1978Blazerk5
1/2 ton status
Could some on school me on Vortec Heads
What are some advantages and disadvantages.
Thanks
What are some advantages and disadvantages.
Thanks
CK5
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Vortec Heads
- Thread starter 1978Blazerk5
- Start date
Thunder
3/4 ton status
Pros: Cheap easy way to make 30 to 50 hp over stock heads.
Cons: Need a vortec intake manifold.
Cant go over .450 lift without machine work.
Cons: Need a vortec intake manifold.
Cant go over .450 lift without machine work.
1978Blazerk5
1/2 ton status
here is my cam specs
Hydraulic flat tappet cam .383/.401 lift and 112 lobe seperation
so how well would this work with vortec heads?
Thanks
Hydraulic flat tappet cam .383/.401 lift and 112 lobe seperation
so how well would this work with vortec heads?
Thanks
Thunder
3/4 ton status
That looks like a nice mild RV type torque building cam and will work with the Vortec heads. Should get pretty good gas mileage too.
If you want more HP and torque. You can go bigger if you want. The stock specs on vortec cam are:
Roller Camshaft-
Specs-
Intake Lift- .414"
Exhaust Lift-.428"
Intake Duration @.050"- 191
Exhaust Duration @ .050-196
Lobe Centerline-111
If you want more HP and torque. You can go bigger if you want. The stock specs on vortec cam are:
Roller Camshaft-
Specs-
Intake Lift- .414"
Exhaust Lift-.428"
Intake Duration @.050"- 191
Exhaust Duration @ .050-196
Lobe Centerline-111
K5dreamer
1/2 ton status
the valve lift issue with vortec heads can be bypassed by running a single wire ovate wound beehive spring from comp cams. it will allow just shy of .550 lift wihtout machine work, the last time this thread came up i posted a link to the article backing this up and the part number for those springs.
that being said, the vortec head is basically an iron gen I small block 23 degree head with the LT1 combustion chamber and intake port. it has a 62cc combustion chamber (advertized as 64cc). the used castings you want have a serial number ending in 062, the 908 castings should be avoided.
they flow like mad for a factory iron casting, worth as was said, 30-50 hp over the older factory castings. i think 230 cfm at .5in valve lift. wich is better than some aftermarket heads that cost more.
the downside is that you do need the vortec specific manifold, due to the 8 bolts vs 12 and the fact that they are at a different angle. to be emissions legal you will also need to order the vortec egr kit, that includes a tube that will need to be welded onto your existing exhaust manifolds or headers, that routes exhaust gases to the egr valve, as the heads themselves do not have egr ports. not overly complex, but annoying non the less.
one of the nice things is that several companies have come out offering stock replacement castings that are dirt cheap, you can find brand new castings for around 500 bucks for the pair.
i am going to be running a set of 062 casting vortec heads on my camaro, i got them from a 99 tahoe with the R code 350 (also scored the block) i am going to have them hogged out for 2.02/1.60 valves, ported and polished, ill be running milodon megaflow valves, with the comp cams beehive springs, and thermal reflective coatings on the combustion chamber, valve faces, and exhaust port. this setup should easily handle the .485 in lift ill be running.
in regard to how the heads will handle your cam, they will love it. vortec heads are torque heads first, and hp second. if you look at the flow numbers for the ports, they have excellent low lift numbers in the .1 -.3 inches of lift area, which plays a large part in torque production. these heads were designed to flow alot of air at low engine speeds at low lift. vortec heads and rv cams wont make top end screamers, but they will have gobbs of torque.
that being said, the vortec head is basically an iron gen I small block 23 degree head with the LT1 combustion chamber and intake port. it has a 62cc combustion chamber (advertized as 64cc). the used castings you want have a serial number ending in 062, the 908 castings should be avoided.
they flow like mad for a factory iron casting, worth as was said, 30-50 hp over the older factory castings. i think 230 cfm at .5in valve lift. wich is better than some aftermarket heads that cost more.
the downside is that you do need the vortec specific manifold, due to the 8 bolts vs 12 and the fact that they are at a different angle. to be emissions legal you will also need to order the vortec egr kit, that includes a tube that will need to be welded onto your existing exhaust manifolds or headers, that routes exhaust gases to the egr valve, as the heads themselves do not have egr ports. not overly complex, but annoying non the less.
one of the nice things is that several companies have come out offering stock replacement castings that are dirt cheap, you can find brand new castings for around 500 bucks for the pair.
i am going to be running a set of 062 casting vortec heads on my camaro, i got them from a 99 tahoe with the R code 350 (also scored the block) i am going to have them hogged out for 2.02/1.60 valves, ported and polished, ill be running milodon megaflow valves, with the comp cams beehive springs, and thermal reflective coatings on the combustion chamber, valve faces, and exhaust port. this setup should easily handle the .485 in lift ill be running.
in regard to how the heads will handle your cam, they will love it. vortec heads are torque heads first, and hp second. if you look at the flow numbers for the ports, they have excellent low lift numbers in the .1 -.3 inches of lift area, which plays a large part in torque production. these heads were designed to flow alot of air at low engine speeds at low lift. vortec heads and rv cams wont make top end screamers, but they will have gobbs of torque.
I have a set and love them...
I have a 1991 caprice police 350..
nothing special.. just a 2 bolt hydraulic roller 350..
I went with a .454" lift cam and did nothing to the heads.. just bolted them on...
here is my cam
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Search/CamDetails.asp?PartNumber=08-409-8
was gonna test for the .474" lift but saw it was a higher hp cam..not much but still I went torque from idle - 5000 which is what I wanted...
as for intake... I didnt notice if you have tbi or carb.. but this is the one I Got...
to my door for $120 NEW!!! also has egr and is a dual plane!!!
http://www.cnc-motorsports.com/product.asp?ProdID=8008&CtgID=7753
I have a 1991 caprice police 350..
nothing special.. just a 2 bolt hydraulic roller 350..
I went with a .454" lift cam and did nothing to the heads.. just bolted them on...
here is my cam
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Search/CamDetails.asp?PartNumber=08-409-8
was gonna test for the .474" lift but saw it was a higher hp cam..not much but still I went torque from idle - 5000 which is what I wanted...
as for intake... I didnt notice if you have tbi or carb.. but this is the one I Got...
to my door for $120 NEW!!! also has egr and is a dual plane!!!
http://www.cnc-motorsports.com/product.asp?ProdID=8008&CtgID=7753
I have also run them on a 350, and used the Edelbrock Performer intake. I had to rejet the carb, and gave it about 10* initial timing, and light advance springs to advance quickly. If you have a non Vortec block, don't forget to put in a bypass hose from the intake to the water pump. I had a hell of a time trying to get the thing to run cool, until I did that.
76zimmer said:
wow I plugged all mine up..... well using 1 of the ports... and I run pretty cool...
Something else going on if you need to run a bypass, mine runs cool as can be without anything other than how the earlier SBC's were setup.
