when i was at the national chevelle owners meet there was a crowd around the car with a few guys telling me what i had. then one guy says you know this was a bronze car originally and you are going to restore it right? i said the world was lousey with restored 66 chevelles and it didt need another. i said im going to restore it to how i drove it in hs. ladder bars,big hurst shifter,mag wheels etc. you could of heard a pin drop. i just want the car to be like the way i first bought it with a few minor changes. i respect the restoration guys. i have done several concourse harley and indian restorations. im just not going that route on this car. besides i met my hs sweet heart in this car and she likes it marina blue.
Sounds to me if you don't care , and you don't want to spend money , sell all the rare shit to someone who appreciates casting# and has a rare chevelle that need the stuff for big dollars and build a stout 327, 350, 383 or 406 with the profit... 2 birds one stone...
things will be going on evil bay soon. im keeping the short block in the car. if i ever pull it i will put in a 427 thats what i always wanted way back when. i guy in town had a black ss 67 with a 427 and i thought wow thats bad ass. it would be nice to keep all this stuff but i just dont see myself restoring the car to show room new. i thinking i want to do the car like we all drove them back then. thats what started me on this thread.
Scoggin Dickey Chevrolet modified vortec heads, $650 assembled. If you want aluminum there plenty of aluminum vortec heads with larger runners, don't think you need larger runners on a 327. http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/116-0209-vortec-small-block-engine/
like i said before im a mopar guy first. i have no idea what seperates a vortec head from any other chevy head. what is the difference?
If you put vortec heads on it you will have to get a intake for those heads. different bolt- mounting on the vortec heads. The intake to head is only 8 bolts.
Everything you ever wanted to know about L31 Vortec heads..... http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/Vortec_L31_cylinder_head You'll have a thousand dollars in the L31's before you're through and they won't make the power of the Pro-Filers I suggested, at a cost of under $1100 assembled, ready to bolt on. L31's are cast iron, not aluminum, so the current thinking is to limit the static compression ratio to 9.5:1, whereas aluminum heads can tolerate 10.5:1. That's why I gave you a list of parts to make 10.276:1, as close as I could get with off-the-shelf affordable parts.
thanks for all the time you spent. for a guy with a mopar in his avatar ( looks like the high and mighty) you have a lot of chevy knowledge. i enjoyed the article.
It's a funny thing with rare and desirable cars that have documentation. They just bring stupid money and it's silly to completely disregard that fact. People spend considerable effort just to clone them, they will take a common and rough example and recreate the desirable. These rare and desirables have a different set of logic that comes with them. Every once of energy spent or dollars spent modifying is pissed away at a rate of at least 3 times the amount spent. It's a lot like sticking rare coins into a bubblegum machine. Sure you get the gum to enjoy but the same gum could have been gotten with much better use of the available resources. Selling the coins to the right market and then you can buy the whole damn machine and have even more bubble gum.
Fridaynightdrags, have you run these heads? There's definately a point where L31 vortecs don't make sense, these offer some nice features with runner size. Do they use the vortec style combustion chamber in a new casting? Just wanting to learn more on them if you've used them or built engines with them.
Once again words of wisdom from Vicky , you have an eloquent way with words and examples some times... I liked the bubble gum analogy , your like dear Abby of the hamb, you could start an advice hotline!
Not that I'm an engine builder or anything but my take on the vortecs is that they are a really good cheap entry level head and support 350-425hp easily but if you want bigger numbers you need a performance head like afr or brodix , bowtie, sb2 ,
For what my opinion is worth, buy another set of double hump heads, pocket port and gasket match them, and run them. The casting numbers are not visible under the valve covers. None of these aluminum or vortec heads mentioned were available in the time period you are shooting for. You also are still running a 327. If you want all out power, you have the wrong engine to begin with. There is no replacement for displacement.Don' get me wrong, I love 327's, and will build them over any other small block if given the choice. I have $550 into my most expensive set of double humps to date. Aluminum heads are nice,wish I could afford a set, but it'll still run hard without them.I think a day two look, 80's high school street machine is a cool idea, and I would run as many of the rare factory parts as I could, just. for the shock value.