would i see any major improvement with vortech heads and intake over the stock intake and heads... this would be on a nearly stock 88 GTA 350 tpi unit with headers slp intake and full flowmasters exhuast and a crane 2032 cam.....

 

Do a search! This has all been talked about many, many times.

 

in a nutshell, vortec heads and vortec base is instant 50hp with stock cam, add runners 10-15hp. 1.6rr 15hp etc
with your cam it will prob be alil more.

 

would the stock springs fit the vortech heads...... are the vortech manifolds and the heads a direct fitment or would i need bigger size springs.....

 

also would that move my powerband up... would i loose any bottom end torque..... and what kinda vortech heads can i get.... can someone give me a link or sumthing on which ones i can use... i want some that are around the 500 dollar range.....

 

good questions. This has been something that was huge a few years back.. as far as the 350 TPI w/ Vortech heads and base specifically resdesigned to match the bolt pattern of the Vortech heads. Scoggin Dickey not only sells both, but also tested the combination in their own shop. Someone in their performance parts department installed the combination on his firebird or transam, don't recall the year, but it was a 350 TPI. the results were impressive, and i don't believe the low end suffered at all, but in fact improved. But you should do your own research and determine this for yourself. There is an EGR kit that must be installed. It seemed to me to be a bandaid because you have to tap into the downstream exhaust, from what i recall. Everything else seemed to be pretty straight forward. The donor car was featured in GM High Tech, or Chevy High Performance. This is going back at least 5+ years, i'm sure there are plenty of write ups out there on this combination, it's a popular one but it's particularly helpful to see all the details in a magazine. Regardless, don't always believe everything you read in a magazine (or anywhere for that matter) not all is what they seem. Magazines have been known to leave out important information puposely. Afterall, it is usually the manufacterers being featured that fund part of the mag's budgets. Politics and monopolies exist in all markets. Good luck!

 

Well, if you're gonna do the swap, you'll want the "upgraded" heads that allow for more lift. Don't know that you can do that for under $500

Here's a decent article:
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/ho...458/index.html

I plan to do the vortec swap as well. Unfortunately, when I swapped in my ZZ4 cam, I found out that a little more power added to an old car tends to break other older parts!!!! ....soooooo I'm putting engine mods on the back burner until everything else is upgraded. Heck, most of my car is new at this point!!!

Where in Raleigh are you???

 

I'm in the parts buying stage for my TPI/vortec swap right now. I just picked up a set of upgraded vortec heads from scoggins/dockey for $680. My vortec TPI base I got on a special deal for $350. You also need special intake bolts for the vortec manifold, and some different gaskets. This is the bare minimum you can get away with.

But, what pistons do you have, and what will your compression ratio be with the 64cc vortec heads? I'm going with Keith Black KB193 -12cc D-dish pistons. I've found them for about $32 each at scoggins/dickey. They are about $50 at summit and jegs. Then there are rings, machine work, ect. This is not a cheap swap by any means. But in the long run I think for me it will be worth it.

 

yea i knew they where in the 600's from scoggin, the stock vortec springs cant handle more lift than .470 and your cam is prob higher than that im not sure of your cam specs. this is why u get the upgraded vortec heads from scoggin, they are still cheap at 680$ its not just as easy as swaping springs since u need to machine the head to accept larger diameter springs to handle the lift. so basically u get the upgraded heads, and u need a vortec base. once u get them all u need are the bolts and gaskets stated above and your set. the 64cc chambers will give u less compression than stock since stock heads are 58cc i believe. if you just rebuild the engine to stock or leave it stock your well within the limits of pump gas. the EGR tube is needed to have it emissons legal and is sold through scoggin dickey as well. everything else is a direct swap thats the bare minimun.

your powerband will move up, your car will pull harder and longer with the increased air flow, of course now ur limiting factors will be the runners/plenum and maybe the TB, if these are all replaced with high flow and u port the plenum peak HP etc will be increased even more, and u will not lose low end tq u will gain a good amount as well. and those heads/intake will like a cam with roughly 210-220 degrees of duration, a nice cam is the GM hot cam, 218/228 .525/.525 lift and if the heads are upgraded springs then it can handle that lift no prob.
----------
oh scoggin site is SDPC2000.com

 

I have tons of low end...too much IMO--makes launching the car hard. It pulls up to 5500rpm pretty well too.

BTW---no "H" in Vortec

 

alloy, are you doing this on your 305 TPI?

 

i live 2 miiles from the triangle town mall.... i have a red 88 30 gta..... youve probably seen me because ive been driving it around there almost everyday...

 

No, I picked up a 350 4 bolt main roller cam short block I'm building.

Eidt: Here are pics of the scoggins/dickey vortec heads. Staniless valves, upgraded reatiners and locks, guides cut for seals, screw in studs.

The bad: they are dirty..........feel grit all over them. Other than that not a bad deal.

 

Not sure who's doing what to which motor, but stock iron L98/350 heads are 64cc, just like the vortecs. The aluminum 187 "Corvette" L98 heads are 58cc.

....not sure about the LB9/305.

 

really there 64cc!!?! i didnt know that i read some where there 58cc.... hmmm
thats why the stock comp ratio is 9.3

my dad has a set of the scoggin dickeys upgraded vortec heads in the garage theyeve been in there for a yr and havent been opened lol

those combustion chambers look like poop! im spoiled with my aluminum patriots i guess i thought they would have had a more uniform chamber without that huge square block around the spark plug threads ...

 

The stock LB9 head chambers are 58cc, but don't know off hand the runner volumes.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/350-V...0411QQtcZphoto


I talked to them. They cast this themselves.

It's a thicker casting that won't crack like stock heads. Otherwise identical to a bone stock GM Vortec head.

Use LS6 beehive springs and Comp retainers to get .600 lift without any machine work. Don't go to bigger valves. Vortec heads like 1.94/1.50 valves.