i_love_thirdgen

iTrader: (3)

hello guys here's the deal... i have a jasper reman 350 with a weiand single plane intake (2,000-6,000 rpms) a holley 650 vac secondaries carb, a comp cams xe268h cam and lifters, and Made in mexico pos heads. A guy is willing to sell me a pair of 906 casting vortec heads and a Professional Products Crosswind Vortec aluminum Air-Gap high-rise dual plane intake manifold for $450 is it a good price and will it work well with my engine combo? Thanks!

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Yea, that's a tad bit high on price, about equal to what you'd pay for that stuff brand new. Vortecs from summit are pretty cheap, and so is the prof products intake.
It'd definately make the engine run well, but i'd try to offer him $400. See what summit would price out their basic Vortec castings, and the intake. Remember you should be able to get used vortec heads locally for less than summit has it for, that's why i'm thinking $450 is a tad high.

i_love_thirdgen

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, Sonix... i thought so too,this guy seems like the "high roller" type and i doubt i'll talk him down but whatever, there's always the boneyard

F-BIRD'88

The comp XE 268 has what, .480' lift on the exhaust side.
factory Vortec heads have a retainer/guide lift clearance of as little as .450" lift.
So as a precauction, i would teardown and inspect any vortec heads to determine if they can handle the valve lift. And deal with that as required.
there are a number of good solutions.
the 906 vortec are good castings. Remove an exhaust valve. *IF* your 906's happen to have the heavy duty steel pressed in exhaust valve seat and the bowl machining below it looks rough just grab a die grinder and clean up the blowl to seat transition and bowl/port floor to seat short side radius. All of the vortec heads can benefit from this simple exhaust port preperation before installing them. If you want to fully port the exhaust side go ahead. the flow increases nicely.
Don;t turn your nose up at the 906 castings in favout of the more popular 062 heads. its not nessessary.

i_love_thirdgen

iTrader: (3)

I called the guy and left a message... we'll see what happens there.

I also called a machine shop to see what they chrage on port and polishing and for the pockets it runs $250, a three angle valve jov is $120....

I've never actually ported and polished a head or bowls before...how bad is it, can i get some more info??

also as always thanks for the help!

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Porting is not rocket science. Just realize that the easy part to port is the... ports. They don't give much HP, but they're easy.
The bowl is harder to get to, but thats where the power is. You're not trying to completely reshape it, as if it were some older head that needs that - you're just knocking off the flash. Sharp edges, transition, etc. Just make it all nice and smooth. Avoid hitting any machined surfaces like the valve seats and decks, and you're laughing.

i_love_thirdgen

iTrader: (3)

If the deal with the Vortec heads falls through, are there any sbc iron heads that are considered good preformers for relativly low bucks(500 assembled)?


Thanks... and i will end up porting something!

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Nope, none in the same ballpark as the Vortecs. The 305 ones (416, 081, 601) are ok, but they *need* the porting. Then they're great.
Check the price on vortecs (assembled) on summit. You might be surprised.