350 Vortec questions / suggestions

[3x2GTO]

I just bought a 350 HO crate engine this week for my 76 C20 and need some advice. The engine is part # 19420879 350/331hp and has a build date of 2021. The first owner ran the engine for less than hour, but I have no idea if he broke in the cam. I did see a 10 second video of it running before I bought it and it's been sitting around for 4 years. I'm the 3rd owner of it, both of the previous owners sold their project cars to LS guys. I'm going to pull the intake to see if it's drilled for a roller cam, if so, I'd like to install a roller cam/kit from GM crate 350/357 engine. My truck is a 76 C20 with 4:10 gears, it's just a shop truck, and a fair weather driver. Is this a good cam choice? Will the Vortec heads cause any header fitment issues? Also, I see where Hooker makes cast iron manifolds. Anyone using these? Thanks!

[66gmcguy]

Originally Posted by 3x2GTO

I just bought a 350 HO crate engine this week for my 76 C20 and need some advice. The engine is part # 19420879 350/331hp and has a build date of 2021. The first owner ran the engine for less than hour, but I have no idea if he broke in the cam. I did see a 10 second video of it running before I bought it and it's been sitting around for 4 years. I'm the 3rd owner of it, both of the previous owners sold their project cars to LS guys. I'm going to pull the intake to see if it's drilled for a roller cam, if so, I'd like to install a roller cam/kit from GM crate 350/357 engine. My truck is a 76 C20 with 4:10 gears, it's just a shop truck, and a fair weather driver. Is this a good cam choice? Will the Vortec heads cause any header fitment issues? Also, I see where Hooker makes cast iron manifolds. Anyone using these? Thanks!

I can't comment on if that's a good cam or not (I don't know anything about how different cam parameters affect engine performance) but you shouldn't have any header fitment issues with Vortec heads. I had a blue print engines vortec based 350 in a C10, then later in a K20. I used regular SBC headers in the C10 and then stock TBI manifolds in the K20 (just for clutch linkage fitment) and had no fitment issues with either one.

I am also curious if anyone has used the hooker cast iron manifolds. They seem pretty slick but in terms of performance, they better be worth the extra money over new Dorman manifolds.

[3x2GTO]

I did some more research and found that a stock Vortec head can only handle up to .475 lift, so the GM Hot Cam is out, I'll just stick with what I have.