The stock vortec s if you are going to use them crack in the exhaust seats and i have seen the decks cracked also. The productionbased iron vortec head represents one of the best budget investments for power for the smallblock chevy. In fact, it can cause you headaches in nearly every facet of an engines operation. Machine shop magnufluxed in front of me and they were both cracked. Small block engine cylinder heads chevrolet performance. If you get too wild with porting, you run into overheating and cracking issues. Difference between blown gasket or cracked head by looking. Symptoms of a cracked cylinder head are identical to those of a blown head gasket and include engine misfires, leaking oil that drains from the engine and the seemingly unexplained presence of. What got the power merchants attention was the increase in horsepower from 200 to 255 solely based on the power generated by these heads. Vortec bowtie cylinder heads come with large valves, a thick deck surface and 66cc combustion chambers. The l31 heads from the latemodel 350 vortec engine, introduced early in. These look pretty decent and this is a good price for a ready to bolt on high performance head. Guide clearance on stock vortec s if using cast iron guides need to be. The water jacket cracks can be hard to see sometimes.
Hi, just going to fit my vortec heads 906 ready for the new season,have been reading that they are prone to cracking. A very low percentage of cylinder head s manufactured with an embossed castech logo may develop a porosity crack in a very specific area. However, it is difficult to find a set of good, used factory nonmexican vortec heads that are not cracked. Such a sign can be a cause for concern, as oil or coolant may also back up into the engines internal chambers if the crack is large enough. A magnetic test for cracks on chevy heads with an explanation of the 305 head. Chevy cylinder head identification small block casting. In fact, if youre ready to replace a worn out or cracked cylinder head, you wont find a better product available anywhere.
Then pressing a repair locktite coated sleeve i use a farm tractor cast iron guide into the oversized hole. Unfollow vortec heads to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. As a result, most motorists try to prevent cylinder head cracking, as an ounce of prevention in this case is worth many pounds of cure. Chevy performance sbc cast iron vortec cylinder heads jegs. If where to grind the crack is difficult to see than using a dye penetrant test is recommended. On this strippeddown and cleaned head we can see the crack. So, when replacing either the cylinder head or the head gasket. Plus, you can turn up the horsepower even more by choosing heads with cncported runners and chambers, cnc. Featuring wideopen intake runners, efficient combustion chambers, and a highperformance valve job. Gm fast burn 62 cc 210 cc intake runner angle plug vortec. Vortec heads can be mildly ported for additional performance and milled.
Eq cylinder heads enginequest eq aaeq manufacturers and recyclers. This is probably the best cylinder head casting that chevrolet has ever produced for a production small block chevy. Vortec heads tend to crack in the center two cylinders more than the ends. I have a 305 motor can i put regular 350 heads and vortec heads without any.
It has gotten pretty bad and now will overheat when idling, and actually put enough pressure into the cooling system to crack the radiator. These upgraded production cylinder heads are ideal for 400450 horsepower street and racing great for circle track applications engines. A cracked engine head is such a serious mechanical problem that it can severely impact a cars ability to perform properly or even to run at all. Americas favorite highperformance cast iron small block cylinder heads offer big power and bigger value. It has been pressure checked for cracks and resurfaced. But due to the high cost of many late model heads and blocks, crack repair may be a costeffective alternative to buying a new or used casting to replace a cracked. Same crack, but the camera is now inside the combustion chamber, looking at the crack from the side. I have a 1969 mustang with a t5 transmission and these fit perfect theyre a lot lighter than my hooker headers the flange is thick so no exhaust leaks anymore of course i hade to hammer the driver side so i could get cleanernce from the steering box but i mean thats with everything long tube and they dont hang super low it might be a bit of a struggle to connect a complete exhaust. Last week i noticed engine temp was bouncing between 210230. Have you ever seen a set of cylinder heads cracked like these.
