I picked up a set of vortec heads off of a 98 siverado with stiffer springs installed. I heard they were cheap and durable heads to swap for the lg4 sbc. I have the 4bbl lg4 with nothing done to it. I have a set of shorty Hedman headers that I plan on bolting up. I bought the headers and the heads used and was wondering what I need as far as parts and gaskets to swap both. And since I'm already in the motor what is a good cam that i can just drop. Any help will be great. Thanks Randy.

 

Without knowing the specs on the springs it's hard to recommend a cam.
Either way, you still need a new intake manifold to bolt to those vortec heads.

 

So would I be better off buying stock vortec heads? Is it even worth the time? As far as a new intake manifold just a edelbro Jr. Or something or one specific to those heads. Thanks for the reply btw.

 

He told me they are .05 springs... Not sure what that means

 

The important numbers to get are the spring pressures. For instance, mine are 130lbs at 1.75" and 340 at 1.25".

 

Thanks man I'll just pass on them. There is a stock set on cl for 350$. I may grab those. Can you tell me your set up? I have a 305 and I'm trying to get at least 250-275 out of it.

 

Assuming you're talking about 906 or 026 heads, I'd look for something else for a 305. You would be better off trying to find the 305 Vortec heads (the casting number eludes me at the moment). Otherwise, you'll need to take the 906\026 heads to a machine shop and have them shaved to reach around 58cc combustion chambers. Without doing so, your compression is going to drop significantly. Typically speaking, since no one likes 305s anyways, heads are usually cheap and readily available from salvage yards.

But rather than spending all of that money on the 305, I'd just find a used Vortec motor for a few hundred bucks. It's already got the heads you want on it, and it's a 350. Pull off the intake and all that stuff, buy yourself a Vortec intake and whatever sort of fuel management you're going to use, slap on your accessories, and you're good to go. You could also take the time to refresh the bottom of the block while you're at it.

 

I'm going down this Vortec swap road right now. I got the heads from a machine shop already done, not sure what they came out of however the casting numbers your looking for are 059 and or 520 they are interchangeable. I had them cut 0.030 to get back to a 58cc firing chamber. The intake manifold I bought to fit is a Professional Products #52007. It is a carbureted spread bore intake that I bought an adapter by Inject-it to reuse my TBI. The years are going to be something like 96-2000 or close to that for the heads, they will all bolt up to the 305. The spark plugs may be different but I've yet to buy those yet. The intake is $139, yes it's cheap by comparison, however you're gonna spend upwards of over $200 for a Edlebrock at minimum-my budget that I didn't have didn't allow for it. Many people use them and for a daily driver the comments I've seen seem to be fine. For a cam, I've been told a Lt1 cam is a great one to use. Not sure what this is going in so headers may depend on that. Let me know

 

This is going on a tired 1983 z28 lg4 carbureted, motor has like 190k but runs like a top. I haven't purchased anything yet but like I want atleasr 250-275 hp with everything looking as stock as possible. The car is all original and is all there. I know they are a dime a dozen but I've had it for over 15 years and now that I'm stable In my career I want to put a few $ in the motor. I've seen on YouTube and super Chevy they are squeezing out 300-350 hp out of them. Thanks for the info.

 

I'm the same way, the car I'm doing is my daughter's first car, so I can't go crazy but I want to keep the stock appeal to it. Even though it's a 305, I want it to be a Camaro if you know what I mean. Btw there's a GM air pump delete pulley kit you can get off ebay for $50, which I have also.