Here's the situation, the motor in my 91 is totally stock, aside from the boltons in the sig, the engine has over 130k on the motor. However, the only oil it burns is on the start-up after it sits a bit, prolly from the valve seals.

I was lookin at the vortec heads and more than likely a cam for it. The car sees light track use, and i take it out on nice days. I was told that if i do a head swap on the stock shortblock that i would have major blow-by. The vortec heads are 64cc chambers, same as stock, so if i use a head gasket that is close to stock thickness the compression wont be changed a whole lot.

The car recieves an oil change with mobil 1 5w30 and an AC Delco filter religously, when i changed the valve covers there was not a drop of sludge underneath, so the car was taken care of.

At somepoint if and when the shortblock does go i'll be placing a 383 shortblock in place of the L98. Till then, would i run into any problems?

 

I don't know if you're aware of all that's involved when swapping to Vortec heads.

To keep your TPI, you have to buy a $400 lower intake. Plus, if you have to keep your car emissions legal, you have to buy the kit to keep your EGR functional.

If you want to run a descent cam with anything more than .450" lift, the heads need a spring upgrade. You can buy them set up that way, but again... it's more MONEY.

Then there's the cost and/or involvement of recalibrating the ECM to make the most power with the new engine configuration. I'm not saying the stock calibration wouldn't get you by, but you may not see the full potential of the upgrades by leaving the stock PROM in.

You may even need to step up to higher flow injectors depending on how radical of a cam you choose.

If you'd like to research the upgraded heads, intake manifold, and EGR kit, go to www.SDPC2000.com

Do a search for Vortec heads, and there will be numerous options and link so you can find everything.

 

I already did the research on this. Actually i was lookin at the modified heads that SDPC has for higher lift cams, that would accomodate the LPE 219 or the ZZ9 cam, this would be used with the SDPC intake for the heads, a fully ported plenum, modified SLP runners, and yes a custom prom has been taken into consideration too. The injectors are new accell 23/lb hr, and should be more than capable of say 350-365 flywheel hp.

My question was, with the mileage the motor has, would the stock shortblock be able to hold up to this? I also looked at the Vortec TPI crate engine, and toos the LT$ cam in favor of something better.

 

Do a compression check, and a compression leak down test. If the results turn out within spec, then the extra cylinder pressure and additional power output produced should not be a problem initially. I'd worry about the tranny or rear if they haven't been upgraded already

I run my 192K mile car pretty hard. Swapping some ported heads and roller rockers on it now. It's making good power and turning decent numbers I think. Been hard on it since I got it at 140K miles. Cylinder wear and compression check still looks good.

 

Here was your question.....

I answered it.

If you were worried about the short block holding up, why didn't you ask that the first time?

I feel like I'm arguing with my wife.