1998 5.7 performance upgrade recommendations

[arambis]

I have a 1998 k2500, and I'm starting to heavily think about performance upgrades. I've gone through most of my suspension, steering and brake components and finally made it here. I've already done a full exhaust system, egr delete, and a blackbear baseline tune. I've been thinking about having my heads ported and polished (thoughts?), and installing the best cam (whatever that may be) and really just looking for more ideas, and potential cam suggestions. Not looking to rebuild my motor at this time though.

 

[Erik the Awful]

What would be your purpose? If you just want the truck to be more fun, keep it simple and cheap.

Since you've already upgraded your exhaust the stock cam and heads are the next largest constraints on horsepower. A cam swap is pretty much a given, but unless you spend the money on aftermarket heads a cam swap can only get you so far.

What are you considering for heads? To keep it in budget, do a cleanup port on the heads and only polish the chambers and exhaust ports. This will give you a boost in your engine's potential. Otherwise, there are a lot of budget heads out there right now to consider.

When the time comes for cam selection, call your favorite cam company and let them know what you've done to the engine and they can spec out a cam that suits your goals. They'll give you a better recommendation than us internet weirdos.

 

[arambis]

What would be your purpose? If you just want the truck to be more fun, keep it simple and cheap.

Since you've already upgraded your exhaust the stock cam and heads are the next largest constraints on horsepower. A cam swap is pretty much a given, but unless you spend the money on aftermarket heads a cam swap can only get you so far.

What are you considering for heads? To keep it in budget, do a cleanup port on the heads and only polish the chambers and exhaust ports. This will give you a boost in your engine's potential. Otherwise, there are a lot of budget heads out there right now to consider.

When the time comes for cam selection, call your favorite cam company and let them know what you've done to the engine and they can spec out a cam that suits your goals. They'll give you a better recommendation than us internet weirdos.

What heads would you recommend? I just assumed since my truck has the vortec heads it would be good and that's when I reasoned having them ported and polished but I'm absolutely not opposed to throwing a new set of heads on it, especially if it would be worth it. Currently I daily drive this truck and use it for pulling a trailer with mowers on it through the summer, just trying to squeeze the most hp I can reliably out of it. Another thing I thought about was throwing a bigger intake manifold on it with a spacer and buying an improved efi system but not sure what all I should go with. Really just trying to figure out if there are any popular options that should be considered first and to get basic further recommendations on such, and recommendations on the options I am already considering.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Since you use it to tow, I'd stick with mild mods. There's also a pretty good chance your Vortec heads will have cracks. If that's the case, it's not worth it to buy more Vortecs. I haven't bought aftermarket heads yet, but if I were, I'd probably go with the AFR Enforcers.

A "bigger manifold" and new EFI system ramps up the price considerably. The stock Vortec injection is very good and tunable. I'd stick with it.