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I found a donor truck for a motor and tranny its an 87 chevy with a 350. I was in a discussion about it yesterday and I was told that with the 87 block I had to use the vortec style heads. Is this true? I do not want to use the Vortec heads I was planning on using set of camel humps. My thoughts tell me that I can use either heads as long as I use a standard intake with the older style heads. Am I right? Also I was told the block in the 87 was better the person I was talking to couldnt tell me why other than the 1 peice rear main seal. Is there any advantages or disadvantantages to the 87 and up blocks?

The older heads will work. Are you sure it's a 1 piece seal?

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1 An 87 is not a Vortec motor They come out it 96. 2 A stock vortec will out flow the best ported camel hump heads. 3 See where i am going with this? Oh and by the way the vortec head can be drilled and tapped to use the early intake manifolds.

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whats the deal with the center bolt valve cover heads used in 87?

I believe you are talking about about an early model TBI block. Does it have a place for a working mechanical fuel pump? Because some of them didnt, the pump was in the tank.

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Yes it is a TBI block. I'm not sure if it has a place for a mechanical pump or not I am already using a Holley electric pump so its not a problem. Also I wasn't planning on using the TBI either. The truck belongs to my brother it runs fine just smokes a lot so I am trying to figure out if it is worth rebuilding it into a mostly street occasional strip motor. I would like to achieve around 400 hp and I dont plan on using any nitrous or any other power adders or the computer that it came with.

I'll chime in on this one cause I run these blocks . The block you are refering to is an early tbi ( probably a 638 cast # ) . These have a provision for a fuel pump and are drilled for the rod but have a block off plate . The 96 and later are vortec blocks (880 cast #) . The camel humps will work , but vortecs will out flow them . These blocks will handle 400 hp ( mine makes 460 ) . The 1- piece rear seal is nice as it is not prone to leakage . they also have a provision for a hydraulic roller cam and lifters using factory parts ( no cam breakin to speak of ) . I like these motors and have 3 of them . The walls and top deck are not as thick as the old 010 blocks , but my next step will be aftermarket .

I was over at my brothers house yesterday and I looked it over I didnt really get into it in depth and I couldnt see the location where the fuel pump but at a glance I couldnt see a block off plate. Like I said I really didnt get a chance to look it over like I wanted too. also you mentioned it has provisions to run a roller cam. From what I heard the 87 trucks didnt use a roller cam until 88 it was only the high output motors in 87. Is this correct and will the lifters from an 88 fit in the 87 or can I order a set of the hyd lifters from like summit. I notice while looking through the summit catalog that all the hyd roller cams have little foot notes saying to reuse the factory lifters. All this talk about how the vortec heads out flow all other stock heads from the factory has me a kinda interested. Its pretty obvious that I dont know anything about the vortec heads or roller cams. Chances are I will stick with a hyd flat tappet cam but I am interested in the vortec heads. Do the vortec heads all use screw in rocker arms? Do they use the 1.25" valve springs like most of the older stock heads? How much lift can you get out of a set of stock votec heads with stock diameter valve springs? Other than the valve covers being center bolt type is there anything else that you have to use that is different? How much better do they actually flow than the older style? I know that is a lot of questions but like I said I dont know anything about them?

The Vortecs don't have screw in studs, they have self aligning rockers, the lift on the stock springs when they are fresh are good to arounf .450, and they have a special intake to use with them unless you have the heads redrilled. The advantage to them is low price and pretty good out of the box flow. Unless they went up a lot. you can get a new set from Scoggins-Dickey that have screw in studs and are good to around .490 lift for around $800ish. We had a street monte carlo with a stock 96 350 Vortec bottom end, a hydraulic roller, and a set of stock heads with the screw in studs and roller rockers that ran 10's through the mufflers on street tires. Full interior, air conditioning, etc.

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I will have to have to do some more in depth research on these heads. So far I am thinking they might be the way to go. What is the deal with the self aligning rocker arms?

This has got me thinking bout my engine. Was told it had vortec heads but I have never had the covers off. Is there any way to tell from the outside. Only thing for sure is they are center bolts.
Supposed to have a 94 block also. No biggy I guess. At least it runs LOL.

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I would check your casting numbers and that might tell you what you have if you can find the numbers like on mor tec or something

Vortec head casting #'s are 906 or 062 . 062's have a saw tooth pattern on the front .

You can run factory roller lifters on an aftermarket cam . There is really no cam break in with a roller .

Some blocks are drilled for the fuel pump rod some are not . Some have a block off plates , some don't .

Can you use for example summit brand OE replacement roller lifters in like a small journal 327? I have seen some retrofit lifters I think they were comp cams brand what is the difference there are a few too many options for a person that doesnt know. besides the fact that roller lifters are roller lifters and hyd flat tappet type are the flat tappet type is the diameter of the lifter different or what is the difference besides the type. Like I said there are so many different types of roller lifters and then some of them say retro fit. Iwould hate to go throw away 500 bucks for a set of comp cams brand hydraulic roller lifters and then go install them into my motor and have a catastrophic melt down because I didnt know what I was doing.

Retro fit are for the old style blocks and require a thrust or cam button on the front . Roller lifters are longer or taller than flat tappet lifters . 87 and newer blocks will take o.e. replacement roller lifters . The factory have different guide systems the retro-fit . Retro-fit are expensive .

I noticed how expensive the retro kit is but is the gain from switching to a hydraulic roller from a flat tappet on a mostly street driven motor worth the extra $600+. Im guessing probably not.

I'm using 87 up model heads with rollers. My casting is 14102193. Were on the motor allready.

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A Vortec head has 4 intake mounting bolts, The earlier centerbolt heads have 6 similar to the older style.

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The 193's are a tbi head . Still a pretty good head . I agree the money is probably better spent on good flowing heads and cam . On a budget I would run a flat tappet with an old style block . If you have a roller block take advantage of the roller cam ramp speeds and run a factory/O.E. style hydraulic roller . If money is no object , then you have an aftermarket block with all jesel valve train anyway .