Vortec cam gear

I just purchased a vortec 350, out of a 97 truck. The cam gear dowel pin hole is slotted. Is it supposed to be?

Richard, I bought the motor to put in my 84 shortbed. Planning on GM hotcam, Edelbrock RPM airgap, Demon carb, and headers. I built one with an 89 model motor a couple years ago, ran great. Is there any reason I cant do this to the 97 vortec?

Jeff, there seems to be some confusion here on what you have. if you have the opti-spark which is the dist. behind the water pump then you have LT1 motor, with the reverse water flow. if the dist is in the back of the motor then you have the vortex motor. what the slotted cam gear is for i don't know, but if its the LT1 motor the dist. and water pump runs off of the cam gears. everything i have has the EFI on it so i cant tell what it would take to change it over. if you've got the vortex it shouldn't be any harder to change than he 1989 motor. :D

Mike, It is a vortec motor,distributor in back, the cam gear dowel hole fits tight on the dowel, but it is slotted. The gears and chain are in excellent shape, and I was planning on reuseing them. I am going to put the hotcam in it with slotted cam gear and degree it to see if it affects anything. If the numbers come up right I am gonna try it. Can I run the old style water pump on this motor?

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Originally posted by Jeff7723
Mike, It is a vortec motor,distributor in back, the cam gear dowel hole fits tight on the dowel, but it is slotted. The gears and chain are in excellent shape, and I was planning on reuseing them. I am going to put the hotcam in it with slotted cam gear and degree it to see if it affects anything. If the numbers come up right I am gonna try it. Can I run the old style water pump on this motor?

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i not sure about the water pump Jeff. looks like it will bolt up but i don't know about the other brackets. this is what makes building hot rods so interesting. ive built a few of the late model motors and i wonted to keep everything the way it was, and your've taken a couple late model motors and changed everything over to the old style. i just like the idea of EFI and serpentine belts. it seems like ive spent 1/2 of my life looking for brackets, so now when i buy a motor if everything is not there i keep on going. :D

Thanks for all the help guys, if all goes well, I should be burnin rubber before the New year....