Chevy Bowtie Vortec Head info needed

[Hotrod46]

Has anyone used the Chevy Performance Bowtie Vortec heads. I'm going tomorrow to pick up my 383 shortblock parts and will soon be needing heads.

There have been several reworks of the castings since they were introduced, but looks like the current crop are either 185 cc or 225 cc intake runners. This will not be an all out engine, probably in the 400 HP range. I'm looking at a cam with 225 degrees @ .050 duration and around .520 lift. Lobe seperation will be 112 degrees since I may switch to TB EFI (Holley or Fast) later. CR should be in the high 9's with either of these heads. I'm thinking the 185's would work good on this engine. The engine will probably never see the north side of 6000 RPM and the car will have a T56, so I would like to keep decent low end torque to pull the steep 6th gear OD.

These heads are already set up for high lift cams and come with screw-in studs and oversize valves.

Any info or opinions are appreciated.

I already have an Edelbrock vortec manifold on the shelf, so that's not an issue. I bought it at a swap meet about 7 or 8 years ago and may finally have a use for it!

This engine is going in a light weight OT car (approx. 2400 lbs), but I thought the answers might be of use to someone building an engine for a T. The weights are similar.

 

[2old2fast]

Both AFR & Brodix [probably others] make heads that out-perform the vortec , I'd be looking to the aftermarket , The vortec design is now getting close to 20 years old , plus you're stuck w/ the funky bolt pattern !!
dave

 

[smokeyco75]

I don't think that Vortec heads will handle more than .475 lift with standard ratio rockers. Correct me if I am wrong. I also agree with 2old2fast.

 

[Hotrod46]

Yea, I agree with 2old, the AFR 195's look great (would actually be my first choice if I could afford them), but the Bowtie Vortecs are more in line with my budget. These are not the regular L31 truck heads. They are Chevy's performance iron head. They are supposed to have all of Chevy's latest port technology and use LS type valves and springs. The max lift is .530 and they come with Chevy screw in studs.

The larger port Bowties are supposed to be an improvement over the old standard truck Vortec's (much better flow numbers). The decks are thicker and they already have all the improvements normally done to regular Vortec's. They even accept both intake bolt patterns (old and Vortec), but are made to line up better with the higher runner Vortec manifolds.

I have about a grand to spend on heads and all the aluminum heads in that price range are either imported (iffy quality) or don't flow as well as the Bowties.

 

[Indycars]

You can get the Dart SHP aluminum heads thru Amazon for $472.31 each or $944.62 for a pair with Free shipping. At first I wasn't sure if they were assembled, but according to the part number the prices are for the @200cc intake port. Same price for either the 64cc or 72cc chambers.

The 180cc intake port heads are even cheaper at $929.32 for the pair. All the prices are for dual valve springs good for .600 inch lift.

If you would rather buy from Jegs, its easy to get their price matching by just pasting the link from Amazon into their form and it shows up immediately in your cart.


http://www.dartheads.com/products/c...ads/shp-small-block-chevy-cylinder-heads.html



http://www.dartheads.com/products/aitdownloadablefiles/download/aitfile/aitfile_id/1942/

 

[Hotrod46]

Never thought about buying heads from Amazon! I shouldn't be surprised though. They sell just about everything else. Thanks. I'll look into it.