go with 1204 ports anyways...it doesnt seem like anything except the miniram is made for it. and i am not at all interested in the miniram. should i just go ahead and do some mods to my tpi? get new heads? i have no clue where to turn.

 

I forgot the zzz had the 235 cam.
It really depends on what you want and how many times you want to take your motor apart.
Heads are the most expensive, but will provide the most HP increase. And it's silly to swap heads and intake. Then swap the cam. But the LR is a cork at some point. And some would say for the cost of upgrading a LR. You could do better spending the $ else where. Your best bet would probably be to swap the intake. Then one or both of the other parts.

 

well i thought the intake was the next thing, which is why i put up the thread in the first place. but thank you for reassuring me that i was right about it.

 

Why dont you take teh heads off, ad port match them to a 1205? Most it will cost you is some arp thread sealant, head gaskets, and some grinding pads / bits.

-- Joe

 

I dont trust myself that much, plus this is my daily driver. so i dont want to do anything that will take more than maybe 3 to 5 days.

 

 

still wondering where i should go from here. should i go with a ported base, siamesed runners, and ported plenum? or should i do the work to get the stealth ram on. money is important here, by the way, plus i already have a 58x2 throttle body for some odd reason the previous owner put it on. you know, maybe it already has a ported plenum etc. but the baseplate says gm and some number and the runners look normal and dont have any brand names or anything on them. i found a good deal on an hsr and i really want it. should i grab it and hold on to it and maybe do the port matching later? one of my friends told me it will go right on and be fine, but it seems like you guys know a little more about it, although he does have hsr. help me!

 

Ramjet intakes fit Vortec heads only.

You canuse any intake that fits conventional small block chev heads.

a HSR or super ram or a modded LT1 intake are good.

the cam in your "ZZZ" code crate motor is bigger than a "stock cam" GM reviesed the camshaft when they went ZZ1 and made much more mid range torque and the same power with less duration but more lift. The ZZ4 cam is 208-221 .474-.510" on 112.

A GM "hot cam" is 218/228/ .525" with 1.6 rockers.
this LT4 Hot cam also make more power with more torque than your ZZZ cam. Would be a nice upgrade. Needs the better matching springs thou.

Forget the TPI intake with its small long tuned runners you won't make more than -360 375hp reguardles of the cam.

A short runner high flow intake like a modded LT1 paired with a Hot cam would work nicely . if you were to fully port your ZZZ heads you can make about 430-440hp with lots of torque. Linkenfelter sells a simular combination with cnc ported ZZZ/ZZ1 heads. you can go 2.00" 1.56' valves using the existing hard valve seat inserts on those heads.
The stock flow and power potential on those heads is kinda modest but they port up very nicely. With the right porting and mods they scream.

here is a CNCported version of your heads. See the chamber profile difference.

 

that really sounds great but i am sure it is not cost efficient. which should i do first and what kind of money am i looking at? i am not really looking to max out my motor, i just know that i need to get mine more air right now. are you telling me that the way my motor is right now, i can slap on a hsr or those others. i am pretty sure that the others are out of my price range. im just trying to spend maybe around 500 dollars (plus whatever i can sell my tpi for afterwards). so i can tell that you know a lot about this, so where should i go from here? by the way, thanks a lot for the detailed description.

 

You don;t have to CNC port your heads for good results.
You can get great results yourself for not much more than the time investment. These heads work great when modified some. Even if you were to stick with the stock 1.94x 1.50" valves.

What I'm telling you is to port your own heads as well as bolt on one of the short runner manifolds like the modified LT1 intake and get real power gains. Very cost effective.

The TPI intake is a dead horse. The aftermarket large runners cost a fortune and only return modest gains at best. Not cost effective.

If you want real cost effective horsepower gains do not overlook improving the airflow of your heads. There is just too much to be gained there.

 

and what about swapping to carb, would that be cost efficient?

 

ok, i found what i think might be a good deal for a modified lt1 intake. converted by john millican, with feul rails feul lines and 8 24lb lt1 injectors. what do you think this should be worth. it was made for a first generation sbc so it should fir mine the way it is. the guy wants 500.

 

anybody have an answer to that question about the modded lt1. i have that deal going, or i have a deal for a 750 carb setup. so with the lt1 im pretty sure all i would need would be a tstat housing and a new custom chip? and thats 500. now for the carb setup, i can get a holley 750 vaccum secondaries carb on the original zz1 high rise dual plane manifold and a regulator for 225 shipped. i know i would need a lot more parts though for the complete swap. what should i do to be cost efficient (between now and the future) and which would make better performance and it what ways. also one more question, would i be using the stock intake manifold if i got the lt1, or is it like one piece that goes right on the heads? thanks a lot.

 

The LT1 intake is a stock manifold that's a one piece design. I'm what was your question?

 

oh, ok its one piece then? and my other question too. basically the tpi is base runners plenum. is that all one piece on the lt1 is what i am asking.

 

www.lt1intake.com

 

wow thanks a lot. which route do you think i should go and why? I am having a very hard time deciding which i would like to do. thanks again for the helpful link.

 

TPI sucks for top end performance, but it has EGR.

 

ok the moment of truth is coming. my buddy decided not to put his hsr on he will sell me the manifold and feul rails with afpr for 450 bucks. you think i should do this? and if so should i port my heads right away, or can that be saved for later? what do you think i should do? again, this is my daily driver and i am very unexperienced with mechanics, although i am pretty experienced with body work. i just really dont want to mess anything up here, because im in high school right now and i cant afford to screw up. im in my second year of auto body at a local tech school where i can use the shop and tools after school when i want to. my teacher will only help me with bodywork, not this, so im on my own. thank you so much for leading me along the way.

 

Buy the HSR. It's a great deal. Gasket match the ports to the intake (with aluminum it's real easy - 2 hrs at most once it's all torn apart). The heads don't suck too much, and it is a daily driver, so don't worry about them. The intake will match the cam a little better, so should make the peak power numbers come up quite a bit compared to the long tube runner TPI. The HSR will probably have a little bit more low end compared to an LT1 intake. You should definitely explore chip burning (disable EGR in the chip, change the timing for that cam).

If you have to pass a visual emissions inspection, don't do as I recommended. Get something with an egr provision, such as a super ram, or an aftermarket base and runners from Edelbrock, AS&M, or the likes.

 

visual emissions is part of inspection here. inspection is only done once, when you buy the car/get it on the road. then, emissions are every 2 years, but its just fumes, which i just passed. plus, i can get historic tags january 2008, so 2 years 2 months