Anything I should know about installing Vortec heads?

I am planning to install a set of new Vortech heads on the motor for the Fleetline. I know the head bolts are different but anything else I need to know? Torques should be the same, I suspect.

 

Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious but the intake manifold & gaskets are different. Head bolt torque is the same. Stock springs won't take much lift (.480" I think)

Later, Mark

 

Yeah, this is a cruiser, .480 is plenty.

 

You might want to research the compression ratio you're going to be working with. I believe the vortec's have a smaller combustion chamber. A smog head has around a 76cc chamber for around a 9:1 compression ratio, and fuelie heads had a 64 cc chamber and I think your vortecs are closer to the fuelie heads. you'd be running around 10.0:1. Dished pistons would help a lot. Try not to band-aid it with a super thick head gasket.

 

It's a flat top piston, and 64cc heads. I'll be running a .038" thick head gasket from FelPro.

 

Different intake manifold, intake gaskets, and rocker arms. Head bolts should be the same.....

I have vortec's on my Chevelle motor. I've had them on a few years, so far so good. I'm probably gonna be changing over to an aftermarket set in the future though.

 

Explain these self aligning rockers to me.

 

They appear like any other 'stock' Chevy rocker except they have a little 'nub' on each side of the contact surface on the valve end. Eliminates the need for guide plates for the pushrods. Just made mfg cheaper and faster. No performance advantage but you'll need them with late model heads.

 

He is right. You need to run rockers off a vortec motor, or an LT1 motor. To my knowledge these are the only factory uses for them. Also, it should be obvious that you now have to run center-bolt valve covers.

 

I probably have the build sheet if I look.It has most of what your asking in the article.PM me an address and I'll drop it in the mail.

 

The self aligning rocker arms are much more common than listed. Basically, any SBC head with center bolt heads will have them stock. I've always gotten them off of 88-95 pickup engine cores.

 

Pm'd you Xderelict.

 

make sure you use the "correct" intake bolts, you can get them from ARP or from the chevy counter.

 

my nephew has a pair of these on a autozone dish piston shortblock and a 480 summit cam.....edelbrock performer intake and a 750 holley...373's and a 3000 converter....runs in the 12.00 to 12.teen range thru the mufflers in a 72 nova....the top end of the motor picked the car up almost a second... they are a good deal for the money....brandon

 

This is for the low and slow car.......although it's hard to refrain from adding more go fast parts. It's gonna be the 350 4 bolt main, Vortec heads with stock springs, cast flat top pistons, an aluminum Performer intake and a 600 Edelbrock carb.

I got this motor partially built from fellow hamber xderelict in a trade and he has a bunch of good parts with it. I may actually hafta detune for this application. I have never done that.

 

that motor with say a small comp 268 cam ...would probably run pretty damn good....his motor still had stock springs on it till about 3 weeks ago and is still a cast piston pos....i have a little 355 dish piston motor i need to ***emble....i wish it had some vortecs....but it has a pair of mid 90's truck 1.94 heads on it....the head before the vortec....got a small blower cam 440 lift / 292 duration....gonna throw my little procharger on it and see if it can hit 400 or so hp...... brandon

 

The vortec heads are great. Same thing with the different intake bolts, I think they are metric? Go to the gm parts counter. I highly suggest getting the GM performance parts full roller rocker arms,(self-aligning type) they are kind of spendy around 300 bucks but worth every cent. Had stamped steel ones on my truck and upgraded when it went to the ch***is dyno, those alone were worth 32 h.p. no bull ****!!!! Worth every cent. Those heads, rockers, and a performer rpm air gap will put a huge smile on your face.

 

I got a set of those with this motor Gepetto. Thanks for the info.

Xderelict had been collecting parts for a while. He's got some good stuff here. I think the cam may be too lumpy for a daily but we'll hafta see.
I don't have the specs in front of me, but he was following a budget buildup article in one of the mags very closely.

 

1.5's or 1.6's...? brandon

 

the 1.5's the same as stock

 

Not necessarily, SpeedWay sells an adaptor;
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/189...terbolt-Heads.html?itemNo=valve cover adapter
or run the Stude's like Ryan mentioned above.

