Thread: Vortec

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My old 350 died today. Its an old motor used to moch up and its run for 3 years now. So friend gave me a 86-87 Vortec. Block #10054727 heads are #14102193. It's a two bolt can't find HP rating. My questions are it has a counter weighted flex plate on it. Is that right? Will it accept my old cam and lifters ( 327-350HP ) flat tappit . I also have a set of World SR 58cc heads. Realy don't want to waste on this motor unless you guys think it worth it. I have herd the Vortec heads are not bad? The vehical is a daily driver 34 Fort pickup 700r4 and 355 rear end gears.
Thanks Jim

Welcome to the forum. I'll let the Chevy engine experts address all the cam and other issues, but here is what your engine is, according to Mortec.


Block:

10054727...350...86-up...2 or 4...one piece rear seal, some "Made in Canada"

Heads:

14102193...87-up...305/350......1.94"/1.5" valves




Don

if vortec block it could be roller cam but i think that year was just flat hyd cam yes you could use your cam the weight on the fly is right it has to have the wheel it came with some Vortecs are good but some are just ok .you should check the for cracks they like to spit thru the center of the deck .what are you going to do with it bore it out put better pistons in it ? i would use your heads and the block if it is set up for hyd roller cam a lot of them came with flat lifters in hyd roller blocks if you have one of them blocks i would go hyd roller with it and use the heads you have you will have to run a dish piston if you want to run pump gas

Thanks
I planed on leaving the long block stock. Edelbrock carb and manifold, short headers,HEI, and maybe change cam. The big question was the counter weighted fly wheel. I though only the 400 was externaly balanced? And the heads. Are the heads any good performance wise? Also is there a way to tell if it is a roller motor? The intake is off and it is only 2 bolt mains.....Jim

yes they need the fly made for the vortec when gm went to the one pice seal they need more weight .to tell if it can be a roller engine it will have iron towers in the lifter valley and the front of the bock were the cam grear is will be drilled for a hold down plate to keep the roller cam in the block

Look down into the lifter valley and if you see a tin spider affair that holds the lifters in place, it is a roller. This tin thing is almost as long as the valley, and has three bolts going down into the block to hold it in place.

You will see the bosses for those bolts in the picture below. If your engine doesn't have those, it is a non roller.

Don

Well it looks like any other old motor. Have not pulled the balancer to check. Do you know what HP these had? It looks to be the bottom of the list. Maybe a target motor. It has no mechanicl fuel pump bose not drilled for shaft.

Thanks for all your help. I guess the real question is would either of you run this in any of your cars?................Thanks again Jim

The word "Vortec' was used for quite a few years and for quite a few different engines, including several V6 models. IF you have the "good" Vortec heads, they will have four vertical bolts, one at each corner. There are NO bolts at the center of the intaks. The "real" Vortec heads were introduced in 1996...the previous engines used plain, low performance head design. The earlier "Vortec" motors were TBI but in 1996, the induction was switched to port injection with a plastic manifold.

The cam info is correct, roller cams have the retainer bosses cast into the block in the center of the valley. Would I run it in a car or truck? no, not unless many parts were changed.

mike in tucson

yes that is rigth the older engine have heads that have more intake mounting bolts the new heads have just 4 per head no ex cross over and have to be drill and tap to run a old intake and that just the head

So if I understand you guys correctly this motor is nothing more than the most bacic 350 ci 2 bolt non perfomance engine I could posibly find?

Dont forget to add "thin casting heads" to you "plain ole" sentence! For a 350, it is probably as mediocre as it gets. However, the 10054727 is listed as a 4 bolt main block in my MSA-1 book. The heads are listed as "swirl port" whatever that is. Look for the four 5/16 intake bolts (two on each head)....that's the good Vortec heads.

mike in tucson

Thanks Mike.....What do you think if I use it for a driver in my 34 leave it stock with just the intake,carb and exhaust, 700r4. I never beat it. I live in WA state but work in CA. and I am hopeing to sell the Ranchero I built for there and use the 34 with air cond. I got the motor for free But that always mean I owe favers.

In my opinion, you should first determne which block you have....look at Don's picture of a roller cam block and then look at your block...are the bosses there or not? If not, your 350HP327 cam is good...it's a good cam for the street. The block is probably a one piece main block so your old flexplate will not fit...you can look at the back of the block and the crank...does the crank have a flange or is it a straight cylinder coming out of the seal area? Anyway, it sounds like you have both flexplates anyway.

The pans are different between a two piece main block and a one piece main block. The one piece main block uses a single, rectangular pan gasket that is nice to change compared to the old stuff. Also, look at the block to see if the fuel pump hole is there...it may not be since later fuel injected engines didnt even have a cam lobe to drive the fuel pump.

The World heads will bolt onto your block so you could freshen up the short block assembly with new rings, etc and would be good to go with little bucks spent (unless there is hidden damage). The engine will have plenty of poop for your daily driving....the World heads will be an improvement over the lo-po truck items.

So...(1) verify what you have, (2) determine its condition with rings, cylinder walls, etc. and (3) decide upon the World heads....do they need a valve job? and (4) have fun driving it. It wont set a National Record but who cares?

Best of luck

mike in tucson

Thank you all..............Jim