Closest L98 Block Replacement
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,050
Likes: 147
From: Phoenix AZ
2021 C4 of the Year - Modified Finalist
Heads
Vortec heads won’t fit your TPI intake.
manifolds that fit are $450 and up.
make sure that you use 14 cc dished pistons with zero deck height or it will suffer from detonation with 58 cc heads.
it may all bolt together , but will it run?
i put a Crane compucam in my 86 with a 383. Engine runs good, lots of power.
i modified the combustion chambers in the heads to remove some metal and mimic the combustion chambers on the vortec heads.
also used a BBK Edelbrock throttle nody.
manifolds that fit are $450 and up.
make sure that you use 14 cc dished pistons with zero deck height or it will suffer from detonation with 58 cc heads.
it may all bolt together , but will it run?
i put a Crane compucam in my 86 with a 383. Engine runs good, lots of power.
i modified the combustion chambers in the heads to remove some metal and mimic the combustion chambers on the vortec heads.
also used a BBK Edelbrock throttle nody.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,876
Likes: 764
From: Sligo PA
Vortec heads won’t fit your TPI intake.
manifolds that fit are $450 and up.
make sure that you use 14 cc dished pistons with zero deck height or it will suffer from detonation with 58 cc heads.
it may all bolt together , but will it run?
i put a Crane compucam in my 86 with a 383. Engine runs good, lots of power.
i modified the combustion chambers in the heads to remove some metal and mimic the combustion chambers on the vortec heads.
also used a BBK Edelbrock throttle nody.
manifolds that fit are $450 and up.
make sure that you use 14 cc dished pistons with zero deck height or it will suffer from detonation with 58 cc heads.
it may all bolt together , but will it run?
i put a Crane compucam in my 86 with a 383. Engine runs good, lots of power.
i modified the combustion chambers in the heads to remove some metal and mimic the combustion chambers on the vortec heads.
also used a BBK Edelbrock throttle nody.
Making Vortec heads fit a factory TPI lower isn't that big of a deal. You have to drill the heads so the intake will bolt up. You can become a YouTube expert on the subject in an afternoon and give it a shot yourself (if you have a drill press) or any local machine shop will do it for you for not a lot of money. I wouldn't call this process easy though. I did one set years ago and it was a pain but worked. There have been several articles written on the subject over the years. I would be willing to bet you could search here and find someone who has done it.
Also there were dual pattern lower intakes that were made. I don't know for sure but if a lower manifold could be made that allowed the use of either standard SBC heads or Vortec heads I wonder if the factory TPI lower manifold could be modified in the same way? I thought I read a post back on the Crossfire Injection forum years ago where someone drilled a CFI intake that way but I'm not sure.
