10secondhopeful

Got a 1975 4 bolt 350 in my car, recently cracked a head gasket, tore everything down and decided that since it's apart, I'll throw some decent parts at it.

Plan is to put on a set of vortec heads, rpm performer intake mani, mild cam, and LT headers. Nothing outrageous, just good power and reliability. Car doesn't ever see the track, just fun driving really.

Thing is, I've been reading around and seems the Vortecs have crap for valve springs. I'd like to cam the engine, but I don't want to mess anything up. Not looking for crazy power, just a nice lope and decent power. So what needs to be done to the heads? And if you could recommend a cam, what would it be?

Any shout outs for LT headers would be appreciated too thanks.

Been driving my C5Z for a 2+ months daily because the car has been down, time for her to get back up.

Thanks,
C.

bwiencek

Have the vortec's guides cut down and machined for PC seals and the spring pockets cut for the cheap 1.47 or 1.55" valve springs - you can pick up a set of the ".550" lift or "z28" springs pretty cheap and they do good with about a .510 lift hydraulic cam. If you don't want to machine them then comp cams has a drop-in valve spring/retainer setup that is good for .5xx lift. OR just do a small cam and keep lift below about .460 (check the clearance first)

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Should beable to find a good flat tappet spring to fit stock pockets.

If buyin junkyard vortecs need to make sure they arent cracked. Inspect guides and valve seats. I'd lightly resurface the deck for good gasket seal. Should machine guide bosses down for lift capacity, new seals and valvejob.

Time you do all that and pay for the work could have just bought new vortecs from either summit or better yet scoggin dickey parts already cleaned up and machined for high lift

Cam? I like lunati voodoo in a 260-268 advertised range. About biggest you want to go on vortecs is 268 cams. Very strong combo. Little more daily driver manners, closer to 260-264 deg advertised. 268 more street strip or hot street. Whatever you want to call it.

10secondhopeful

Awesome, you weren't kidding about scoogin dickey. A few questions though, this head
https://sdparts.com/details/scoggin-...nter/sd8060ra2
I'm assuming is sold separately for 400 each. Also it says for roller cams or aggressive flat tappet, which makes no sense to me. Can anyone decipher this?
Then I found this
https://sdparts.com/details/scoggin-...ter/sd8060agp2
Sold separately, less lift, but they cost more than the first one. What's up with that?

I can get a set used for 250-300, I'm looking to build a race car, just a fun car with decent power. But I don't like half assing anything.

C.

10secondhopeful

Also, for the intake manifold, what year style am I looking for?

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Hmm back in the day they had 3 different configurations and were priced per pair, atleast thats what i remembered. Now it says sold individually for 489? If so thats not worth it imo. Could get dart shp 180-200 cc for same price or even jegs 195's. Much better heads an aluminum so weight savings.

May want to call them and clarify?

10secondhopeful

Okay, found the intake manifold I'm going to get. As well as the cam. I'll keep the stock springs, the cam is pretty mild. Going to get new lifters as well. Question now is what length pushrods do I need? Same as stock? And if so, what length is that?

C.

NagleMac

iTrader: (1)

You can get a comp cams pushrod length checker for $15.

10secondhopeful

Okay that'll work, got checking springs too. Next question, will standard Gen I SBC LT headers fit on the vortec heads? I looked up headers for a 97 chevy pickup and they were expensive as heck. I'm not looking for anything fancy or absolute top quality. Hedman or Hooker works fine, but I definitely want LT's.

Thanks,

C.

10secondhopeful

Another question, I read a few articles about the comps beehive spring and that it's a direct fit for vortec heads. Thing is they are designed for hydraulic roller cams and mine is a flat tappet. Advise?

C.

vetteoz

iTrader: (13)

Anything you read about valve lift / cam type vs springs is related to the amount of lift the springs will handle.
Typically roller cams have higher lifts than flat tappet cams

Forget any adv blurb you read ;
All you should be concerned with is the documented max of lift of the installed springs and if that is comfortably above the lift of your cam

FWIW;
A stock SBC flat tappet pushrod is 7.800" long
A roller cam pushrod is 7.200" ( the roller lifter is taller requiring a shorter pushrod )

10secondhopeful

Okay awesome. Well I got a 6.800 to 7.800 pushrod checker, I hope that it will work. I figure with a larger cam and thinner head gasket the pushrod will be 7.800 or less. I was about to purchase the checking springs, but I wasn't sure if it was better to buy all 16 or just a set of 2...

C.