Thread: bare vvl head, how much do they go for? and other VE research q's and whp estimates

I am in the baby stages of researching my VE build, and looking at a few things, I can get my hands on a bare block with main caps and such, but I will be needing a head to get the two big chunks of metal out of the way I would be looking for a BARE head, no cams, valves, springs or anything, just the head and the cam caps, that's it, about how much do they usually go for?

and my goals are to get to the 220-250whp range, and after talking with Bes a little last night he said 210whp is real easy, (cams, header, intake plenum) but I want to go a bit further, was thinking about going 10 over or possibly 20, and forged internals (hence why the bare block to start) also, full port and polish, good valves and springs, xcessive plenum, asp header, etc

all this will happen at the hands of Marsh tuning in CT, probably later this year (fall-ish) depending on how a few things go this spring, and hopefully all in the car ready to go for next spring!






prospective parts list:
Xcessive intake plenum
N1 or Q45 throttle body
N1 cams
sr16 pistons (or forged, haven't decided yet)
..unless i bore out then definitely forged pistons
forged rods
stock crank
msd 8969
ACL main/rod bearings
ARP hardware
metal head gasket (idk what brand yet)
new oil pump
new water pump
gspec crank and water pump pullies
injectors (idk what size yet)
nismo afpr

also, what are the differences between the regular ve and the 20v ve? is it just the intake plenum, tb and vc? or are there differences in the heads? i would love to buy a 20v motor, but they seem to pull a hefty premium (insert f&f reference) so i was wondering if there were any huge differences between the two to warrant the price difference, other than the intake setup of course

Valves, the injector ports, the cams, pistons, the bottom end is a little different with a girdle and 8CW crank. Lots of things are different in the SR20VE 20V vs a normal SR20VE.

well i would be disassembling most of the motor to have machining done and will probably be upgrading internals anyways, so does this negate going for a 20v motor to begin with?

It depends on what you are going to machined. And all of those changes are only worth it if you know how to design the intake manifold and exhaust manifold to take advantage of the different parts.

Basically, you are not going to get an answer you want because it is too vague not knowing anything else.

i added a prospective parts list to my original post, I am trying to decide if i would go with sr16 pistons, or if i want to bore out 10 or 20 over and go with forged pistons, either way I'm shooting for an all motor build, 11 or possibly 12:1 compression ratio (researching showed me sr16 pistons would bump CR to close to 12:1)

SR16 non N1 pistons should net around 13.5:1, SR16 N1 pistons are about 12.5:1. As long as you have the fuel to back it up 12.5:1 is good on pump gas.

I am running 12.5:1 88mm CP pistons on 93 pump with no issues and 220whp, 168ft lbs on a stock intake manifold. If you are going to take the time to machine everything i would go bigger and higher comp and never look back. At this point it will not cost much more for the extra machine work. My goal is 240-250 range when all said and done, I have a few ideas on how to get there but for now i am enjoying it as it is.

If you are going to split an engine, just bore it to 88mm and buy 88mm pistons.

^This. If you are paying to bore a block, have it done to 88mm and get as much as you can. Piston cost will be the same either way. Get a set of new Eagle or Manley rods for 320-350$, ACL bearings for 150$, and a VE crank for 100-150. Bottom end is done.

VET gasket bored to 88mm from Mazworx is 100$. Mazworx headstuds 185$. Supertech springs/retainers ~300$, N1 cams 450$. Head is done.

Plenty of options man. There are tons of ways to make more power but keep in mind that it will get more and more expensive as you want more power. 87mm bore with plans of nitrous is another idea.

Also, try and get a complete VE head. It will be cheaper that trying to source out the little things like dowels with screws, rocker arms, washers, valves, tensioner, injectors, fuel rail, solenoids, water necks, valve cover, IM, etc. It sounds like a cheaper option going with a bare head but it will nickel and dime you to death. Trust me, I did it, lol.

I was looking at Greg's website, looking at the N1 lower intake plenum with the Xcessive upper plenum, and yea, looks like the block will get machined, would I be able to get a 20v girdle and put it on the regular ve block? I want everything to be strong and be able to go good with higher than stock revs