I've been lookin' at sbc 350 HO 330 hp crate motor from GM Performance for about 3200 bucks complete carb to pan, flex to vibe. Not a bad deal except...It's a vortec engine..so are the heads any good?..they are supposed to flow quite well..true? also carry a rep for thin castings and blown gaskets...true? Main question is I just ran across 2 guys that say these things are gutless below 4500 rpm. Then I find out that GM puts a modern version of the old Duntov cam from the 50-60's. I had a lot of these and they run ok but you better have plenty of rpm available. The GM story says the cam makes a 'desirable' streetrod rough idle. all kinds of flags are going up here. It's beginning to look like I need to look at a shortblock and add the right stuff myself. I can get a good short block and add aftermarket heads and manifold and cam that works better on the street at lower rpm that I don't have to wind the s...t out of. The long pull says I will probably add a blower so Vortec is out as manifolds are not available for them
Bottom line is ...what do y'all think of this motor?...worthy or not?
thanks

bentwings

I have a thing against Vortecs so maybe I'm biased.But you can can make a 300HP 350+ft/lb motor w/ stock heads and mild hi-po cam for around $900-$1100 if you play it right(not inclueding intake,balancer,flexplate).You'll also get to have valve covers that look right.

If you are willing to pay $3200 or so, go ahead and move up to the ZZ4 for about $400 more. Aluminum Heads, roller cam and all the good stuff.

All you add is carb, fuel pump, wires and a oil filter adaptor (and filter). Rock and Roll. 355 Horsepower.

If you are handy with a wrench, just purchase a ZZ4 short block. Add the GM Hot Cam kit ($500 or so). The kit includes 1.6 roller rockers. Buy the FastBurn aluminum heads and intake. 430 horsepower. Gm made this combination and called it the ZZ430. Only made 430 of them. 430 horses and 430 lbs of torque.

Heres a link for more tech info:

http://www.goautocenter.com/fast_burn__zz430.htm

I have purchased 3 crate engines in the past few years for projects and have friends who have a total of 10 crate engines purchased and no problems.

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Older whiskey, Younger women, FASTER cars, and more money $$$

Just the goals of a retired " car guy "

Bentwings....if you decide to build your own, I have a brand new 327/375 hp cam and hydraulic lifters for sale. It's the Crane Blueprint setup. $100.00 + shipping.

hey sjfast,
haven't heard from y'all for a while. I keep changing my mind on the motor for my upcomming project. I'm leaning more and more towards a blown sbc no larger than a 350. Your cam would make a super blower cam for the street.

well I gotta waste some time sleeping so talk to ya later.

bentwings

Go to GMs site and take your pick of crate motors
You can get other motors than a Vortec.
www.spoperformanceparts.com/
Not bad for $3,600. with warrenty
ZZ4 Technical Information
Horsepower 355 @ 5250 RPM
Torque 405 @ 3500 RPM
Max. Recommended RPM 5800
Compression Ratio 10:1
Block 10105123 Four bolt main, cast iron
Crankshaft 12556307 Forged steel
Connecting Rods 10108688 PM rods
Pistons 10159436 High Silicon aluminum with offset pins
Piston Rings 12528817
Camshaft 10185071 Hydraulic roller
Lift .47" I, .510" E.
Duration @ .050:208º I, .221º E.
Cylinder Heads 12556463 Aluminum 58cc combustion chambers
Intake Valves 10168465 1.94"
Exhaust Valves 10168514 1.50"
Valve Springs 12551483 LT4 chrome silicon
Rocker Arms 10089648 1.5 ratio
Intake Manifold 10185063 aluminum dual plane
Distributor 1104067 HEI
Valve Lash Zero
Spark Plugs FR5LS Gap .035
Fuel 92 Octane

[ October 27, 2002: Message edited by: 1BAD80 ]</p>

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Luv the smell of NITRO in the morning.

I have a 4 bolt 350 truck block. Needs machined if anyone is lookin. HG

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I was built with the body of a God! To bad it was buddah.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jou...&journalid=2415

Thanks for all of the input.

Since the co. I used to work for up untill Fri. fired my a...s and 79 others in the name of economy, I had nothing better to do than look for another job so I priced out the cost of a complete rebuild with everything about as new as a crate motor. Looks like 2300 bucks on my block, heads, crank and rods. Of course there is no warrentee. It looks like any crate motor is a pretty good deal. You may have to taylor the cam and intake to your needs but not too difficult. Just gathering all of the new parts and chasing to the machine shop is a pretty big task today. Guess even in my shop days it was big task as I built a lot of motors for others. The neat thing is I can beat the tax situation by mail ordering a crate too.
Thanks again for the help.

If y'all know of any mechanical engineering jobs open let me know. 18+ years experience.