For reference it took me about 2 hours to remove the engine and have it torn down to the case. Another 2 months ordering parts, getting head work, cam work, headers ceramic coated, etc. My ceramic coater found a crack in the headers so I had to send them off to get welded then back to the ceramic coater. Ugghhh. So far about another 2 hours in putting in back together and I am waiting on the headers to finish. Also dropped the fuel pump and installed new FPR, filter, and screen.
My cams were part of a package from Hammer performance. I got the 1250 big bore kit, custom grind cams, head work, pushrods, and gaskets from them. I sent them the cams and they shipped them to Redshift for the grind of their request. They shipped them back to me. I like it because I retain my stock gears to keep them quiet.
I also had to grind in the cam chest to clear the swing of the lobes. Had to grind on the top of each bore and a little on the pinion race. I used a Dremel with a grinding bit. Mask everything off, go to town, wipe clean, flush with brake cleaner, suck oil out of case, rinse with clean oil, and done. Not too bad. If you go with a mild cam you may not need the clearancing issues. Hammer has some great walk throughs on how to do it.
When I dropped in my cams and did a rough degree check they were spot on! Good sign.
Don't forget tuning when all done. Probably the most important. (Along with free flowing intake/exhaust)
I can't really give you a recommendation because it is based on how much you want to spend and how much performance you want. I would do head work before cam work and do both at the same time personally.
My opinion of order of mods (Of course many of these overlap)
1. Tuning
2. K&N Air filter and open airbox
3. Exhaust
4. Head work
5. Big Bore kit
6. Cams
I think it is best to think of your end goal and work backwards. No sense in throwing in cams if the heads don't support the flow. No sense in a big bore kit if you don't tune it. Etc. Save up to do it all together so it matches.
We had some good discussions on
This Thread.
This Older Thread also has some good information about Big Bore Kits for the XB9.
