I haven't had much opportunity to do any research as this has kind of just come into mind. I discovered a leak on my engine today, only a few hours ago. It appears to possibly be a head gasket. I can't afford to fix it right now, due to the holiday season and all and I don't really need the car for the winter so it doesn't really bother me but since it's gonna be down for a bit I figure, when I go back together, why not do heads and cam since I'll be pulling the heads anyway. I have a '97 with all stock motor. I have a K&N cold air intake, and Billy Boat Bullet catback exhaust with stock manifolds and no x-pipe. I have plans for long tubes and the x-pipe but from that info, I was wondering...what might be the best combo of heads and cams for a streetable, and somewhat reliable gain. I don't really have a hp goal at the moment so I would say at a guess I don't want more than 550ish. I honestly have no idea what kind of gains to expect from just these mods so if anyone can help there, that would be cool to. Thanks in advance.

 

Hello,
Depending on many factors, which you have not addressed, a head / cam package will net you in the range of 410RWHP / 400RWTQ - on average while still being "streetable". To attain these numbers you would need the following mods:
[ol][*]Long Tube headers (high flow cats and mating exhaust would help too, but not absolutely necessary). You can use your current exhaust with the long tube headers.[*]LS6 intake manifoldor similar - many choices.[*]Larger MAF housing, no need to buy an aftermarket MAF.[*]Ported throttle body or aftermarket 80mm throttle body.[*]Ported stock heads or aftermarket heads - many to choose from. Valve springs, etc. to compliment the cam.[*]Camshaft - something like the Texas Speed 224 or similar. Many choices here too.[/ol]
All this with a good dyno tune will put you slightly over 400HP to the wheels. The biggest factor effecting your final numbers is the heads / cam selection.

CG