Best Engine Combo for My Truck

[DreamRyder1963]

The past couple of days I have been thinking about the best possible combination of heads, cam, and intake for my truck. When I bought the truck it already had an offenhuaser 360 high rise intake on it. While it runs strong, I feel like I am not taking full advantage of it due to the stock cam and heads. With the little research I have done I am thinking that a set of dart heads and slightly larger than stock cam from summit would be the way to go. I am going to get the exact specs from offenhauser. Based on my intake and the way my truck runs I am looking at making power in the 1600-4500 range. To do the job I am looking at around $800 for everything. Am I on the right track or is there a better way to make the most power in this price range. A little more info on the truck: it currently has a complete MSD ignition including hei distributor, wires, and 6a box.

[DreamRyder1963]

Bump for the night crowd.

[davischevy]

You are on the right track. You won't believe the difference the heads will make. Go ahead and add roller rockers if it's in your budget. I'm no expert, but I think you'll need a dual plane intake for the low end power you are looking for.

We just did this with a 72 K-5 Blazer. World Products heads, 280 Competition Cams Cam, dual plane Edelbrock and roller rockers. It made a ho-hum ride into a kick in the butt ride.

[DreamRyder1963]

I was wondering if I would need to replace my rocker arms. I would almost hate to since when I pulled off my valve covers the looked like new stock style or basic comp cam rockers.

[zeldman]

You might look into a dual plane intake for the RPM range you are looking for.

I see your budget is petty low, but you still might try calling Edelbrock and price out a cam/intake/head package for you.

Ask about some 1.6 length rockers instead of the stock 1.5.

[davischevy]

Yeah, I know, I have a bunch of stock rockers laying in the storage room. I kind of ran onto the roller rocker thing by chance. I pulled a rocker stud once, and while my mechanic was installing screw in studs, he called and said he found a deal on some roller rockers. He put them on, and I have never done any one thing that woke an engine up like they did. I now run rollers on everything I have, big and small block.

[hugger6933]

Your intake may be a little big I am trying to remember the intake if it has a divider or not. That is gonna make big differences if it does or doesn't but you don't have to give yet. If it is an open hole under the carb put a four hole spacer on there and it will bring back a BUNCH of low end torque. Or if you would like the grunt a littler higher put a divided spacer in there and it will move the torque range up a bit.Of course I am a BIG fan of Vortec heads they will out flow just about anything you can buy for the small block.If you do that you will need a new intake anyway because the Vortec intake pattern is all alone. That would be a chance to get a good dual plane intake. I also think that a cam in the 280 range as stated above may be a little on the big side of things for you. A real good cam to run is the Comp Cams High Energy 268H I have run a bunch of those and they never disappoint me. They will even increase the gas mileage [if you can stay out of the 4 barrel] they will also help hold good vac.in the motor so that power brakes and air stuff will work right. Also keep in mind your getting a lot more air in so it needs to get out as well so a good exhaust is in order like 21/4 or 21/2 inch pipes and some headers of some kind at least some mid length. Jim

[DreamRyder1963]

Here is a pic of the intake I have. According to Offenhauser its horsepower range is between 1600rpm-6500rpm. I have also linked the heads I am looking at. This is not the exact head but its the same series since I am not sure on the specs yet. Dart Iron Eagle Heads

[davischevy]

It's a single plane. You have it, use it. If it's not satisfactory, Craigslist always has intakes.

Those heads are a good choice, but can you assemble them for $214? You may have a source I don't have, but I wouldn't think of ordering them bare.

[DreamRyder1963]

I just talked to a tech at Summit and they recommended these heads and cam. Of course I will call Offenhauser and a couple of other shops to get their opinions.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dr...make/chevrolet

COMP Cams Xtreme Energy 4x4 Cam and Lifter Kits CL12-239-3

[DreamRyder1963]

Originally Posted by davischevy

It's a single plane. You have it, use it. If it's not satisfactory, Craigslist always has intakes.

Those heads are a good choice, but can you assemble them for $214? You may have a source I don't have, but I wouldn't think of ordering them bare.

I hadn't thought of that yet. I will probably go with ones like what Summit suggested. It looks like I need to up my budget to a grand.

[davischevy]

Budget, what budget? HAH

Your on the right track. good luck.

[slow-1]

I put a Summit 1102 cam in my 350 and am very happy with it...nice low end power.

I have always heard that single plane intakes are best suited for high rpms...but, you may as well give it a try.

[DreamRyder1963]

Originally Posted by slow-1

I put a Summit 1102 cam in my 350 and am very happy with it...nice low end power.

I have always heard that single plane intakes are best suited for high rpms...but, you may as well give it a try.

