Before I start I'll say that I have read just about all the vortec threads I could find on this board as well as a few others. But all anyone seems to be concerned with is the max lift without the machine work. I am unclear on a couple of things, the first being what is the maximum lift achievable using the comp guide cutter? Second, exactly which cutter from comp will cut down the height of the valve guide? The descriptions only seem to describe them as cutting down the OD of the guide and boss.

 

The max lift without cutting anything is about 0.550 you can get the kits here
https://www.alexsparts.com/categorie...TEC%2C-GEN-II/

 

By the time you buy a different manifold, all the cutters, and do the machine work, you will have more than paid for a set of aluminum heads that you don't need to change the manifold to use, or do any machine work.

GD

 

I'm going to build a 383 over the winter, I can pick up a vortec 350 around here for $250 bucks, the comp tools are going to run me another $200. I haven't talked to my machine shop about the price for doing the vortec's but I would do that before I bought the comp tools. A set of aluminum heads will cost me about $1500 for a cheapy set of Promaxx freedoms after shipping, tax and duty, and they'll do .575. It's not really worth 1000 bucks to me for .025" of lift

 

I'm also going from the stock 305 TPI to a carb so I need a new manifold anyways

 

Blueprint engines sells a set of aluminium heads for like $899 shipped.

It really isn't worth it for what you will save and then have to spend anyway on a manifold to fit the vortec's. And you still wouldn't have aluminium heads and the benefits they offer.

Why are you taking the TPI off? It's not difficult to tune.

GD

 

$899 USD is $1155 Canadian plus shipping plus duty ~$1500
I'm not taking it off because it's hard to tune Im taking it off because it's never run right from the moment I got it and I don't really like the TPI system to begin with and I don't want to make the investment in all the stuff to program chips plus I don't have my own computer and my wife to be is going to school to be a vet so she's not gonna let me sit on her laptop all day figuring it out hahaha as for the manifold I'm getting a performer RPM and it's drilled for both style of heads so it makes no difference to me. My machine shop will do a valve job, surface them and do the machining for 200/head, so that's $400 vs $1500. Anyways my actual question was how much lift can I run with the valve guides cut down, and what's the comp part # for the cutter that actually cuts down the height of the guides

 

A quick google search for comp cam vortec head tool



Plenty of info here
http://www.powerperformancenews.com/...s/#prettyPhoto

 

My 1986 TPI system with 160k on it sat in a field for 11 years. Runs great after I went through a few things. Honestly yes there is a learning curve, but a cheap ebay laptop, a chip burner, and lots of reading can go a long way.

You really don't want to run all that much lift - it's very hard on the cam, lifters, pushrods, etc. and really isn't needed for what Vortec heads are capable of. Just run the beehive spring conversion that allows 550 lift without cutting the heads and that will be plenty of lift for a nice street cam.

The heads are just not going to flow enough to need more lift than that.

GD

 

That is true the vortec heads don't gain much past 500 lift

 

There's a LOT more than lift in that $1000.

 

 

You all have a lot to say, except the answer to my questions! I just got a brand new transmission shipped up here from mike forte, now I'm building a motor, I'm not made of money here! You don't seem to understand how terrible the Canadian dollar is and how expensive it is to ship stuff up here. I can get a Vortec 350 or an older 350 for the same price so if I can get a decent amount of lift out of the vortecs, when I have the money for a better set of heads I already have a cam that will work well with them.

 

The question has been answered adequately - Vortec heads don't benefit from lift over 500, so 550 lift is plenty..... and you have links to drop in parts for 550 lift so.......

What more do you want to know here?

Adding "the most lift possible" to a head that will not benefit from it due to port diameters is kind of a stupid waste of money that you say is in short supply. So why do it?

GD

 

you need new springs anyway, so skip the cutter and go with the Alex kit or the LS6 springs (my choice).

ensure your manifold choice is for vortecs. there is not a manifold that fits 'both' kinds of heads. you may be confused with a manifold that has slotted holes to fit earlier and later style non-vortec small block heads where the angle of the manifold bolt is the only difference.

 

Just re read the thread, sorry for the "attitude" yesterday, long day at work, project was falling behind and I was watching the precious money evaporate, very stress inducing!
Anyways, my concern with the springs is the mixed reviews I have heard about using them, some people have talked about them making the guide to retainer clearance pretty tight .020 - .030 acceptable but not ideal. It's food for thought, thanks for the info guys!

 

I also gave some thought to keeping the tpi system, but it seems like almost all the performance parts for the tpi have been discontinued?

 

Yeah...many performance TPI part have been discontinued, but there are LOTS still available used. In fact there is a Vortec TPI base on the classifieds right now, although it may have a deal pending...not sure. There's a Vortec TPI baseplate up for sale every few weeks, pretty regularly. ...Runners as well. They're all out there and still pretty common. That won't last forever, but at least for now you can pretty much find what you're looking for.

 

Vortec heads are great! Have them checked for cracks before any money is put in them. If ok have machine shop cut guides, valve job and surface. They can also drill out push rod holes to use 1.6rocker arms. Put the 385 fast burn hot cam in it and roll.
Joe

 

You can still buy the Vortec TPI base new from Scoggins-Dickey...I keep meaning to buy one for a Vortec swap on my L98.


One question though...will I need different pushrods going from stock L98 heads to the Vortec heads?

 

Any resolution here?
For what it's worth, skip the cutter, get Comps 26918 springs and retainers. Add a set of .050" offset retainer locks (to get the correct installed height) and run .550".
Been there. Done that.
Cheap. Canadian dollar included.
Where in Ontario are you? In the GTA I went with Beatty & Woods Performance. Chuck and Jeff always offered good prices on the high volume items like these springs so you save on the exchange and shipping costs.

 

I did finally order the Vortec TPI intake from Scoggin-Dickey, and glad that I did...they're now out of stock.


Hopefully, they'll make more, but I apparently got one of the last ones they had.

 

Possibly.
Any change in the relationship between the cam and the valve tip including cylinder head, head gasket, deck machining (decks milled), cam swap, etc will (should) require that the valve train geometry (vis a vis, the push rod length) be revisited.