1998 Vortec truck longblock in my '70??

[Scooter70]

This is a repost from the C3 section where it didn't get much response: My question of the night..... I have a friend with a 1998 Chevy truck longblock just sitting in his garage taking up space. (The 500ci, 6-71 blown, Mopar motor is in his '64 Dodge station-wagon drag car.) What are the cons of using this motor in my car? I'd probably change the cam to something more rev and power friendly and the intake so that I can run my carb. I'll be looking for cam recommendations later if I pull the trigger on it. Any problems with the deck height? (I thought truck blocks were tall deck.) Hood clearance really isn't an issue with the L88 hood. How about my headers? Will they line up with correctly? Anything else that I'm not thinking about? Accessories? I have no PS or PB. If I could pick this thing up cheap, would this be a good swap as a temporary solution to do until I'm ready for the 383? I would want to do it as cheaply as possible since it would only be for one season. If I could build a 400hp motor for under $1k, I'd be psyched.

[danno85]

Are you talking about a Vortec 350?

Deck height is the same as early engines, even the big blocks in trucks up
to 1 ton. You're limited on intake manifold choices because of the different
bolt pattern and intake port height, but Edelbrock makes some good ones
for carbs.

The crankshaft is going to be a one piece seal design so you'd have to have
an appropriate flywheel. The dipstick loccation is going to be on the
girlfriend side which is different from it was in 1970. Not a problem though
usually. Headers will fit fine. I think it's a great choice, and even in stock
form the hp is not bad, the torque is excellent (I think it's about 330 ft-lbs
at less than 4000rpm).

I have a 98 Tahoe with the 350 vortec and box stock it runs 16.5 in the
quarter. Not bad for a 5000lb vehicle with the aerodynamics of a brick!!

Dan

[need-for-speed]

what danno said
try it....you'll like it. It has a roller cam to boot, so you won't have to buy roller lifters if you install an aftermarket cam or the GM hot cam (which is relatively cheap)

[Smokehouse69]

Great basis to build a pretty darned good engine. I was looking that direction when I finally bought my ZZ4. The Vortec heads are going to be limiting factors. They need to have the spring pockets widened and the guides cut down, before you can run a cam with greater than .470 lift.
Comp sells some tools that you can do the machining yourself with a 3/8" drill. The arbor and cutters cost about $100 total. Or you could take the heads to a machine shop and have them do the job. Off the shelf GM performance parts will work great once you get the heads in shape for the bigger valve springs. CompXE282HR, LT4 springs and GM 1.6 self guiding roller rockers. A Vortec Performer Air Gap and a good carb and headers and you'd be making 410+ HP 440 torque