OK, so I'm bought a 400, that is bored .30 over. My question is: What heads can I use on a budget with a TPI setup? I don't want to make the compreshion too high, but enough to make some good power. If I have to drill steam holes, can I do it myself, and what cam would give the best HP, without making it too rough for the FI? Thanks for any opinion that you might be able to offer!

Joe

 

Define "budget".

You don't want to use factory 400 heads. No budget is small enough to justify that.

World S/R Torquers will run you about $700. Used L98 heads, after the most-likely-needed rebuild, probably around $500. What do you have available now?

You can drill the steam holes yourself. World includes specific directions with their new heads. Basically, you use a 400 head gasket as a template.

 

I just want to keep the price under $1000.00. Was there someone selling ported L98 heads not to long ago in the classifieds that were ported? Would those work, or does the steam hole pass close to anything? Thanks

 

for right at $1000, you have a few options within that price cap...

aluminum L98 heads with some minor work
iron vortecs with quite a bit of work
maybe trickflows, but some folks have had problems with those

but at $1000 you are not quite in the ballpark for some AFR 190's or fastburns..

I think if I was you and the $1000 limit was set in stone, I'd probably find someone who has experience with the iron vortecs and get a set of those worked for your 400. i'm sure someone will post that the iron vortecs aren't the greatest thing since sliced bread (and they aren't!), but they are pretty good and at $1000 you aren't in AFR territory yet. but for $1000 you can have the iron vortecs set up and ported quite well with good airflow numbers, and everyone already knows they have a good combustion chamber. An off the shelf AFR190 would probably still eat it for lunch, but costs more...

 

If you go with Vortec-style anything, add another $400 for the TPI base. You have to use self-aligning rockers, which are more expensive than their non-SA counterparts. If you have a cam with more than .460" lift at the valve, you'll need to replace the press-in rocker studs with screw-in, and machine the spring pockets for better valve springs. I don't understand why people think Vortecs are such a good deal.

The ported L98's would work just fine. Get some thick composition head gaskets for a 400, drill the steam holes to match. They also have press-in studs, though, so the same rules for higher lift cams apply as above.

But, for the $700 that the Worlds would cost you, you'd get 67cc chambers (or 76cc if you really want to keep your compression low), screw-in rocker studs, real valve springs, only require non-SA rockers, and better-quality castings. The 76cc versions are available in '87-later bolt angle style as well.

You asked about a cam. Get a computer-compatible version, like the Crane Powermax CC in Summit, or Comp XE's. I hope you're doing something about the TPI, like shorter runners, ported plenum and base, and larger TB. Pick a cam that has a power band max of about 5500 RPMs.

 

If you get an aftermarket iron head, look at the Dart Iron Eagle 200cc...better flowing head out of the box, and comes with better seales and bronze guides......

 

On the Vortec manifold base:
yes, you need a vortec specific base. But, if you are building up a 400, you probably are already buying an aftermarket base anyways, right? The GM base was designed for a 305, and is already too small for a 350. Why would you want to put it on a 400 and choke it down?

On the self aligning rockers:
True, the stock vortecs need self aligning rockers. But, if you machine them for screw in studs (which you should), then you can use guideplates and use whatever rockers you want. I just did a spotcheck at summit on the Crane gold race rockers... the self-aligning, and non-self aligning, narrow body rockers are the SAME price. (You need the narrow body rockers to clear the center bolt valve cover design). The non-self aligning widebody rockers are only about $50 cheaper. And if you don't use roller rockers, just go to a GM junk yard and yank a set of stamped self-aligning rockers off any modern chevy smallblock for $20, problem solved.

On the 0.460 lift limitation:
this is very real and has to be addressed.

On ported L98's: I'm no fan of the L98 head, due to the fact that they are detonation prone and not a particularly good flowing head either. You could do it, but it's not optimal.

