vortec heads

[1968k10blue]

Hi everybody, I am looking to possibly buy a set of heads that I can get into good condition while still being able to drive my truck. I have a 350 from a 73 pickup in my truck and was wondering what was all involved to set up a set of vortecs in my truck. any feedback helps! The main reason why I would do this is my engine is currently burning oil, but i may just tear apart the ones I have or even set up a carbeurated ls engine, if money allows. thank you all for your time.

[sean1969c10]

If your oil consumption is due to a worn out short block adding the Vortec heads will just make things worse. The Vortec chambers are around 64cc, this will raise the compression, which is where some of the performance gain lies with the Vortec heads, but if your rings are weak and letting oil by, the heads will end up putting more pressure on the rings than they can handle. A wet and dry compression test would tell you where the oil consumption is coming from, but if the engine smokes most of the time you can bet the rings are tired and adding new heads will only make things worse. Hope this helped.

On a side note the Vortec heads are really a great up grade, but you need a tight bottom end to have good results.

[hugger6933]

Now on the positive side of the spectrum, the heads could have guides bad causing oil to leak past them and enter the combustion chamber that way. A lot less likely but still possible. Now to to the swap you will need of course a set of heads, intake and head gaskets, the valve covers are different as well so you will need a pair of those and a vortec intake as it has a bolt pattern all to itself. You will also need some vortec intake manifold bolts as they are pretty special with a semi ball made under the bolt head, and be very very careful torquing them down it does not take too much to reach the torque spec. The vortec heads flow better than any small block head that had beed built prior to them and will gain you aprox 40 hp on a healthy engine, meaning one that is not in need of being propped up to live a little longer. I have done this on a S-10 I had and it ran really well but the motor was quite stout to begin with. Good luck hope that helped. Jim

[1968k10blue]

Thank you both, I know that I will need to look into it farther, but I figure if I have to year the engine apart I might as well have new headers ready to bolt on when I do it, the less down time the better.
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[GASoline71]

I agree 100% with the above on putting "new" heads on an old shortblock. You'll definately have an oil burner/smoker if you do.

One thing about Vortec heads is, you'll have to run a specific intake manifold that fits the Vortec heads. you'll aslo have to run self aligning rocker arms, and different length pushrods. So it's not just a basic swap... some special equipment is needed to use them.

Gary

[1968k10blue]

Originally Posted by GASoline71

I agree 100% with the above on putting "new" heads on an old shortblock. You'll definately have an oil burner/smoker if you do.

One thing about Vortec heads is, you'll have to run a specific intake manifold that fits the Vortec heads. you'll aslo have to run self aligning rocker arms, and different length pushrods. So it's not just a basic swap... some special equipment is needed to use them.

Gary

See, that's the answer I was looking for, I know it would take extra work but wasn't sure of the new equipment I would need to do it. So for my needs it would NE better to get ones meant for this engine and start from there.
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[MSHax]

For the heads, ebay is the way to go. I've found them rebuilt for like $450 shipped

If you want to go with the vortec heads, I've got a nice intake manifold, tbi injection set up, computer, everything. Even harnessed for simple set up. Was going to do tbi setup so it would fit under the factory air cleaner and still look stock, but changed my mind and bought an LS. After I clean up my garage a little I'll post it in the for sale section, just figured I'd mention it here if that was the direction you were going. :P

[1968k10blue]

Originally Posted by MSHax

For the heads, ebay is the way to go. I've found them rebuilt for like $450 shipped

If you want to go with the vortec heads, I've got a nice intake manifold, tbi injection set up, computer, everything. Even harnessed for simple set up. Was going to do tbi setup so it would fit under the factory air cleaner and still look stock, but changed my mind and bought an LS. After I clean up my garage a little I'll post it in the for sale section, just figured I'd mention it here if that was the direction you were going. :P

Thanks for the offer, but I think I might just go with a set off summit or something. This is going to be my winter driver since it is 4wd so next summer hopefully I will pull the engine then. And when I say it is burning oil, I mean about a half court to a tank of gas.
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[GASoline71]

That's a lot of oil... I had a 1979 GMC K2500 High Sierra with a 350 that would burn a quart every week. So I would add a quart every Friday, and only change the filter every 3,000 miles. Then I rebuilt it finally.

There are aftermarket heads available that will bolt on using all the old stuff. They will even be cheaper that having the old stockers rebuilt.

Gary

[1968k10blue]

Yeah, it sat for a while before I bought it, and by the time I used the first tank it used a quart. Then the second tank only used half, so hopefully is is loosening everything up and sealing a little better, but we will see I don't think I could get that lucky
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