So after what has essentially been a 4 year lull on my '85 Z, I've decided she needs some TLC. My last work on the car was putting in a 350 and keeping the tuned port on top in place of the old 305.

Now that I'm older and wiser, I began taking the engine apart and found that the head castings were one of the turd sandwich heads that were made in the late 70's. Silly me for not looking them up when the engine went in. Regardless, I've begun hunting for vortec heads and have already found a drivers side, but need a passenger one. Looks like it's in good shape, grooves seem to indicate it has been decked/ rebuilt at some point.

My plan is to put vortec heads on it, mildly port match to the gaskets and clean up the castings, and do the same to an aftermarket intake to accommodate them. LT4 hot cam, beehive springs, 1.6 roller rockers, and headers shorties, I'm on a budget (aren't we all?).

I'm hoping to push 300 at the wheel with these mods, but I'm interested to hear anyone's input on these forums about the combo. I expect to put about 800 into the build. Perhaps that's optimistic though.

 

Found out today that my engine will not accommodate a roller cam - also being from the 70s. Which means the next step is to pull the engine and put in a vortec block. Funny how quickly these small projects become much bigger...

I'll be acquiring a few more vortec heads, 062 casting, so I probably won't have updates until I start putting the engine back together with all the new components. I'm still curious as to what numbers I could expect or shoot for from this combo.

 

The engine is fully unbolted and patiently waiting for me to buy a cherry picker to remove it. So far I have purchased the ls6 springs, comp cam 787-16 retainers, stainless steel valves, and comp cam 1.6 magnum self aligning roller rockers (I read that it is essential for vortecs to have self aligning rockers).

I'm picking up the vortec short block on Saturday. Unless I hear otherwise I'm going to pony up the 200 bones for an LT4 hot cam. Final costly component is the intake from Scoggin Dickey, then it all goes back together (anyone have a used one they'd sell me?)

I was considering doing a 383 build but I think it will be over my budget, and I hear that since the TPI intake tends to choke motors as it is, adding more cubes probably won't do a lot of good over the 350. Updates to come (and pictures).

 

More updates:

I have purchased and torn down a 4 bolt main vortec engine, this will be the base for the 383 build.

Pulled it out of a 2500 chevy van at the junkyard, the crankshaft was snapped in two But the block appears to be in good shape.

I am leaning toward the Stealth Ram intake in place of the TPI, for two reasons. I have been convinced that the TPI is a very restrictive intake, and is always the "weakest link" when any one of us starts building a performance engine. I also cannot find a SDPP vortec intake for less than the website price of about $400.00. Since I can get a StealthRam intake and plenum for approximately the same price, the choice is obvious.

Fuel rails are another question - can anyone attest if the stock fuel rails are compatible with the HSR intake? I also know that I'm going to need a "short" distributor cap for it to work as well.

Also about to take the plunge on the $1300 kit to build a 383. Until next time, peace!

 

I've purchased the kit for the 383 and it is currently being balanced at the shop. Got the 4 bolt main vortec block cleaned and decked. The next step is to clearance the block to accommodate the 383, and of course send it off for bore and line hone. I've finally got some pictures for any lurkers in the thread.

Here are the heads and all the gear. I'm debating whether or not I'm going to deck them down to increase the CR.


Here is a close up of the water jacket crack that is typical of vortec heads. I've had a few people tell me not to worry about it, including the guys at the machine shop. They said they could bore and sleeve it for 80 bucks.



Me tearing to motor down, followed by a shot of the vortec block in the van at the junkyard:







That's all I got for now! I'll keep updates with how the build is going - eventually I'll need advice on tuning, as I have zero experience with that. With an HSR can I use the stock ECM and harness?

Later!

- Don

 

HSR works with the stock harness. That's what I am running and made a world of difference compared to any of the tube style TPI setups. There is no provision for a cold start injector like on the stock '87's. That can be disabled by chip burning which you will have to do anyway to get that thing to run with the parts you are talking about putting in. If you needs any parts, I do have some for sale. You could have run a retrofit roller kit in that other block by the way.. Those kits get can pricey. Comp Cams has a full kit with cam, lifters and springs as well. Not real cheap. Good luck with the build.

