vortec head, cam swap. some Q's

[cleansquare]

Guys, I have some vortec heads, centerbolt valve covers, ordered a cyclone intake manifold to work with the heads and the q jet.

Also ordered z28 valve springs which were recommended for rhe cam. The cam is duration 278/288 and lift .421/.444. Comes with lifters. Its an rv cam

Will this combo make a good difference in performance? Mainly lower speed towing. Going thru the gears it needs more power.

I need gaskets and thats it I think. Anything else? Will my stock head bolts work on the vortec heads? What about intake bolts?

My uncle suggested I get the timing chain gears that "will allow you to arvance or retard the cam. What is he talking about? Anything else I should be aware of? Thanks yall.

Ps engine is 350 rebuilt with headers and duals no cats and a 4l80e. 4.10s

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Do you have any more specs than this? Flat top or dished pistons? Head bolts will work fine. Don't forget to sylicone the threads.


In a nut shell when the vortec heads came out they have a 50hp increase over the prev tbi engine heads.
If your engine is stock now then yes they will give a good kick in the pants in the power department for you.

As for the intake its 8 instead of 12 and they use a special gasket from fel pro

Cloyes true roller will allow you to advance or retard timing with the extra slots in the crank gear
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[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Vortec heads from what I have seen really wake up a 350 past 2500 rpm. So if your above that rpm then you will notice a big shot of power from old style heads. Below that they perform just as well.

[cleansquare]

Thanks guys! Flat top pistons. Other than that stock. I bought the right head and intake gaskets just now, also bought the right head and intake arp bolts as well. I will by the cloyes gear
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[INSIDIOUS '86]

Good. Should be about a .022 head gasket thickness if I recall for stock engines. This will keep your quench in check and compression.
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[78trk]

I always use a cloyes double roller chain installed with no advance. They do not stretch out and your engine will have more power, for a longer period of time.

[cleansquare]

Got the heads on and intake...cam in. Advanced it 4* with the timing chain. Got it all bolted back up and then cranked it. Ran at 3000 rpm cause the linkage was stuck on the inch carb spacer. Need to address that. Headers were cherry red so I know it was lean. Gonna try again tomorrow to get her running and adjust the timibg and carb. Sounded strong tho!



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[Magnimike1]

a lot of times the headers will start to glow red after running the engine at 3000 rpm without a load on it. It does not necessarily mean that its lean
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[king-918]

I would advise to pin your studs or use screw in studs and check rod length. Make sure your intake made for vortec heads
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[cleansquare]

Yes the intake is specifically made for vortec heads. All that is right
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[INSIDIOUS '86]

That quadrajet will need to be tuned or thrown in the trash. I know it's not calibrated for the modifications
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[cleansquare]

It will be tuned just gotta give me time
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[Tx Firefighter]

You swapped rocker arms too right ? If not, it will start and run and you'd not know the difference immediately, but pull the valve covers and the rockers will be canter crooked on the valves.

Vortec heads used self aligning rocker arms. They're easy to find as centerbolt head TBI type engines used them too. Anything from 87 and newer....
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[cleansquare]

Well...if the heads I got were vortec and had the factory rockers on them already wouldnt they bw the right ones?
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[Tx Firefighter]

You'll be good then.
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[cleansquare]

Easier to put this here instead of retype it all


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[BigBlocksRule]

Originally Posted by king-918

I would advise to pin your studs or use screw in studs and check rod length.

No need to pin those studs at all, GM got the interference fit right on these. I've never seen one pulled out and don't know anyone that has, even when machined and running cams in excess of .600 lift. I spent a good bit of time pulling all the studs out of a pair of Vortecs because I thought I needed screw-in studs, what a waste of time.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Depends if its a roller cam or not. Those can pull studs with heavy springs but he won't have to worry
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[BigBlocksRule]

All vortec engines are roller cammed. Studs pulling out was a very real problem with earlier stuff, but not with these. I think they heat the heads and cool the studs when they install 'em, they're tight, tight bastiges.

[Desert1957]

Did you get the Camshaft card with the Cam? I have installed a lot of "RV" style cams in small blocks and none of them called for 4 degrees advanced on the install.

Retarding the cam tends to make more horsepower. Advancing the cam tends to make more torque. Most aftermarket catalog grinds are already ground 4 degrees advanced over the straight up,

This maybe why your Headers look the way they do.

If you think I don't know anything about camshafts , My 327 makes 600 HP on the dyno.




Desert

[cleansquare]

My cousin recommended advancing the cam 4* for torque. Which is what im going for.ill get the cam card and take a pic of it and post it

Nice car. Heres my step dads cars. The dirty mulricolored one runs 10s we call it old faithful and pulls the wjeels abou t like y ours.

The gold car has a 550 in it and i dont think its ever been run to its full potential






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[Desert1957]

Originally Posted by cleansquare

My cousin recommended advancing the cam 4* for torque. Which is what im going for.ill get the cam card and take a pic of it and post it

Nice car. Heres my step dads cars. The dirty mulricolored one runs 10s we call it old faithful and pulls the wjeels abou t like y ours.

The gold car has a 550 in it and i dont think its ever been run to its full potential






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NICE, I'm a sucker for 66-67 Chevy ll's



Clean that thing up and GO RACING!

Here is a great link for anyone that needs camshaft info, kinda long but worth it...
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...s/viewall.html

Desert

[cleansquare]

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[Desert1957]

SCARY Lean...

[cleansquare]

I advanced the timing 8* and damn this thing pulls hard! This swap was worth every penny. The heads added so much compression the super 44 flows have a new ring and I actually did a burnout in this heavy ol c20. Much more torque. Cannot wait to latch on to the pontoon tomorrow! Thats the real test.


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