On the world torquers, and casting quality:
the torquers are just a copy of an old GM casting that's been ported a bit. the chamber design isn't particularly good nor is the plug location. GM used the vortec heads on pickups used for hauling loads, so I"d think the casting is at least decent in quality/durability.

I just did a check at summit, and a pair of world torquers with decent springs is $855 for the pair. for $740, you can pick up a pair of vortecs from Pace Parts that already have been converted to screw-in studs, have decent springs, and are good to 0.550" lift. For $115 less than the torquers, you get a better head with better HP potential. The vortecs are proven to have 400hp potential as shipped, and a 400 with vortecs should easily be a mid 13 second machine. Sounds like a good deal to me!

I'm envisioning a 400 with the Pace Parts vortec heads, a HOT cam, headers and a glove box full of mid 13 second time slips.

Here's the link to Pace's modified vortec heads:

http://www.paceparts.com/product.asp?0=0&1=0&3=55999

Just my opinion! Now, if the price limit was raised up to $1500 instead of $1000, then we are talking about AFR190 territory (which takes care of all the concerns about self-aligning rockers, manifold design, etc.) and a glovebox full of 12 second time slips.

 

Northern Auto and Competition Products both sell the Worlds for less than Summit or Jegs. I was also assuming an unassembled price, not assembled as Summit and Jegs sell them.

I just wasn't all that impressed with the CHP writeup of the SDPC Vortec base on a 350 HO. They had to do a lot of stuff to get it up to the 330 carb HP, and had "issues" all along the way.

But, to each his own. Just don't settle for factory 400 heads, please...

 

There's no way that I'm going to be using stock 400 heads. But I had been considering using the vortecs and getting a new base for the TPI. The reason that I want to keep the TPI, is because I have always enjoyed the gas milage, crispness of EFI, and the apearance of it. I'm backing the motor with a pumped up 700r4, and plan to use the car for a daily 20 mi commute to work, 5 days a wk. So I'll probably go no lower with the gears that 3.73. Those AFR's would be nice, but I still have more to the car that is going to take money. I want to have the car assembled in less than a few months, since I'll be coming right back over here to the middle east again in a couple of months. What I'm doing, is I found an 87 T/A that is thrashed, a 91 RS 305 camaro that was T-boned, and an 83 6cyl firebird with no interior. The 83 aside from the bad motor, and no interior, is a perfectly strait body. No door sagging, and no cancer. So the TPI, & suspension from the T/A, the Trans & interior from the camaro. Around where I now live in AR, people are proud of their junk, so finding all three of these cars at the same yard for $2600.00 wasn't a bad deal for me. And the motor in the camaro was still running, so I'll transplant that into the T/A and sell that with whatever I can put back on it when I'm done with my car, to try and recover a little bit of money~ In this 400 that I'm putting together, I want to make it a full roller motor. Is that going to change the lengh of the stock push rods?
Thanks again! Everyone is giving me some great advice! And Also making this a lot more fun for me, since this is the first (non-stock) motor that I've built! Joe

 

Agreed, don't settle for the 400 heads! Well - unless you already HAVE them, and just want something to bolt on while you save up the $$$ for AFR's

And, I didn't realize the world heads were available cheaper unassembled...does that include all the good stuff (valve guides, valves, springs, etc.) just not assembled, or is it the bare casting? I'm not a fan of the torquers, but if the sportsmans were available that way, hmmmmm.....might be interesting.

I am building up a 400 myself for a 71 camaro, and I went full roller (crane mechanical roller cam, 232/240 @ 0.050, 0.525/0.543 lift, with their pro series vertical locking bar lifters). The cam is a narrow base circle cam (0.900") for long rod clearance (I'm running 5.7 rods instead of the stock 400 5.565 rods). I also have the GM fastburn aluminum heads. stock length pushrod will NOT work with this combo, they are too short. I guess that's really not saying anything at all for what you are doing, but the possiblity is certainly there that you will need non-stock length pushrods.