Hi Guys,
I don't post here much, but I thought I'd run this by you guys to see what you think.

I'm looking at building a mild engine for my 84 Vette. It's still running the crossfire, but with a Renegade intake. I recently picked up an L31 Vortech truck engine as a core to rebuild. Here is my plan:

basic rebuild - bore & hone, balance, etc.
Eagle 6" i-beam rods (cheaper than getting stock rods reworked)
Sealed Power pistons for 9.75 CR - gives correct quench
I'll use the Vortec heads if they're not cracked (engine had overheated)
If they're cracked I'd most likely get a set of 185cc Bowtie Vortecs
a ZZ4 cam or my stock 95 LT-1 hydraulic roller - not sure yet

The Vette is an automatic and I'll do a stall converter (probably a Vigilante 2600) while the engine is out. I also need to replace the gears (PO ran it low on oil, so the rear end howls) and will most likely get 3.54's

I'm in California (SF Bay Area) so I need to still pass smog. To keep the EGR working the plan is to use a passenger side TPI header with the EGR tube on the #8 tube and then fab up a tube and plumb it into the back of the EGR boss on the Renegade. I'm debating about the cam choice also because of smog.

So, I'm wondering if anyone else is running something similar to this and if so how do you like it, do you have any dyno sheets, etc.?

Thanks!
Marc
www.marcmedina.com/84corvettehome.html

 

Bueller....Bueller .........Bueller..............

 

To the best of my knowledge, no one has bothered making a Crossfire intake for Vortec heads. That would be your first issue.

You could put a computer carb on it with a Vortec spreadbore EGR intake (you'd still need the external exhaust plumbing) and say you swapped in an engine from an '84 Caprice.

If you want to keep the Crossfire, though, you're going to have to give up on the idea of Vortec heads.

 

A couple of guys have already used the Renegade with the Vortec heads - works just fine. The heads just need to have the standard bolt pattern drilled into them. The ports are the same height, although they're slightly narrower in the heads. The Vortec heads are 1/8" narrower on each side.

The question really was more the combination of the cam, compression and heads as a mild daily driver.

 

Vortec ports are not the same height as "standard" SBC head ports. You might be able to drill & tap the heads to mount the intake, but the ports will not match. The intake would have to have a lot of meat at the top of the ports in order to cover Vortec ports. And you'd still have a mis-match.

But, ZZ4 cam, Vortec heads would be fine for a mild daily driver.

 

Thanks for the input on the combo. As for the ports, the Renegade uses the 1205 Fel Pro gasket which is 1.28x2.09" and the Vortec ports are 1x2.11" I lined up the gaskets at my local speed shop 2 days ago and they are a match as far as port height goes. I realize there is going to be an 1/8" mismatch on the sides, so if it's really bad I could always do a little grinding to smooth that transition.