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vortec heads or not

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snotrocket71

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so i've been accumulating parts for the never ending saga of the 400. as of now i have a cheap lunati bare bones cam and lifters specs: 204/214 420/443 lift, cloyes roller timing chain, stock heads, stock replacement pistons (8.5-1 compression with stock everything), roller tip rockers, performer intake, headers and not much else. i had planned on running this setup (totally reasembled of course with all new seals and hardware) but have found a new full time job that pays great so i'll have ALOT of money to play with my toys (i'm saving a chunk of it too, dont worry) and was thinking of doing a vortec head swap (kinda wish i took advantage of getting the vortecs with the engine, eh oh well)... i was looking on craigslist and found a rebuilt set for $400, but theyre the less deireable 906 casting, would that make a huge difference? especially considering the smallish cam?...of course there's always the option of new GM heads...i'm also aware that my compression would get bumped up to around 9.5-1, would that adversly affect the small cam? or would i be alright (i dont mind going slightly larger) any input thoughts and experiences would be greatly appreciated... im still in the planning stage, no where near ready to pull the trigger on anything. thanks -Josh
 
a set of AFR's is never a bad investment...
 
Here are the build specs for a 525 ft/lb by 427HP 400 built by Graham Hansen, author of " Big Inch Chevy Small Blocks".

I want to build one as soon as I can get a good 400 engine:

He used a Scat crank, but you could use a stocker too.
Scat I-beam rods
Probe forged pistons, but you could probably use any high quality Hypereutectics, space everything out for 9.5 to 1 compression.

Stock Iron Vortec heads (so yes you definitely want these)
Stock valves;
The cam was a Lunatti flat tappet(but get it hardened and get hardened lifter faces) with 230/230 @ .050, lift was .455/.455 with 114 degree lobe separation angle. So this will just barely work with stock heads. It might be a good idea to have a shop machine down the tops of the guides @ .025" just to be safe. Some slightly better springs might not hurt either, but you don't want to get carried away with a heavy dual spring, with a flat tappet cam. 1.5 rockers

Then an Edelbrock RPM air gap manifold for Vortec heads and a Holley 750cfm.
Stock oil pump & pan. Make sure your Cloyes timing set is adjustable so you can dial in the cam to the required spec.
Headers and a free flowing exhaust.
Good HEI distributor
The rest doesn't matter.

Good Luck,
 
AFR's no doubt would be bad a$$ but i dont think thats in cards at nearly $1500 a pop. i was checking out patriot performance vortec 185 heads PN 2151 and they seem like a killer deal, especially since they have 2.02/1.60 valves, dual pattern intake bolt holes and can take a decent size cam lift. the application for this is my daily driver so i'm going for low rpm torque and driveablility. wyomingboy, thats a killer looking build but like i said i daily drive this beast and that build looks a little too hairy for the application unless i'm just a wuss:dunno:
thanks for the links sweetk30, they made for a good read on a saturday night:haha:
out of curiosity whats everyones take on the cam? lets say i pull the trigger on getting vortec style heads, would that match the compression well? i'd be looking at the 9.5-1 vicinity with a generic lazy RV style cam. (i'm kinda kicking myself for it now, i didnt have any budget and didnt expect a new good paying full time job so i chose it based on what my budget was allowing me to do-Stock components) i dont mind getting a better matched cam but would like to use what i have. FWIW it had a pretty big crane 272 cam, 216/228 duration which probably sounded nasty but was a dog due to compression?(stock style KB .030 piston and stock 76cc heads that MAYBE were decked, ive yet to look) , i have the cam but the lifters were slightly mushroomed, is it possible to reuse? or am i crazy? also the bottom ends in VERY nice shape on this thing, i may bring it to the machine shop to get a proffesional opinion but all looks well in it. again, thanks for the information and keep it comin'-Josh
 
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