Do I want the 1994 350 SBC that followed me home?

yup and they have center bolt heads

 

96 and up is vortec. non-vortec is a non roller. vortec heads interchange, but with a different intake. people confuse centerbolt heads as vortec heads all the time. i work on theses everyday, im a gm mechanic. get the roller motor. they do use different timing components as well as specific flywheels and flexplates. The ***** about the vortec heads is that you need to run adapters to use cool valve covers and they need a **** load of work to put anythig over a .490 lift cam. in them. Awesome stock power though. Im looking for one for my 53 now. if it is what you think it is, dont touch it unless it had 300,000 miles on it. they rarely ever blow up thay just get traded off or are still going. I have a bunch of customers at the dealer who swear that their truck is the greates one they have ever owned.

 

some of you are confused...

You cannot put a vortec intake on an earlier engine without alot of work. The angles are correct and it is the right size... but the bolt patterns are totally different. The Vortec has 4 bolts per side... two in front and two in back.

you are confusing it with the 87 and newer SBC where the two center holes go straight down.

I whipped this up to clarify

 

Thank god for demotte.

 

Okay...just a couple of things (since I seemed to be de\\subscribed to this thread )

Vortec...forget about using (unless you want to weld in some material and reshape ports, add/plug sme bolt hioles) and "normal" intake

Non-Vortec:

IN 85 or 86, GM changed the bolt pattern on the inner 4 intake holes in the heads (sans-Corvette heads), but the intakes are interchangeable if you slot the intake holes...I/e you can run your 65 intake on a 89 head with just a little work and vice-versa.

Also, about the same time (86-ish) GM went to the 1pc RMS bock...big improvement(IMO), and the block was also cast with the "towers" to support the factory roller setup...not all 1ps RMS (Rear Main Seal) blocks were roller blocks (lot's of truck blocks come to mind), so the "towerers" which are in the center of the intake valley, may not be drilled and tapped for the "spider" to run the factory style roller lifters...but...the block will still be machined (1 PC RMS) for the "figure 8 dogleg" retainer to hold the lifters from rotating.

So, if you have a non-factory roller block, but it is a 1PC RMS block..say pre-Vortec...you just need to score the "spider tray and parts" to run the factory rollers...or go to waht is now referred "retofit rollers"...with link bars/etc. but cost is much higher than the factory stuff, and unkless you plan on turning in the 7K plus range, no need for the extra expense.

Also, the the timing gears are different between the roller/non-roller version...pretty sure (If I rember correctly) the factory roller setup uses a thrush bearing, to locate the cam, since the lobes are not tapered and being held in place by the convex lifters.

Hope I remeberd all correctly, feel free to correct m mistakes.

 

Not only are the hole not there, but the Vortec intake ports won't seal with adding some material to a "non-Vortec" intake...or you're just ****ing air

 

Care to explain? I've no clue what you're referring too.

 

I think he was trying to be funny.

 

Well I got the motor home last night. It IS a 1994 TBI 350 out of a 3/4 ton truck with manual trans (I did not get the trans in the deal.)
It is NOT a vortec motor (the son said it was, but the Dad I actually bought it from never said it was, he told me "it has the good 64cc heads").
I pulled the intake and it is NOT a roller cam motor, so all who said this were correct.
It does, however, look decent inside so far except for a LOT of sludge under the valve covers.
I'm now planning to drop it into my off-topic '85 Chevy 1/2 ton and keep my fingers crossed that it runs good.
One last question: since it's not a roller-cam motor, do I need a special distributor as mentioned above, or will my '85 HEI work fine?

 

I think the HEI will work with no problems, but you'll want to make sure you have good oil pump rod engagement. Not sure how to check this, but you'll want to make sure of that.

Also, if you have sludge under the valve covers, you'll want to pick up something like a gun/rifle cleaning kit and use the little round wire brushes to help clean out the oil drains from the heads down into the oil pan. I've had more than one motor die the horrible death due to oil puddling in the valve covers and starving the bottom end.

As far as using the HEI distributor, you might ask the manufacturer of the carburated intake you plan to put on this motor if the distributor will work with no problems, or find out if there's one they definitely recommend.

Make sure to change that stock timing chain setup!!!!!!

 

Your '85 HEI should work fine.

One thing though...you mentioned "the good heads", check the casting number...if they end in 193, then they die off around 4000 RPM...you'll notice (if they are 193's) a big canted vane in the intake ports.

But, they're good heads for a truck, as long as you're not trying to spin it up.