vortec vs non vortec

[colman]

so i have a 86 one piece rear main short block 355 in the garage and the 98 vortec truck i bought has a blown motor. assuming the heads are good, is there any reason that i can't use my short block. also i have a rv cam in there (i have the specs if anyone really wants to know) do I need a chip made to make the truck run right? i was just going to put on the vortec heads and stab the motor. is there anything else i need to know?
thanks

[agjohn02]

what manifold? a tbi manifold wont fit vortec heads.

[colman]

i have a vortec blown motor in a 98 truck and want to use a shortblock from the 80's that i rebuilt but swap on the vortec heads etc. i was just double checking to make sure there would be no problems

[mudtoy67]

IIRC the vortec uses a roller cam. What is in your 355 - flat tappet lifter? Could the differing profile throw the computer off? What's wrong with rebuilding the vortec engine...other than you already have the 355 built?

[colman]

my 355 is already built and the other motor has a rod thru the oil pan so who knows what is wrong with it on the inside also a quicker turn around with the motor in my garage

[colman]

RV Hydraulic Flat Tappet Camshaft-.420/.443 Lift-204/214 Duration @ .050-112 Lobe Cntr

[agjohn02]

gm started roller cams in the 87 camaro/corvette. i would look into rebuilding the vortec before i seriously considered this swap. could probably be made to work though. you'd have a pretty sweet dirt track engine in your tow rig.

[Seth]

ha - you said rv cam.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

ha - you said rv cam.

Yeah, just be glad Fred doesn't make it down to Aggieland much, our he would pummell you. He will probably get drunk enough and forget about it once the tailgating stars. :D

Viva La Autobús

[Fredo]

I almost felt like not responding since the term "rv cam" was used in this post, but I figured I'd be nice. The heads and intake will bolt onto the 86 block no problem, but I think that cam is probably going to be fun to tune around. I don't know how much the flat tappets will matter, but I'm guessing they will mess with the knock sensor more than roller lifters would. Again, something that can be tuned around, but not the ideal situation. You would also need to measure pushrod length as well since you won't be using roller lifters. Might have to end up with some aftermarket length pushrods as well. So in short, yeah, it can be done, but it's going to be oddball.

Also, how good of shape do you think the top end of that motor can be in if there is a rod sticking out of the side of the block?