Technical Vortec Heads on Gen1 350

The engine going into the 42 Chevy coupe came out of a 96-97 pickup, and I put a set of ram horns from Speedway. No problems at all

 

Just put a set of vortec’s On a 1st gen 350 and definite improvement. Dual plane intake replacing old Torker single plane everything else the same. Strange how exhaust sounds different. You would swear the mufflers were changed.

 

Summit I think it is, has some of the 1.94/170/59cc Trick Flow heads you mentioned on Ebay. Not giving them away at $1,300 a pair, complete. In today's market I wouldn't think there is much call.

Also on Ebay are the Pro Comp/Speedmaster iron heads, same config, for $500 complete. Tempting, but a conflicting reputation of junk to OK.

 

Yep, the old slipper slope..then why not one with more upgrades..

At my body shop class in school there is a 350 out of a wrecked '94 Camaro I can get cheap, and I think my blower would fit (minor center bolt mods). Non Vortec but maybe some other good stuff like roller cam, I don't know anything about those years.

 

And make dang sure you pick up the outlet on the water pump for your bypass. I spent months troubleshooting erratic overheating issues because of this. There is a small tech notice in the bottom of the installation instructions that mention this.

 

I have rams horns in my vortecs. No issues.

 

"I have rams horns in my vortecs. No issues."
Must be my Karma then, these are aftermarket 2.5", might be part of the problem. I have a set of stainless shorty headers I'll try next.

 

Chevy did away with second coolant hole in the right side of the block where the water pump bolts on and a passage in the head so coolant only circulates in the engine when the thermostat is open if the bypass hose is missing on a Vortec.

 

Engine masters on motortrend did exactly this with good results, worth a watch

 

If that is the Gen II LT1 350 from a Z28 it won't work. Heads are different, it is reverse cooled, Opti-spark "pancake distributor" is between water pump and camshaft and driven through the cam cover.....you would not just be able to bolt your blower onto one of the reverse cooled engines. Water openings in block and heads are different too, so other stuff can't be easily swapped.

If Speedmaster had those heads bare it would be a better deal, you could put a better grade of parts in them. I've done a couple pairs of ProComp aluminum heads in the past, but bought them bare so I could choose the parts to finish them....the parts that came in their assembled heads were very crude/cheap looking. No problems from the castings. This was 5-6 years ago, maybe Speedmaster/ProComp has better stuff now, I don't know. I use a better import aluminum head casting now(still buy it bare though).

 

I had the coolant spiking in the intake.
Read this.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lets-talk-temp-gauge-theory.1063739/

 

Just got home from looking at that engine. It's out of a '94 Van. Iron heads, rear distributor, mechanical fuel pump plate. Rated at under 200hp I think. Only 10K miles on it though.

The Speedmaster heads are available bare, but only about 50 bucks less. Says the valve seats are ductile iron.

 

Decent shortblock for a 350, could be machined for 4 bolt mains, but the heads on it are some of the worst for flow and power ever made, the Swirl Port TBI head. Junk for anything but a towing application in a 350 but would probably work Ok on a 305 once they are flat milled to get the 64cc chamber down to 59-60cc;s.
The Swirl Port heads have 1/2 of the valve bowl cast shut with a metal hump tp promote swirl. All out of breath on a 350 at 4000 rpm or so.

 

What about the ductile iron valve seats on the iron Pro Comp heads, that going to be a problem?

 

Not a problem, same material Dart uses in their Pro 1 aluminum heads, as do other aluminum head manufacturers.

 

Can I get some info on the coolant bypass hose I will need with Vortec heads on a Gen 1 small block?

 

Did you read this? https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lets-talk-temp-gauge-theory.1063739/

 

Ofcourse he/she didnt'...was a google search, join the HAMB and ask a question

 

Did you have to do anything to the heads or intake for cooling? I've read about coolant crossover lines? Putting a set on my engine but trying to avoid cooling problems.

 

Read this
https://www.flowkoolerwaterpumps.com/blogs/cooling-resources/resolving-the-vortec-temperature-spike
I was going to add this by pass hose (and still will) but needed to pull the water pump or intake and didn’t want to do that at that time. So instead, I drilled 3 holes in the thermostat to allow some circulation all the time.
Had no problems running that way but next time it’s apart it will get a new thermostat and the bypass hose

 

See post above

 

Old thread that has been popped up, but its come back to life several times. Adding this link,

https://nastyz28.com/threads/vortec-cylinder-heads-the-definitive-guide.56505/