In the ak its cheaper to buy a short block from the lower 48 due to shipping. My machine shop recomended this, and due to price thats what i did. The only thing that sucks is that machine shop is 3,000 miles away. I looked at shipping each individual piece up and the shipping was about 500$ more.

 

I don´t know where you got the idea I was looking for advice on this thread. I was telling the OP my experience with the L48.

I didn´t put the 383 together because it was cheaper and faster to have someone else do it.

If you want to build your L48 have fun. But for 1800 I got a bigger engine, better rods and better pistons and 4 bolt mains.. It also has all the machine work done and it was assembled. So lets see, a good set of rods are about $400, pistons about $350 another $400 for machine work. And about 8 hours to assemble. I think it was worth the 1800.

My first post about asking advice on the L48, I always ask to see what someone else has done, even if I already know how I will do something or how it´s done I always ask. Someone may have a better way or a better product.

 

That's were I got the idea. By that statement the advice you got here "and other forums" was the reason you bought the 383...
As for the 383 being strong yes of course I agree.. But again if someones just looking to wake up a street driven 40 year old antique car all they need is heads and a cam to get superior performance over the L82. Its all about how far you want to go and what you want to do.... if I wanted something up around 500 HP I'd personally want it in a more capable modern chassis....hell I'd go buy a c5...which I still might do someday.
I decided against building my l48 because it has over 100,000 miles. I found a rebuilt flat top 355 4 bolt with 12,000 miles that had bearing damage from a broken ring on Craigslist for 300... yes it cost me a bit more for a new crank and bearings but I enjoyed tearing it down and learning. I had originally bought a set of dart iron eagle 64cc heads for the l48 for 300 bucks on Craigslist which I had a shop check out and confirm were ready to go but decided to replace the engine and rebuild the original later .

 

I never had an L48 before and asked questions about it. And as for the advice I received I was told that it wasn´t worth the effort.

Well anyway enjoy your build and your car and remember there is a time and place to go fast.

 

Just remember the valve lift limitations on the vortecs, when selecting a cam. Nothing above .480. Also, spend the money on good headers. I went cheap on mine(vortec swap on L48 just like you), and regret it everyday. And last, remember that you are using different heads when buying spark plugs, wires, etc for it.

 

I am going with the speedway heads and voodoo cam. What header did you exactly buy and why do you regret it? My friend who is welding the straight pipe is gone for 3 weeks so I have so time to pick out good headers.

 

Whether an L48 is worth the effort is entirely up to the person putting forth the effort. I spent a hair over one grand doing the top end on my L48, with a vortec head swap. And that's all the money I had TO spend on it. So maybe in only making about 300hp. Darn site better than the 180hp it was making before that! Almost doubled the output. For a grand. Who else can make THAT claim? Worth it? Absolutely.

 

I bought Sanderson block huggers. And I regret it because they are not ceramic coated, and they sit way too close to the spark plugs, which has caused me all sorts of problems. I've gone through the money I've spent on different sparks, fried wires and boots, heat shielding, etc, and I could have bought a nice set hands down. Ceramic headers run cooler, don't ark over...and hey...they're a lot better looking than a shorty header that's been wrapped. If you are going full length, make sure you know what you want to do with the car. Example...I at first bought those 100$ summit headers, but the hang too low for me. My car is lowered, and those headers would have been about an inch and a half off the ground. Too low, too dangerous. I also used glass packs on my new 2.5 inch duals...another regret. They were cheap, lol. They are too loud, my neighbors hate me, and they make the car sound like a bike. Not my cup o tea. What lunati cam? I used the bracket master 2, very mild, .474 lift, I think? The thumper suggested earlier would have been a better choice for me.

 

My car isn't lowered. The headers should be fine. My dad is buying them for me so mine as well try them out. He wouldn't pay for the ceramic coated. I like in the country and neighbors are probably too busy shooting all there guns to hear my exhaust lol my friend has a camaro old style with lt1 and straight pipe. Its kinda loud and no one cares. I realize my true dual will be louder with no cat but if it's too much for a Saturday driver ill throw on come mufflers. I planned on dumping the exhaust at rear axle.

 

I did the same, dumped the exhaust right before the half shafts. They wouldn't have fit through the suspension set up I've got. What made you decide to go away from the vortecs?

 

Couple reasons
1) restrcited to there intake due to patent
2) only beat out the speedway heads barely
3) if i remeber they wouldnt bump up compression enough
4) speedway saves me money on the heads and not having to buy an intake right now
4) and i think worse exhaust ports

 

You are not restricted to thier intake... you can get multiple aftermarket intakes for vortec heads... I'm pretty sure edelbrock has the performer series for them too...
remember if you go with a big cam the car is gonna be a real dog to drive until you correct the gears and converter..
Its like putting huge mud tires on a pickup without changing the diff gears to correct for it.... Rednecks do it and wonder why the truck cant get out of its own way and the motor and tranny burn up...
(nothing against lifted trucks done right I have one myself)

 

My cam is this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000LV...038386-9633429

 

Darts 49cc iron eagle heads will give more than enough compression... 790.00 a pair from summit with free shipping...180cc intake runners and 2.02 valves... they might even give too much compression depending on your cam ,quench and head gasket choice...

 

That's the same cam I keep going back and forth about replacing the 268h cam with that I have now...can't seem to find much data to support gains though and the risk of wiping these newer style cams out is higher it seems.

 

im going with the felpro head gasket, also i already linked my cam, and Ill let you know how the cam performs when i get it in, in a couple of months.

 

not worth swapping out it will run abou the same

 

1) The intake manifold needed to use the Vortec heads is not due to any sort of patent, it's just that the Vortec heads have a different bolt pattern, and different shaped intake ports, so you need a manifold that will fit them, that's all. Brand new, they cost about the same as a standard SBC equivalent manifold, but the standard ones are much easier to find used, because there are so many more of them out there. You can find 2101 Performer manifolds on ebay and craig's list all day long for 50 bucks.
2) Actually, in the Car Craft article, the speedway heads did a teensy bit better than the Vortec heads.
3) The Vortec and speedway heads both are advertised as having a 64cc combustion chamber.
4) If you are planning on using a Performer 2101, I would not wait until later to do it. As I said before, you can find them for 50 bucks without looking too hard. Swapping an intake manifold is a fairly involved process, you have to drain the coolant, and remove the distributor. Heater hoses, fuel lines, vacuum lines, etc.
5) The Vortec heads are known for having a strong intake port and a relatively weak exhaust port, which gives a poor intake/exhaust ratio. After looking at the flow numbers, I think the Speedway heads actually have a better intake/exhaust ratio, not because of such a great exhaust port, but I think the intake port is a little on the weak side compared to the exhaust, if you see what I mean. However, the ratio is what it is, and the conventional wisdom is that heads with very good I/E ratios lend themselves toward use with a single pattern camshaft.

I am planning on using the Speedway heads on my car in the next year or so, in conjunction with a single pattern camshaft. I'll let everyone know how it works out. Car Craft seemed to think the heads were good enough quality to use in their test, and Speedway Motors has an excellent reputation, so this gives me some confidence in the product.

Scott

 

Good to know thanks... the 454 vs 489 lift seemed like a lot but like mentioned I guess the would benefit heads with weaker exhaust flow.

 

So you suggest just picking up the 2101 performer intake asap and putting it on right now no matter what? Whats the benefit of it over stock? I read that the stock intake and carb are good for 400hp im pretty sure. Or maybe they said they just dont need to be replaced.