 

set your idle or initial timing at like 12-14 and total timing at no more than 28 advance, they dont like alot of total advance, regular hei's have way to much advance like 35-40, so if you can get a nice dist with adjustable vacuum advance like the accel blueprint hei then you can limit the amount of timing travel.

jeff

 

go to ..........sdparts.com

 

Copy this

Why have an ordinary rebuild, when you can step up your small block project car to a genuine GM Performance Parts crate engine? With a performance camshaft, high-flow heads, and 330 horsepower, you can't go wrong.


The GM Performance Parts 350 High Output is very durable and offers plenty of power for the budget minded enthusiasts. This one is built on a tough four bolt main block that holds a strong nodular iron crankshaft, PM rods and hypereutectic pistons. The high lift cam give the engine its own unique aggressive idle.

Dressed with chrome valve cover and timing cover, this is the perfect match for every street rodders ride. This all new engine does not include any rebuilt parts. Intended for use in 1978 and earlier or off road vehicles, not intended for marine use.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3><TBODY><TR cl***=TableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Horsepower:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>330 hp @ 5,000 rpm</TD></TR><TR cl***=AltTableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Torque:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>380 ft/lbs @ 3500 rpm</TD></TR><TR cl***=TableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Compression Ratio:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>9.1 to 1</TD></TR><TR cl***=AltTableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Block:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>Cast Iron 4-bolt, 4.000" Bore</TD></TR><TR cl***=TableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Crankshaft:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>Cast Nodular, 3.480" Stroke</TD></TR><TR cl***=AltTableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Heads, Chamber Size:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>Vortec Cast Iron, 64cc Chamber</TD></TR><TR cl***=TableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Valves (I/E):</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>1.940"/1.500"</TD></TR><TR cl***=AltTableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Camshaft, Lift (I/E):</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>0.435"/0.460" Hydraulic</TD></TR><TR cl***=TableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Camshaft Duration @ 0.050" I/E:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>212/222 degrees</TD></TR><TR cl***=AltTableRow><TD vAlign=center align=left>Intake Manifold:</TD><TD vAlign=center align=left>Aluminum Dual Plane (Deluxe and Turn-key models only)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

Sounds like a fun build. Let us know how it drives. You probably don't want to buy pistons again, but you may want to if you like 87 octane fuel prices for a daily driver. As Moloko said above, he has those heads on his chevelle, but he also has 11:1 compression. Ouch. A dished piston with a .025 head gasket may be more efficient and $$ cheaper to drive. 87 octane vs. 92 will pay for pistons in a summer if you drive a lot. The loss of quench with the thick head gasket will cost you 20 hp and mileage (though, probably not much). If you don't switch pistons, you may want to keep the lumpy cam to bleed off cylinder pressure to avoid pinging. Or run your exhaust rockers a bit tight. Or both. Either way you may not like the loss of torque in a daily driver. Just my 2 cents from the dyno room. The heads are stellar though. . .on a mild race motor. Oh, they like air gap intakes too.

 

I'm not so sure of this. I'm almost positive that TPI F-body and Corvette engines do not have self alligning rockers. Also, looking in summit and jegs, only center-bolt rockers listed with an * are self alligning; something that isn't available in all brands. I'm hunting for a good set of rollers now because I cheaped-out and went with stamped, and now they don't stay in adjustment and make a racket.

 

Also, to back up the performance claims. My Chevelle's best p*** so far was 14.5 @ 107mph on a 3.3 second 60 foot. That was on an open 3.08 geared 10 bolt that gave me absolutely no traction.

Engine is a stock bore 350, flattop pistons, decked block, vortecs machined for higher lift, RPM air gap intake, 750 mighty demon carb, 292 duration .501 lift Comp Magnum cam, MSD dist and 6AL box, and a 3500 stall converter.

 

You can remove the factory studs and add screw in studs with guide plates if you dont want to use self aligning rockers.By doing so you can save big money on the purchase of roller rockers.If you are going to use 1.6 rockers you will need to open the push rod holes.The self aligning stock rockers are very affordable from GM if you want to keep everything stock,but I have read and heard the roller rockers do add horsepower with the Vortec heads.The selfing aligning Vortec roller rockers are also narrow body so they do not hit the hold down tubes in the valve covers.Non self aligning may require slight modification to the inside of the rocker covers.

 

You may be right on those applications with the TPI. I was a dealership mechanic and I always just raided the core engines for the rocker arms. I found them on truck engines mostly, and lacking that, I would rob two 4.3 V6s, usually Astro van, engines to get a set. We always had gobs of truck engines stacked up but never anything more exotic like the Vette engines.