hey guys! i am currently running a pair of 882 heads (man they suck) on a 383 stroker with a cam which i know nothing about. i plan on getting a hot cam soon but until then will a set of vortec heads hold up to the lift of the cam i have now just knowing that the 882s do hold up or is it impossible to tell?

 

Vortecs in stock form, are supposed to be good for either .460 or .480 lift, if you do some seaching, you'll find out for sure.

Worst case is you'll need the valve guide bosses machined, then may as well open the pockets for larger diameter springs, do screw in studs. Several places offer the Vortecs ready to go with the work done, and assembled for higher lift cams.

That said, measure your valve lift now..pull a cover, use a dial indicator and see what you have...other than that, there's no sure way to know.

 

I doubt anyone will answer yes to this question without knowing for sure what the lift of the cam is.

But I try to take short cuts like this all the time and they only burn me every once and a while . If it was me, I would inspect the 882s to see if they are still stock components. Stock springs, pockets, valve seals ect.... Then I would find out the max lift stock 882s would handle. If it's no more that .460 or so and it's been working fine with the cam , then the vortec heads would probably do the same. You could also measure the distance from the retainer to the valve guide post on the 882s and see if it compares to the vortecs. Or like Mike said measure the lift. I'm just not sure how acurate that is with hydraulic lifters under spring pressure. But you could always loosen the rocker arm and measure. Then again I could be full of it and there may be no need to loosen the spring pressure to measure.

In any case the higher flow and higher compression would definently be good for the motor. I assume you have already taken the higher compression into consideration and what intake manifold you are gonna get.