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Vortec Heads on a sb400

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patnick

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I currently have a 79 K10 300hp 350, 700r / 205, 33s with 4.11 gears. This is my daily driver about 50 miles per day. I can’t pull OD as well as I would like to.

I know that throwing on some vortec heads will give more torque and HP and that is option #1.

Option #2 is putting the original sb400 that came in the truck back in. It has a fresh rebuild (been sitting for about 7 years wrapped in plastic). It is .030 over with a performer cam and intake with roller rockers.

Option #3 is putting vortec heads on the 400 but I have not heard of anyone doing this.

I have learned a ton from lurking around here for years and I would like to hear from the brotherhood of experts.

Thanks in advance.
 
Vortec heads on a sb400 will net some very nice low end torque numbers. It can be done but cam size should remain moderate and steam holes need to be drilled in the heads to be used on a 400. I don't have any specs for ya, been a looooooooong time since I've put engines together. Although, I do have a sb400 sitting in the corner of my garage waiting for a rebuild along with a set of Vortec heads. Just biding my time till I have the funds to rebuild them and make them work with TBI.

Hopefully Scott (4x4high) will see this and chime in here and be way more helpful...
 
Thanks.

I should mention that I dont have the heads yet. But that is what I would like to try.
 
I'm curious how it would compare against a 383 stroker with the same heads...?


subscribed!
 
yeah, I'm waiting for a reply from a guru as well. I have a 400sb with '92 heads (steam holes drilled) and intake to match the off angled center bolts. I called Edelbrock asking about an intake for a small block with 96+ vortec heads, they said they don't have one. This was for a carb though, so unsure about a TBI setup.
 
Edelbrock makes an intake for the vortec heads and carb. I looked at that option when I was in the market. I ended up buying a GM performance intake, because the edelbrock supposedly didn't have the a/c compressor bracket holes on the driver side, but it was substantially cheaper than the GM unit. Both had spreadbore pattern.
 
that's fuking BS, both my uncle and I called edelbrock and they told us "we don't make a vortec head to 400sb manifold" dur dur dur

jerk

sounds like a fun motor :)
 
Chevy High Performance did a 400sbc with Vortec's awhile back-
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/148_0306_chevrolet_406_big_block_torque/index.html

Then they added some AFR heads (older style).
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/148_0401_chevrolet_406_ci_engine_build/index.html

I'm currently doing a similar build with the AFR's. The Vortec's make nice power and torque. Just look at the left column to see the power you can get.

148_0401_imp_11_z.jpg
 
Let's talk about the prospect of cracking a vortec head once it's drilled.

The vortec heads are known to have cracks after use, I can't imagine that removing material in any way will help that. Something to think about.

*I have Vortec heads on my truck for the record*
 
Yes. GMPP (GM Performance Parts) makes one. I have it on my Suburban.

Martin
 
maybe it's cause I needed an egr that I couldn't get one hhhmmmm
sorry, thinking out loud...

nice numbers :)
 
You can still run EGR, you just have to tap your header for the exhaust to feed the EGR valve. Vortec heads don't have an exhaust crossover.

Martin
 
ahhhhh
yeah, that's not CA smog nazi approved
can any other intake manifold work, even with an egr in place but not working? I understand the missing center bolts might be a problem, not sure how to solve that or the ??deck/port height?? Unsure, like the sound of the combination though :)

thanks martin
 
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