I am trolling for cylinder heads, like so many of us, and I am wondering why I see very little talk about the Bowtie Vortec heads. They have 180 intake version, PN 25534421, that seems to have all the better features that the popular Vortec L31 does not have. They have perimeter valve cover holes, either intakes bolt pattern, Vortec flow numbers plus, and price wise are around $500 each. Is there something I am missing about these heads that I don't understand? It seems like they are not even talked about in the Performance books that are out there, but maybe they came out after these books were published??

Looking for any comments.

 

I have a set of the bigger 215cc runner Bowties for a 406 build. I bought an Edelbrock Victor Jr to go on 'em but it will need a good bit of porting as it's a good match on the port floor but needs .200 removed from the roof to fit. I don't know if there's enough material to match 'em on a conventional intake, these are .200 taller than production vortecs. Good lookin' heads, need a bowl blend and some touch-ups but seems to be well made.

 

you mite find some iron dart heads for a little less $$$$ at competition products .you mite find some alum heads for $500 each.

 

I was eyeballing those heads as well. I talked to tracdogg2 and he convinced me to spend a little more and go with some AFRs or Darts. You might want to pm him. He is a wealth of information.

 

I had a pair of the original design, Large Port Vortecs (#25534431) on my 409 SBC and they were DOGS!!
I took them to my engine builder for porting because my engine didn't have much more power compared to the ZZ3 crate I pulled out.
Turns out the port design on these is horrible. They ports are SO big, you can't get any flow out of them and you can't do much with porting to help the situation- Totally stupid.

So I sold them and got a nice pair of 195cc aluminum heads.
From my experience, don't waste your money on these heads.

 

ezobens, they're on their third generation now, casting number ends in "C", "D" shaped exhaust port, significantly improved.

 

If GM maintained their HUGE intake runner strategy that provide no flow on these heads, it doesn't matter how many revisions they did on the exhaust side, these heads will still flow like crap.. The ones I had also had the raised floor 'D' shaped exhaust ports.
Might also explain why you hear little if any success stories of real folks (not the sponsored vendor articles) that are using these heads.

 

Looks are deceiving- I also bought mine based on 'looks'.
They are well made but do yourself a huge favor and have them put on a flow bench before you install them. I also got the fancy flow sheet with my heads and the actual flows were nowhere near what they claimed.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here but I've been there and I was seriously disappointed at the numbers they made.
Just my .02
Elm

 

Okay, so far I am getting that the 215 is too big for good flow, what about the 180.

And secondly I do understand that for just a little more money, you could get a Dart or other good heads. I guess the real bonus of an L31 Vortec is it is such low dollars that it is a big bang for the buck. I am not looking for big HP, just good low end and midrange. I am looking at Dart Iron Eagles. I will not buy a head with center bolt valve covers, I want perimeter valve cover mounting to keep it looking stock, but want to keep myself in control of the endless pursuit of HP.

 

You never provided any specifics of your engine-
It's hard to give detailed advice without specifics.
Is it a 350, 383, 406 etc?
Trans and gearing?
What kind of numbers are you looking to achieve?

215 heads (of any kind) in general are usually reserved for larger displacement and/or higher HP motors. Putting them on a mild or otherwise stock 350 would be a big mistake.
I can understand trying to keep it low budget (that was my original plan and I failed miserably on those Vortecs) but you need to look at the big picture. Vortec heads may be cheap but throw in a new intake and you're really no better off cost-wise than sticking to decent set of conventional heads and original intake.

I got rid of the Vortecs and intake and replaced them with a NICE pair of Profiler 195 aluminum heads (made in USA!) and a Crosswinds intake (Air-Gap knock off) and it didn't cost me any more than what I originally shelled out for the Vortecs and intake.
I've also go the added bonus of aluminum vs cast heads and you have SO many more options sticking with the non-Vortec solution.

I'm not knocking the Vortecs, they are very good for what they are but if the primary reason for you is cost, I think in the end you'll find that you saved no more going Vortec than going the conventional route and you have WAY more flexibility than with the Vortecs now and in the future.

Just my .02
Elm

 

If your looking for a budget build regular vortecs work. If your spending $500 a head for iron heads and still need a new intake to make them work go with a better aluminum head. I am not a fan of the vortec heads because of the limitations and additional parts needed to make them work. Plus once the build is done there is no more to be had out of it.