I am starting to gather the components for my top-end buildup of my LO3. i was goingto go with 081 heads, lt1 cam , and edelbrock performer intake
I picked up some 081 headsfor 30bucks, and had them magnafluxed. the machinist say they are good, ecxcept one of the valve seats.
He said it wasnt bad. All togethor for the work done on the heads i would be looking at 580 bucks.
this included oversized valves, new springs, guiide plates, screw in rocker arms, decked, 3 angle job, and some other stuff i cant remember.
My question is, is it worth it, or should i just try and find some used vortecs? I know new ones arent that expensive, just trying to keep the budget low.

 

Throw in some bowl work, guide reduction, and gasket matching for that price, it would be worth it.

Just got the June '04 Chevy High Performance Magazine. Page 24, Mission 305, Part 1 Vortec build-up. They went nuts, as you might imagine, hard to say how much difference the Vortecs made vs. the same work applied to 081's, but I'd bet their HP/$'s ratio wasn't as good as yours will be.

 

well i think i am going to ditch the vortec idea and stick with what i have.
I am just going to have the machinists deck the heads, and put in screw in studs.
I dont need to worry about guides, if i use self aligning rockers correct? I know a guy with a flow bench that will do some prting, as the machinist wont touch cast heads. Just afraid of doing the porting myself.
about the valve seat, it is only on one exahust valve. should i replace them all with 3 thousandths larger(machinist suggestion)?

 

Stay with those heads. They will be awesome for your 305 and do not need to be milled. I would have the seats machined so that you can go bigger than .480" with a cam. You can now run 1.6rr with that LT1 cam. Vortec heads are awesome but take a lot of work to make them shine on a 305.

 

that is what i was thinking. i dont need valve guides with the self aligning rockers do i?
i am just going to have the bowls touched, and the ports gasket matched. nothing major.
i am also going to have 1.94 int and possibly 1.6 ex vlaves put in.

 

There are "guide plates", which align the push rods to keep the rocker where it belongs. You don't need them with self-aligning rockers.

Then there are "valve guides", into which the valve stem fits. You definately need them, even with self-aligning rockers.

 

oh ok i just got a little confused. thanks for clearing that up.
will the Lt1 springs work on the 081 heads, or should i get beefer if i want to go with 16 rrs. the lt1 springs should be able to handle 510 lift.
edit:
neone use lt1 springs on this casting? will the fit without machining?