 

Hey Sparks,

Thanks for the info.

The only thing that I have not purchased yet is the SR intake. Will I have to buy a different fuel rail set for the SR as well or can I modify the stock unit to fit?

In other news, I received the kit for the 383, and am currently in the process of clearancing the block. After that, it's off to the machine shop for line hone and bore. Can anyone advise on the fuel rail setup? I'm probably going to buy the intake and other necessary components on the 14th or 15th...


With that, the engine should be ready to bolt together on 12/20/2014.

 

The stock rails won't work. I went with the Holley and AFPR simply because of the easy installation. Was a little more expensive, but saved some aggravation and looks real nice. You can get different rails but will probably have to make a crossover tube for the rails using some hose and -6AN fittings and then figure out the AFPR location. The Holley rails were a piece of cake install and the AFPR is bolted right to the rail.

-Chris

 

dude! is that your dodge A-100 van!? I have one of those that's my work truck. had it since 91. don't see them very often. mines got a built 340 six pack engine. "rusty van go!"

 

Nope, unfortunately it's not mine, it belongs to my brother! At least it's in the family. And yes! It's a sweet ride. I get more nods in that thing than the when I'm in my GTO!

 

Another update:

I have the HSR and fuel rails, they came in today. The project has a frustrating delay:

I can't send it for line hone and bore until I do the clearancing myself. Since I purchased .030" Pistons and sold off the stock ones, I currently cannot put a rod and piston in the block so see where and how much I need to clearance. So I'm waiting for a dude to ship me one from out of town (Craigslist) since there were none local.

Optimistically, I'll clearance the block this weekend, and if the machine shop can give me a good lead time, I might start assembly the weekend after the 26th.

After the new year I start a new job traveling, so I'll only be able to make progress and post updates once a month. The current schedule is engine running by the end of March, tuned by May, and track day(s) the first week in June.

HSR:



And my trusty assistant, Spectre:

 

I've finally got the engine together and I was able to run it on the engine stand.

Used a carb for the test. I'll upload a video for all to see later today. Given the 4 month lull in my posting, it's been quite a slow and long process to get this engine together.

The only thing preventing me from dropping the engine in the car now is that I need a set of oil pan bolts. Given that, I plan on starting the process this upcoming weekend. After that, it shouldn't be but another few weeks until I've got this thing hooked up and ready for a test drive (early May?) but I've been wrong before!

For any unfamiliar to the thread, I've got a 383, 4 bolt main, with an LT4 hot cam, vortec heads, and a Holley Stealth Ram as an intake.

Cheers!

 

Here is a video of the 383 running.


Next one should be of the maiden voyage!

 

Your video is set to private

 

Video link has been made public! I must have clicked the wrong setting on upload.

 

Engine is in the car and "running" albeit poorly. I fought with fuel issues for a while, and am still struggling to find the ideal timing. Since I don't have the tools or space to do exhaust welding myself, I plan on taking it to an exhaust shop to pipe the Hedman LTs back to the borla cat back I installed recently.

Feast your eyes:



On my first trip over, the headers cooked the wiring going to the fuel pump, so it's back in the driveway. Looks like I'm going to need to fab some side pipes just to get the thing to the exhaust shop. Times like these make me wonder why I don't have a truck with a trailer...

The engine is a bit of a dog. Throttle response is REALLY laggy, it idles like a boiling kettle of tar, and I am unsure if the electronic fan is going to come on once it runs long enough to get up to operating temperature.

I have not burned a chip for this thing yet - if anyone has experience with chip burning with HSRs along with my series of other mods, I'd like to ask what it changes and why it is necessary.

Thanks!

 

I run the HSR on my s/c'd small block. I recently converted to a Megasquirt though for more expansive tuning and also making changes on the fly. I had my '165 ecm in mine running with the Moates G1 adapter and it ran just fine with all the mod's to the motor. Basically, you're going to have to tune the MAF tables, Injector constant needs set depending what size injectors you're running and the timing tables will need adjusted. There's quite a few tables that will need tweaked depending on your combination and what computer you're running, but those 3 are the basics.

