I dont want to change my stock 350 cam, My buddy has some 97 vortec heads that he is going to let me have and I have a 88 chevy sbc engine that im putting into my 84 buick regal. I just really want to know If I slap the 97 vortec heads on my 88 Sbc 350 with the vortec intake, and a 750cfm q-jet will I be guaranteed atleast 300 horses? If not what else can I do to achieve my goal?
Custom 350 Small block...
- Thread starter 84Deykno
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Change the cam. You won't hit 300 with the stock cam... best you'll get is 250-270 with any of the stock cams besides something like an LT1 or other performance cam.
cams are pretty cheap, if you're willing to do a head swap doing the cam at the same time is not very much more work. you'll already have everything stripped down it's worth it to cam it.
Plus it's a roller cam block so you wouldn't have to "break" in the new cam as well. One good cam i heard of is the LT4 cam but i'm sure any cam company could get you a good grind. Another thing to consider is upgrading the valve springs if planning to use any cam with lift over .450. Beehive springs are a little pricey but avoid machining the valve seats. I would still upgrade the heads to screw in studs vs the factory pressed in ones. While your getting the studs installed have the heads get magnafluxed. They have a tendency to crack if ran low on coolant or overheated a bit. The composite manifold bolts tend to get loose and leak coolant ,consequently overheating the engine and either warping or cracking the heads. I've had a set of heads lined up but were junk upon finding cracks.. 
Oh well i didn't spend much and have a lead on a set that has been inspected and ready to bolt on.
Oh well i didn't spend much and have a lead on a set that has been inspected and ready to bolt on.
In my experiences less of the early 1-piece rms blocks are flat tappet than more. I've built 3 1-piece rms motors, on my 4th, and all have been flat tappet.
A roller cam will definitely give you the most power, but the cam itself costs quite a bit more than a flat tappet. If it's not a roller, the spider and retainers will have to be bought (usually can find them on Craigslist or eBay for fairly cheap), along with OE style lifters. The GM hot cam with a set of Vortecs is good for an easy 400hp.
A roller cam will definitely give you the most power, but the cam itself costs quite a bit more than a flat tappet. If it's not a roller, the spider and retainers will have to be bought (usually can find them on Craigslist or eBay for fairly cheap), along with OE style lifters. The GM hot cam with a set of Vortecs is good for an easy 400hp.
That's what i Want to do is get that 5.3 and carb it because look good under a hood but the intake is 600 bucks kinda expensive
You can get a 5.3 cheap enough, don't see much reason to go down to a 4.8. The engine itself isn't typically what breaks the bank, it's all the stuff to swap it in. An SBC will be uber-easy because they came stock in a G-Body, and since the SBC is over 50 years old they've had tons of time to make stuff for it. Consider that against the 13 years the LS motors have been going into production cars.
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