wat set of vortec heads do i wana get

 

The ones off a '96-99 5.7L Vortec. Casting number is either 062 or 906. Only those two. They are basically the same, it doesnt matter which set you get.

 

Good choice.

They come on trucks exclusively. (well, vans too, but that's a sub-set of trucks)

Keep in mind, every goob in the country is crawling out from behind every baseboard looking for those heads; it's a seller's market, and the buzzards KNOW IT. They will size you up and adjust the price accordingly ... because ... they can! ... and they know it. You will want to avoid getting bent over any harder than necessary.

The way to get them is to go - physically appear at the counter IN PERSON, no phone calls beforehand - to yer local buzzard, and tell them you want a set of heads for your 97 pickup with a 5.7. Let em either show you one in the yard, or bring you a pair. Check the casting #s: as Adam posted, those are the ONLY 2 casting #s there are; there are no "early Vortecs", "almost Vortecs", "Vortec style", or my all-time fave, "pre-Vortecs". Either they are Vortec (with casting # 906 or 062), or they're not. No in-between.

Now comes the easy part. DO NOT utter the word "Vortec"!!!! If they say it to you, look dumbfounded; you've never heard it before in your life and wouldn't know Vortec if it walked up to you and smacked you across the face. DO NOT act like a hot-rodder trying to score the latest hot ticket for cheeep!!! They WILL slap the extra 300% cover charge on you that's for people playing with toys. DO NOT talk about the casting numbers as if you know what you're doing; if you see the wrong #s, just tell em those aren't the same as what you've got, and mumble something about these bolt holes over here don't look right, while pointing at the intake flange. Just look at the #s without letting on that you know more than you're letting on. If they ask, tell em you're a bricklayer or a cable installer or carpet layer or something (or maybe you don't even have to make that sort of thing up? that's cool too), and your truck/van overheated real bad and now even if you fill it full of water it starts spewing within about 2 minutes of starting it up and your neighbor that's a mechanic says the heads are cracked, and you need a set QUICK to get it back on the road because winter's coming on and you've got a big job you can't afford not to do.

Remember, you ARE NOT somebody that knows what they're doing when it comes to engines when you walk up to that counter, even though you now DO know what you're doing, because you came here first. You're just a guy with a broken work truck that needs to get it fixed.

 

so there are only to casting number and thats it or those are the two i want and i know a guy at a junk yard

 

http://sdparts.com/category/sdpc-vor...-and-head-kits

Pick your mod level, pick your induction. Can't get a better deal.

 

I got lucky and found a low mile set of 062's off a crate motor on craigslist for $100. I looked for months and seen many that needed to be rebuilt for around 2-300. There are also the smaller chamber 305 vortecs #'s 059 & 520.

 

my friends dad owns a junkyard that has ten set of them ill get the best pair

 

Do you get free machine work? Free aftermarket valve springs?

If not, I maintain one of the packages I linked above will cost you less in the long run.

 

Those are the ONLY two casting numbers for a REAL Vortec head, so by process of elimination, they are the only ones you want. Either 906 or 062.

 

The #906 casting head was available in two versions. One has an Inconel exhaust seat with a single angle grind, and the other has the conventional 3-angle grind on the exhausts as per the #062. The #906 with Inconel seat does not intrude into the exhaust port. It was used primarily on the HD and 1-ton truck applications where sustained towing of heavy loads & weight up inclines could cause eventual damage to a standard induction-hardened exhaust seat from excessive heat. Low lift flow was hindered because of this.

 

did you read that in a magazine? because they retracted those statements soon after about the flow numbers being different between the two castings.

906 and 062 are equal castings for performance applications.

 

hmm...

upgrade my vortecs, or buy 243s. FML.

 

at $389.95 all new , nothing required . hard to beat . #SD8060A2 sounds good to me . plug & play , good luck .

 

I doubt SDPC had the 305 castings in mind? I know of an LG4 that could use some vortecs...

 

The only problem with the hardened exhaust seat was that it was only given a 1 angle valve job from my research. If you get a used set of heads you'll wanna do a 3 or 5 angle valve job anyway, so it wont matter.

 

I don't read car magazines anymore, same crap over and over again lol. I did hear about the retraction though, that statement is from Gary Penn of GMPP not a magazine. It doesn't matter IF your going to go through the heads, but the OP never mentioned his intentions. All in all castings are the same, just a valve job difference, but its all the little things that add up.