ok guys. im close to start my vortec project on my 91 305 tbi but, i confused on what head gasket to use. i head that the water ports on the vortec differ from the ones on the motor. if you have made this swap could you please tell me what head gasket you ordered? another question, i head that water must be bypassed from the intake to water pump with bypass hose?????? explain in detail please. and last, i wil be using a cam that has .480/.488 lift and have heard that this is a problem with the guides. i heard that i can grind off the spring retainer about 3/16 to solve problem but i dont know where on the retainer to grind off. is it on the part that is touching the spring?? or the part that is at the very bottom?? if there is a website that will guide me through this i would greatly appriciate it. thanks for guiding me this far guys.

theres a spring and retainer kit out there that will allow you more lift with out machining.

do various searches using different search words at the top of the page and all the info you want will be in various threads. I just add them to my favorites.

Don't forget to check out the 305 to 350 swap sticky also.

Also remember you will need to tune your ecm as well.

I was just gonna get an engine and stick it in but as I read more and more it became quite apparent there is a lot more to the swap than I first imagined

Also do searches on google on the vortec 350, I used vortec 350 lt4 hotcam and came up with tons of stuff.

I ordered a bunch of manuals off of amazon.com and am waiting to hear back from Haynes on some of thier manuals then I'll be starting my build.

From my own experience:
Head gaskets are the same. I use a Victor Reinz 5746 (.025")
Max lift is limited by spring retainer to valve guide boss at 'around' .470".
Check out this link for solutions.
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...ade/index.html

Head gaskets are the same. As for bypassing the coolant hose, I used the GMPP vortec to tbi manifold and it was basically a direct bolt on. Everything was there and in "close to" the same spot.

nub 383,i'm doing the 350 vortec swap using the gmpp tbi intake.did you use the stock 305 w/p or a vortec pump?i wanted to use the stock 305 pump if all possible.

I actually used a water pump for a 94 truck tbi. The blocks are the same externally as far as I know from 87 on. My accessories matched perfectly. I would change the water pump while I had it apart. For less than $50 and it being right there.