1st gen 350, vortec head questions??

[383cutlasslemy]

hey guys im looking at a 79 350 motor that came off of a truck. im looking to put some vortec heads on it and making it a 383.
this will make it a vortec 383 right? is 383 a good idea or stay just 355? i looking for an agressive iddle this is not going to be a daily dirver. this will be for the track and some rides to the beach every now and then. what would be the thing i need?
need some help and davice thanks in advanced..

 

[bjohn07]

i guess u can say it would be a vortec 383. stroker motor is gonna have more torque than a 355. depending on ur h/c/i , will determine how much hp ur gonna make. if u got the cash flow might as well stroke it out. and when picking a cam u dont want to pick it because of the idle it will give u. u want to pick a cam based on the specs for the motor, ur drivetrain, an the rpms u want the setup to make power at.

 

[383cutlasslemy]

i guess u can say it would be a vortec 383. stroker motor is gonna have more torque than a 355. depending on ur h/c/i , will determine how much hp ur gonna make. if u got the cash flow might as well stroke it out. and when picking a cam u dont want to pick it because of the idle it will give u. u want to pick a cam based on the specs for the motor, ur drivetrain, an the rpms u want the setup to make power at.

i would really like low to mid range power. for the heads they are going to be stock except for the porting, polishing, bigger vlaves if possible, and 3 angle valve job. now for the cam i really dont know wat to go with.i am going caborated. and woul like the msd distributor for it . and also some nitrous..

 

[383cutlasslemy]

any suggestions ?

 

[jordanfr13]

Well if you want low and mid range, it won't sound overly lumpy.

 

[bjohn07]

any suggestions ?

sounds like u already know what ur gonna do with the bottom end and the heads. so u asking about the cam right? no the heads. well contact comp cams to get an idea on a cam. and with vortec heads u got to make sure u get a vortec carbed manifold

 

[383cutlasslemy]

any suggestions ?

sounds like u already know what ur gonna do with the bottom end and the heads. so u asking about the cam right? no the heads. well contact comp cams to get an idea on a cam. and with vortec heads u got to make sure u get a vortec carbed manifold

i know what i want to do.what i dont know, is wat to go with. i didnt want to go with a stock crank. but i also didnt want to waist a tone of money on forged. i was thinking a eagle cast crank, the rods and pistons forged. dose the eagle cast crank hold up good? for pistons i was thinking of keith blak but dont know yet.. i need to know the things i need and wat brand would u guys recomend to hold over 500hp. my hp goals are 550 to 650. and some nitrous. i dont care if i have to drive it on 110 oct. i want a little 1/8 mile monster and streetable enogh to get to the beach every once in a while. 1/8 mile becuase i have a track about 5 miles for my house thats is 1/8. my budget is 3500 to 5500 range on motor.

 

[bjohn07]

any suggestions ?

sounds like u already know what ur gonna do with the bottom end and the heads. so u asking about the cam right? no the heads. well contact comp cams to get an idea on a cam. and with vortec heads u got to make sure u get a vortec carbed manifold

i know what i want to do.what i dont know, is wat to go with. i didnt want to go with a stock crank. but i also didnt want to waist a tone of money on forged. i was thinking a eagle cast crank, the rods and pistons forged. dose the eagle cast crank hold up good? for pistons i was thinking of keith blak but dont know yet.. i need to know the things i need and wat brand would u guys recomend to hold over 500hp. my hp goals are 550 to 650. and some nitrous. i dont care if i have to drive it on 110 oct. i want a little 1/8 mile monster and streetable enogh to get to the beach every once in a while. 1/8 mile becuase i have a track about 5 miles for my house thats is 1/8. my budget is 3500 to 5500 range on motor.

with that kinda budget u can get a whole forged stroker kit, machine work, and some badass heads. but even with 5500 invested in a motor it will be hard to get 550 to 650 to the wheels on a small block. 7k and u got it. i think with a good 4k invested in a motor u can squeeze out 400 to the wheels and hit it with a 200 shot. u really need to go to a machine shop and tell them want u want out of a motor. 550 is alot to put down to the wheels all motor. ur talkin 4bolt main block, of course, depending on how much spray ur gonna use will determine what type of crank u will need. but can get a whole forged stroker kit for 1500 or less. depending on how much work the block needs u will spend another 500 at least getting it prepped for the kit. then u gotta figure what h/c/i ur gonna use. what nitrous kit, carb, u gotta have a bullet proof drivetrain that can handle 550 motor plus what ever u plan on spraying it with. but personally if i were to ever build a small block with that much power would definitely contact a good performance shop.

 

[bjohn07]

these are the guys i use http://www.kendrick-auto.com/engine_combinations.htm and if u look they got a forged fully built 600hp small block. u figure through loss of power in ur drivetrain u should put down 530 to 550 at the wheels. and it being forged it can handle some spray.

 

[88olds421]

If you are set on using the vortec heads, they will not make it to the power level you are looking for. They are good to about 430 maybe 450 at the most depending on the size of the engine and the cam. The main reason is because of the 170 cc intake ports. They is a newer set out now that have 180cc intake runners that scoggin dickey and Jegs all sell. Chevy High Performance built a 406 using these heads with a .480 lift cam and made 424 and 530 ftlbs of torque. Also if you are rebuilding a engine it isn't too much more expensive to go ahead and stroke it. I have a 421 in my cutlass with the vortec heads, I used them partly due to the story in CHP and becuase I already had htem on my previous 350. The car makes gobs and gobs of torque down low. That is the spot to have it on these cars. I am also running a lunati .480 lift cam with 230 degrees duration at .050 with 1.6 roller rockers. Sounds good, not too overly lopey, mainly due to the size of the engine. But to get to a 550 Hp mark on the small block you will need a set of head with around a 210 or so intake runner on them and rev it atleast to 6500 or more.