Hey Donf,Originally Posted by donf
Just checking in and curious if you had made any headway on this swap.
Hey Donf,
Just checking in and curious if you had made any headway on this swap.
I got held up a bit. I purchased USA made vortec heads from Jegs. The first one was not bad, but not great either. Just a bit of cleanup below the valve seat got rid of most of the ugly stuff. The second one looked a little cleaner casting wise but was assembled with a defective valve. There was a gouge in the stem and had to go back. They were nice about it and got another shipped within a few days. Some recommended the EQ heads but they have a larger port, I wanted 170cc or below for such a low rpm application. If people get the jegs vortec heads, the castings do look to be thicker than the Gm castings but not as much care is put into the manufacturing process.
My project has hit a stop for a week or two. I ordered "made in the USA" vortec heads from Jegs. I wanted to keep the ports small and the EQ heads were rumored to have larger ports in Brezinski's Videos and other posts. The first Jegs 514080 head was a little ugly under the valve seats but OK. It looked like it had some type of liner on the valve guides. They were advertised has having bronze guides. I cleaned it up a little and went the the next one. The second head actually looked a little cleaner port wise but had a giant gack on one of the valve stems. Like there was something in the guide and they beat it through anyway. I returned that head and the replacement showed up today with a promaxx number on the box and no "made in the USA" Its the same ugly casting but no liners in the guides and the retainer to seal clearance is only .420" When the other head was .475" clearance. It was a big mistake to order these but live and learn. I think I will call Jegs in the morning and see what can be done.
Last edited by donf; 11-14-2018 at 03:57 PM.
Still stuck on the heads. I spoke with Jegs, they started substituting promax import heads for their 514080 vortec heads recently without changing the description online. I got one better head and the other is from promax. The castings are the same, even the same casting number, but the machine work is not exactly the same. I think the castings were always imported, just one supplier cared a little more about parts and machine work. Anyway I think I solved the retainer to guide issue with a new set of springs and retainers. A 20lb increase in spring pressure is not a bad thing anyway. Then I found the spring seat needed cut for the inner spring. Summit sent that cutter by Ontrac, what a joke. They have no local office, you can't call the driver. If your not home they keep the package and try the next day. I have been trying to get the tool for three days, but the van shows up at different times and I have a full time job. Eventually I will get heads on the engine. I did do most of the 409 exhaust last weekend.
The heads are on the engine. There have been a few odds and ends I have been fixing as I put the van back together that's been holding things up. The last one was the Tbi rebuild gaskets they made it from LA all the way to Oregon in one day, then a postal service worker decides to send it to Texas for a week. Its now due back in Oregon on Monday. I bought a few cheap 409 stainless lengths from Summit and replaced the entire exhaust. It was welding practice mostly, I need to weld more as they still are not that great. It's not structural though and I used angle cuts for budget. This engine will not see 5000rpm on a regular basis, so it will not be maxing out any pipe diameters. They complete system was done for about $200 including the new ss muffler. I did use a lot of argon though so maybe $250 total. I was able to mill out most of the bad stuff in the front exhaust manifold ports and smoothed the iron with carbide burs.
One more thing the later style fuel pressure regulator cover is not as easy to unplug. Its threaded part is just crimped lightly into the outer can with a blob of metal dropped over the screw. I followed the instruction for the early style not thinking there was any difference and the crimp came loose causing the whole assembly to just rotate and wobble. I have an aftermarket Jet cover coming tomorrow.
VAFPR_2_.jpg
After all the hassles, I fired it up today. It's still not completely together, but I wanted to make sure the lifters pumped up and the adjustments where correct before buttoning up the rest. It idles fine, even with the stock chip. Fuel pressure, slight min air rate adjustment were the only changes so far. I didn't mess with any other changes yet as I knew it would run well enough to check the lifters. The exhaust sounds good too.
Last edited by donf; 12-17-2018 at 06:46 AM. Reason: Spelling
On the stock chip that is about all I suspect it will do. Startup and idle well. As soon as you crack the throttle I bet it runs like crap on the stock chip. With Vortec heads I generally have to add ALOT of timing and atleast 50% AE.
On the stock chip that is about all I suspect it will do. Startup and idle well. As soon as you crack the throttle I bet it runs like crap on the stock chip. With Vortec heads I generally have to add ALOT of timing and atleast 50% AE. For being such a small cam the 395' Marine cam really does sound good. Looking forward to seeing how much of a difference it makes. I am guessing you will put down around 240 hp to the tires if it is tuned well.
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