I can definitely feel the power all of a sudden kick in around 1500rpm. I would of not of chosen this myself but since it is there it will save my $150 for now at lest. I would say that I do like it. This combo is already stronger than the stock 350s that I have owned.

I will look into the Summit cam.

[mattfranklin]

Not saying you should do this, but I'm in the slow process of cloning a 1970 LT-1 for my truck (370 factory [old measurement] horsepower). That was I can keep it totally "stock." My reasoning is that the Chevrolet engineers probably knew what they were doing. And it's easy to get parts for and tune it to stock specs rather than a one-off.

I wouldn't be soo OCD about it going stock, but I did a '72 Ford F250 project with a hot 390 (high lift mechanical cam, roller rockers, forged pistons, polished rods, balanced rotating assembly, windage tray, and all of that) several years ago and, while it was extremely fun in the planning and building, it was a little too hard to sort out and kept bending custom push-rods.

[slow-1]

Originally Posted by DreamRyder1963

I just talked to a tech at Summit and they recommended these heads and cam. Of course I will call Offenhauser and a couple of other shops to get their opinions.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dr...make/chevrolet

COMP Cams Xtreme Energy 4x4 Cam and Lifter Kits CL12-239-3

Did you see that those heads are $600 EACH?

Maybe I am out of touch on prices, but that seems like a lot of money for iron heads.

[DreamRyder1963]

Originally Posted by slow-1

Did you see that those heads are $600 EACH?

Maybe I am out of touch on prices, but that seems like a lot of money for iron heads.

No I didn't. I thought that was for a set.

[bbcmudtruck]

Thats $600 each. I'd look on craigslist for a set of vortec heads! You can find freshly rebuilt vortec heads for fairly cheap. $300-$500 depending on what all has been done to them. You will have to add an intake if you go with the vortec heads, but in my opinion, you would want to anyway. The eddy rpm performer would be a great intake. I personally run the air gaps on my motors, however they are harder to find used. As far as roller rockers go, you have a very good chance at finding a set of vortec heads complete with stamped rockers. The stamped rockers are plenty good for that mild of a cam. If you cant find a complete set of heads with rockers, you will need to buy a set of self aligning rockers for the vortec heads. You will also need to check the push rod length before you order push rods. However you would need to do that regardless of what heads you end up with. If you do a quick search on the internet, you can get the flow numbers on the vortec heads vs most of the aftermarket heads. Dollar for dollar, they can't be beat.

[DreamRyder1963]

I am liking the look of the Vortec heads, and for the price I can afford a new intake. Will the stock exhaust fit these heads or will Vortec specific headers be needed?

Vortec Heads

[bbcmudtruck]

Yes stock exhaust will fit. I'd run some full length tube headers while your upgrading stuff. The Hedman elite headers are full tube, fit our trucks good and have the ball socket collector. That type of collector is Superior to the flat 3 bolt flange as far as sealing goes. Plus they are pretty darn cheap! Have you looked on your local craigslist for some vortec heads yet? I looked at the KC cl and there are several sets for sale on there. There is even one guy selling an Edelbrock RPM intake with a set of vortec heads fresh from the machine shop for $400 bucks. Plus they come with the rockers! You will also need new valve covers for vortec heads. I forgot to mention that earlier. From all the dyno tests I've seen, bolting on a set of stock vortec heads over a stock set of gen 1 gm heads, will yield 30-40 hp increase. Thats enough power to feel in the seat of the pants. Plus if you add headers, you'd help maximize the increase. One thing you need to know is what you have for pistons. Are they flat tops, domed or dished? Ideally flat tops with a set of milled vortec heads will get you a net increase in compression. You'd need to know the deck height of your motor and gasket thickness before you had the heads milled.

[DreamRyder1963]

As far as I know the pistons are factory 350. I checked my local cl and I only saw two sets one looked like crap and they others were not bad looking but he wanted $500 and was a couple hours away. Are these heads simply factory spec? I ask because I can probably get a deal through work for factory spec heads.

[bigmac73]

this is what I have on my truck, right out of the box ready to go listed price is for each

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/na...make/chevrolet

[bigmac73]

you do need to make sure that your cam lift does not exceed what the vortec can handle, you can not go above a .488 lift unless you do some work to the heads,
i would look that up to get more info.

[DreamRyder1963]

Originally Posted by bigmac73

you do need to make sure that your cam lift does not exceed what the vortec can handle, you can not go above a .488 lift unless you do some work to the heads,
i would look that up to get more info.

The cam from Summit is listed as .480

[bbcmudtruck]

Big mac brings up a good point. Your springs will need to match your cam. As far as how much cam you can run, I am of no help to you there.