Chris

 

Thanks for the info Sparks. I'm currently looking into getting the equipment needed for chip burning, I've been scouring the forums and absorbing everything I can on the subject.

I was able to get the car running pretty good without a custom chip, good enough for me to have the confidence to once again try a trip to the exhaust shop to get the y pipe fabbed up to the exhaust and headers.

I got about halfway there and decided to see how the car was going to behave if I opened up the throttle a little. As soon as the RPMs started to raise, it coughed, died and I pulled over. Wouldn't start at all, so my first guess was the fuel pump fuse.

Blown.

I swap it with a fresh one, and fire it up.

Blows again.

At this point I should have thrown in the towel, but I decided to blast through another two fuses before I opted for a 25A one. That's I think where the real trouble began. I think the excess amperage allowed by the 25A fuse cooked my fuel pump. That fuse didn't blow, but the pump didn't come on after that either. So I have the fuel pump out again (I'm getting pretty good at pulling the tank), and I've got another one coming in the mail.

Why would that fuse have kept blowing? I must have a short somewhere, but I can't seem to find where. Is it possible to have shorted inside the fuel tank? I'll update when the new pump is installed.

 

Check your fuel pump relay.It could be toast.More likely you have the hot wire to your pump grounded out.Trace your wires from the fuel pump forward.You probably have one pinched.Or burnt and grounding out on your exhaust system.

 

This car has not been driven more than around the block in 4 years. I revisited this thread to see if I could figure out what injectors I used on the fuel rail, as I am finally decent at chip burning by tuning my 86 corvette.

I originally was going to go with an LS setup, but decided I should at least get the HSR running really good before I make that decision and spend the money. So here we are!

I followed the ECM conversion tutorial to hook up a 86-89 computer: https://www.eecis.udel.edu/~davis/z28/ecm_swap/

I used identical relays for the MAF burnoff and the MAF power, because that's all I could find at the pull-a-part.

I pulled the plugs, oiled the cylinders, cranked it over for a while, then put in new plugs. Also snipped the flared fuel lines and installed braided steel and nylon sleeved 6AN fuel line fittings, as the I had crappy splitting rubber and hose clamps as my solution for the initial HSR build. The car is now "safe"

Started it up yesterday and it ran, albeit poorly. So now I'm onto datalogging to write some custom MAF tables. Before I do that, I need to figure out what size injectors I put in. Hopefully my eBay history goes back 5 years...

 

depending on what you’re using for tuning just change the injector size either way to see how it responds to the change, ie, rich or lean. Once you’re close just tweak the MAF tables to dial it in. I haven’t tuned with proms for quite some time now..

Always nice to get things back on the road..

good luck with it!

 

Sparks - looks like you have a very similar setup to me - I'm using ARAP, 6E xdf, and 1227165_160 adx file. I've got some flags for VATS and EGR turned off, haven't yet had an opportunity to datalog and play with the MAF tables yet.

I read the side of the injectors and I have 30 lbs in there. Made the mods to a fresh chip but haven't fired off the car with it yet.

Any recommendation on base chip that will work good with 383 HSR?

Thanks

 

No recommendations really. Just trial and error and time...you’re running the same setup i used to run on the Intake and base tune

I’m not using the stock ecm any longer as I’m running SD now and not MAF along with 70lb injectors and the Procharger. I built my own mega squirt module and added a Dakota digital Speedo box.. it was a cheap switchover and tuning is so much easier as is data logging.

 

Good to know - I considered doing mega squirt a week ago when I decided to pick the project back up but decided to see what I could accomplish with converting the ECM to 160 and chip burning. Might eventually switch over, but the more time and effort I put into getting this 383 HSR running good is time I could be spending working overtime and saving up for an LS swap!

 

I think the best part about the LS swap is the modern electronics and cheap computer
for example 2002 Tahoe ecu "411" is $50~ in the junkyard and has capability similar to stand alone, perhaps superior in some ways
You also get the individual coil on plug and sequential fuel injection
This is a great site for learning about the wiring and differences
www.LT1swap.com