Budget 350 vortec swap
 

Alright so i have a 350 in my 1984 2500 and im looking to get some more power out of it mostly low end torque and hp being its a truck and whatnot. Right now its mostly stock besides headman headers and true duals, performer intake, 650 cfm thunder series carb. mallory ignition, taylor wires. its got a Th400. and a bunch of shiny go fast engine parts the last guy threw on there.

Im looking at doing a budget vortec head swap and i had a few questions. Im looking at doing this as wallet friendly as possible. Alright so here goes.

i can get a set of vortec heads for around $300 off craigslist or hopefully even less than $200 if i go to a junkyard and pull em myself.

if i dont get big cam will i be able to keep it out of the machine shop and having to upgrade the valve springs and all that? i was thinking the edelbrock performer truck cam and hydraulic lifter kit. http://www.jegs.com/i/Edelbrock/350/...rentProductId= or mabye even just keeping the stock cam if that would even work? i want to keep a smooth idle as this will be my daily driver(i dont drive much) only to school and work 5 miles away

ill need new valve covers right? or mabye use the stock vortec ones

I know ill need new gaskets and all that

will my pushrods work or will i need new ones?

I know ill have to ditch the performer intake. i can get a edelbrock nock off vortec airgap intake new for around $150 or mabe find a used one.

My headers should bolt right back up though right?

now i heard you can end up with to much compression with a vortec swap. if i have a very mild cam like the one above i should still be able to use pump gas mabe even 87 still?

im sure im missing things but just want to know everything that i will need for the swap. Thanks

And with the performance boost im also hoping to get better mpg because as of now i think im getting around 5-8mpg. I think i saw somewhere the the vortec heads will boost mpg a fair amount because of how bad and restrictive the old swirl port head design is?

You haven't gotten any replies because this has been beaten to death on here, the rest of the net, and the chevy magazines.

Do a forum search and you will find your answers.