crate engine bolt on ?'s...

[draggin49]

Recently picked up a crate motor.it already had a stock style intake and stock manifolds in place.Its a gen 1 vortec crate motor , flat tappet cam.

Should i spend the $$ on an aluminum dual plane and a set of headers?? Is it worth the performance gain?? I think I'd be looking at around $400 for the pair.

I have a comp cams xe model /liftets layin around. Worth opening up the motor and swapping out the stock flat tappet??

Or just leave all of it alone , throw a carb on it and call it good.

Just trying to see what kinda difference in hp/tq roughly it'd be with all those items vs leaving it all as is. Thanks.
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[LockDoc]

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Personally I don't think the gain would be worth the pain. Of course I'm old and old school, so I don't really give a crap about all that horsepower stuff any more..... I put a 260 horse 350 crate engine in my '69 Suburban with a 2004r OD trans behind it and I love the way it runs and drives.

Just my 2¢ worth.

LockDoc

[mmiddle]

You can do that and it will help somewhat. However, in my experience the low-end create motors have really crappy intake ports on the heads. Running a bigger cam and intake only make this more evident. It will run fine under normal idle to 4500 or so, but fall flat after that. You will notice improved power to 4500 maybe 5000. You will also notice little better fuel milage.

[draggin49]

I think this crate motor may be in the 250-260hp range . Plus its not a performance vehicle its a truck and I'm on a budget so ill leave it all alone just throw a nice aluminum dual exhaust with a bassani x pipe and call it good. I'm sure that will be a huge improvement over the rusted out tiny diameter steel exhaust it had.

I live where it gets hot 100 degrees or above sometimes in summer.
Should I opt for a 3 row radiator ?? The other radiator looks to be the factory one and the truck had sat a long time prior to me buying it. Dont want to risk the crate motor getting messed up.already picked up a new water pump, thermostat but want to do the radiator as well. Just for peace of mind :')
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[draggin49]

That was a trial fit of the old dynomax longtubes off my old 69 camaro, didn't work .

Spent the $$$ and upgraded to ece power disc brakes for the front.kinda excited , never had disc brakes on any of my old cars over the years.

Also picked up a powdercoated ece crossmember for the 700r4 , overdrive should make it great for daily driving.where I live I gotta jump on the freeway/highway frequently
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[bigmac73]

Originally Posted by draggin49

I think this crate motor may be in the 250-260hp range . Plus its not a performance vehicle its a truck and I'm on a budget so ill leave it all alone just throw a nice aluminum dual exhaust with a bassani x pipe and call it good. I'm sure that will be a huge improvement over the rusted out tiny diameter steel exhaust it had.

I live where it gets hot 100 degrees or above sometimes in summer.
Should I opt for a 3 row radiator ?? The other radiator looks to be the factory one and the truck had sat a long time prior to me buying it. Dont want to risk the crate motor getting messed up.already picked up a new water pump, thermostat but want to do the radiator as well. Just for peace of mind :')
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yes replace the radiator, if the crate motor has a warranty and it over heats, the Manufacture will put (or could try to) the blame back on you,for not making sure the cooling system is in good condition i would upgrade to a 3 row or 4 row, and new thermostat and water pump

i had a problem with overheating and white sludge in a new crate engine, after i sent it back twice and a million pictures during tear down and installation ect ecct, they finally replaced the whole thing with a another engine, it took me about a year to get it straightened out finally, but they did everything they could to make sure it was not something i caused,

[bigmac73]

Originally Posted by draggin49

I think this crate motor may be in the 250-260hp range . Plus its not a performance vehicle its a truck and I'm on a budget so ill leave it all alone just throw a nice aluminum dual exhaust with a bassani x pipe and call it good. I'm sure that will be a huge improvement over the rusted out tiny diameter steel exhaust it had.

I live where it gets hot 100 degrees or above sometimes in summer.
Should I opt for a 3 row radiator ?? The other radiator looks to be the factory one and the truck had sat a long time prior to me buying it. Dont want to risk the crate motor getting messed up.already picked up a new water pump, thermostat but want to do the radiator as well. Just for peace of mind :')
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make sure you drill holes in the thermostat to allow flow during warm up, on that vortec top end, i beleve there was a post on this a while back??

[draggin49]

Thanks mike, ill mention the drilling of thermostat to my mechanic.
My 69 camaro seemed to be reliable with a 3 row and a flex fan/shroud setup.
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