Hey guys I was reading an article where they made aroudn 440 horse with some vortec heads and an xe-274, pretty much the same combo I am running.. Now what all would have to be changed to up this to aroudn 500 or what it would take to run mid 11's?? I plan on sending the heads to get them port and polished and have screw in studs put in, And then I am thinking a cam upgrade is definatly gonna need to happen... Whats everyones opinion??? Thanks guys... And if the Vortecs are gonna be able to acheive a mid 11 pass without rediculous work let me know whats up, thanks again

 

400+ small block.

 

weight reduction (spare tire etc)...
NX274H + 125 HP system

 

Stock out of the box vortecs flow about 228 cfm

For 500 hp the vortecs will need a good max porting and larger 2.02 x 1.60" valves.

The intake port will have to flow about 260cfm.

This is about it for this head in max ported form.
It's going to take a pro porter with experience in this particular head to achieve this flow.

Professional head porting is not cheap.

You should consider changing to a different casting with more flow to start with. Cheaper overall.

If you want to stay with the "vortec pattern" head
consider the new GM vortec Bowtie castings (206cc) or a fast burn head with some port cleanup.
The edelbrock Etec 200cc also has potential with some work.

You'll need a single plane intake like the new Professional Products Hurricane (vortec)

You'll need a much larger solid or solid roller cam.
about 250-260 @.050 .540+ lift.
You'll want to increase the compression ratio to the max practical for the fuel about 10.5:1

You'll need large, long tube headers to get 500hp.
You'll need a carb with more flow than 750cfm.

I like Vortecs, but if I was going to build a motor to put out 500 horsepower, I would start with a different head.

 

PHR made 529hp with a ZZ4 shortblock, e-tec 200 heads, edelbrock RPM intake, 750 cfm holley and a retardedly huge cam that only pulled around 8 or 9 pounds of vacuum.

In other words, you need bigger heads and a cam so big that you can almost completely forget about having a streetable car.

On the other hand, CHP or Super Chevy or some other magazine with unlimited resources slapped a set of E-tec 170s onto a 400 with the same intake, similar carb and much smaller edelbrock cam and managed a hair over 500hp, but thanks to the smaller cam, this motor could probably be tolerable in a driver. Worked over Vortecs should be at least somewhat similar to box stock e-tec 170s.

Of course, these are magazines getting these results, and between what they don't tell you, and their "optimistic" dyno sessions, your milage may vary.

 

I agree with F-BIRD'88.

Here's my 383 combo which I hope to hit between 500-525 hp:

-Blueprinted 99 model 5.7 block w/GMPP splayed mains, .030 over
-Cola 3.80" 4340 Crank
-HRC 4260 6" Rods w/MSA Capscrew upgrade*
-JE 11:1 Flat-Tops w/Gas Ports and 5cc reliefs
-Cometic .040 head gaskets
-Canton Race Oil Pan w/windage control
-Edelbrock E-Tec 200 Heads
-Comp 26120 Springs/Ti Retainers*
-Comp 1.6 Pro-Mag's
-Comp Hi Tech Pushrods
-Crane 10941 Hyd Roller Cam 234/242 dur w/.565 & .596 lift
-Comp 875 "R" Series Roller Lifters
-Rollmaster Billet Timing Chain
-Fluidampr 6 3/8 Alum. Balancer
-Complete Rotating Assembly Balanced*
-Holley Single-Plane Multi Port EFI Intake, Fuel Rails, & 1000cfm Throttle Body
-Delphi 36#/hr Injectors
-Aeromotive AFPR
-Fast B2B system w/ Wideband Controls
-Extrude Hone Heads & Intake*
-Hooker 1 3/4" Longtubes
-Underdrive Crank & Alt. Pulleys
-NO SMOG Equip. or AC

*Denotes what's not done or purchased yet.

I should hit my target....but it'll be close! The reason is the hyd. roller cam. However, when I upgrade to a solid roller cam and shaft mount rockers.....I should be between 550-575 hp if I really get the tuning right.
I'm not real sure on what kind of torque this motor will make....I assume around the 500 mark. If it's lower than expected, I may try a RamJet intake. I'm unsure if that will help because nobody really knows the power characteristics of that intake.