vortec head help

[69projectKAOS]

alright guys, well im rebuilding my motor for the third time now, due to they race shop doing a crappy job for the second time. so while im at it im going to throw some vortec heads on it. the motor is a 73 sbc 2 piece rear main seal, bored .30 over, hi-compression forged sealed power pistons and rods, and big cam(not sure on size yet) i was bebating on using my old cast iron 2.02 heads or getting a set of vortec heads. i found a set on craigslist off of a 1996 tahoe 5.7l , the guy says they have 2,000 miles on them and have new valve seals and guides complete for $200. is that a good deal? i have heard that they do crack easily, so im asking where do they crack and what should i look for and what kind of power can i make out of them with my setup? thanks-Dom

[69X22]

I have them on my 57 and love them. Depending on the cam you will have to have the guides cut down for more lift and you will defiantly have to add screw in studs and also drill out the pushrod holes. I have heard that they are prone to cracks but not sure where. Check out this link.

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/67838_budget_vortec_head_cam_355_build/index.html

[SLO_Z28]

They crack in the combustion chamber. With a Comp XE268H cam, 9.75:1 CR, RPM Air Gap intake, Holley 650 Vac Sec, and 1-3/4 headers I made 403hp @ 5700RPM and 430TQ. You wont need to mod the valvetrain to fir that cam, but it wouldnt be a bad idea to do it anyways.

$200 is about right for a set of core quality Vortec heads.

[oldgoat69]

Remember that the intake flange pattern is different than the 73. I learned alot about these heads from a buddy at Chapman Racing way back when. The best porting job is just as they come. They will make very good power up to about 5500 rpm, with a very linear torque curve.

[69projectKAOS]

thanks for the info guys, i was thinking about picking up one of theses blue print long blocks from jegs instead of risking having my blown motor re-done.The only thing that the motor needs to be turn key is dizzy,intake and carb and harmonic balancer. and i have those off of my old setup so it will just bolt on. what do you guys thinnk? http://www.jegs.com/i/Blueprint-Engines/138/BP3834CT1/10002/-1?parentProductId=1197263 this comes with aluminum heads, decent internals, and great hp/trq numbers for the price.

[SLO_Z28]

Those Blueprint are some of the worst engines I've ever seen. It amazes me that they even run sometimes. The machine work on them is a joke.


The best "deal" on a crate engine come from Year One:

http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/fbshopmain2.asp?pid=CT350PC1&hid=I12AN73499&cat=I&trk=12&searchid=6268131

Its a very well designed and built engine, that makes big power and is dead on reliable. They stand behind the engine with a 12 month 12000 mile warranty.

[69X22]

Those Blueprint are some of the worst engines I've ever seen. It amazes me that they even run sometimes. The machine work on them is a joke.


The best "deal" on a crate engine come from Year One:

http://www.yearone.com/serverfiles/fbshopmain2.asp?pid=CT350PC1&hid=I12AN73499&cat=I&trk=12&searchid=6268131

Its a very well designed and built engine, that makes big power and is dead on reliable. They stand behind the engine with a 12 month 12000 mile warranty.

I installed this engine in my uncles 36, nice engine that runs like a scalded dog. The only problem we had is they pin the rocker stud, and after 4000 miles it sheared the pin and pulled the stud out. They wanted us to pull the motor and ship it back to them. We ended up just pulling the heads and havin screw in studs installed. Sounds like they were going to stand behind it though.