Minor head bolt hole cracking can be fixed by drilling and reaming the hole oversize usually 58 past the end of crack, about 1 18 deep. How to tell if your cylinder head is bad or cracked. Chevy cylinder head identification small block casting numbers, big block cylinder head, camel back heads, double hump heads. Sounds like the head gasket is leaking and hydro locking a cylinder. What makes an eq cylinder head better than the rest. Cylinder head cracking overheating is the most common cause. This can be seen as a clean or shiny area, on an otherwise stained surface 1. Coolant leaking gm cracked cylinder head, disassembled and cleaned. I chose to replace my cracked factory vortec heads with these and i am not. We use the new, chevrolet mexico produced casting for. Performance cylinder heads enhance the airflow into your engine, giving you improved power and torque. Major cracks can cause severe damage to the cylinders of the engine. The crack develops due to a poor casting and allows coolant to seep into the engine oil. The cylinder head is a crucial part of all combustion engines, and cylinder head cracking can result in catastrophic damage to the engine.
Vortec l31 cylinder head crankshaft coalition wiki. Each component undergoes a detailed manufacturing process that involves the hundreds of calculated and precision steps to ensure the finest quality possible. The l31 heads from the latemodel 350 vortec engine, introduced early in 1995, is the other type of cylinder head you need to look for on the used market. A cracked cylinder head can cause this to leak, which can be most noticed by a puddle of oil forming on the ground when the vehicle is parked for a long enough time. A lot of cylinder head cracks occur from overheating and are located in the water jacket ares or occur at the valve seats. The truth is they do not crack any more than any modern lightweight production head. Even a set bought from ebay should last the life of the truck if you are in a hurry to get it done. With many different varieties of gen i cylinder heads, and the newer vortec cylinder heads, its difficult to always know what is the right choice for home engine builders.
A can of dye penetrant can be bought at any welding supply house. In fact, if youre ready to replace a worn out or cracked cylinder head, you wont find a better product available. Repairing cracks in cast iron cylinder heads and engine blocks. The complete cylinder head guide for chevy small block engines. This assures you of the highest value and quality in cast cylinder heads for chevrolet vehicles. The newly redesigned vortec cylinder heads were intended to replace the swirlport throttle body injection heads that were previously used on gm 350 trucks. If you do, theres a good chance its a cracked head. Vortec heads have gotten a reputation for cracking easily. Are aftermarket vortec heads as good as the original gm. Tell tale sign of heads head gasket is your coolant system pressuring up as compression pressure escapes from the cylinder into the coolant system.
From the sound of it when you had to keep trying to start it. Some cylinder heads, made by the supplier castech, began to crack, allowing coolant to seep into the oil. Hopefully its a head gasket and not a cracked head but the signs dont look good. The two fluids are always segregated into separate chambers and passageways. In some cases, cracking may result in such severe injury to the engine that it must be replaced.
There is a coolant port in the block about 1mm from the cylinder and that little piece of gasket let go and allowed pressurized antifreeze to get into the exhaust and also blew back the coolant into the overflow bottle. There are a few common symptoms of a cracked engine head. I fear that i have the dreaded castech head crack issue. Low on coolant, so i added about a half gallon or so of dexcoolwater. Chevrolet vortec cylinder heads fast burn combustion chamber and highvelocity ports combine to produce big horsepower. Aside from cracking problems there are, for power production, two distinct groups of. Bolt on a set of fully assembled heads for instant power gains or custom build your engines topend around a set of bare castings.
With the head on the engine and assembled, the cracks may be more difficult to see. The crack location can be found in any of the five cylinder head s oil drains. You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post. Ive yet to know anyone personally that had a head gasket or cylinder head problem on a vortec motor. A guide to vortec vs oe small block chevy heads onedirt. Our summit performance vortec cylinder heads have what it takes to get the job. Eight budget small block chevy heads tested car craft. Best selling cordless 18vlt milwaukee 12 impact gun here. Our stock replacement cylinder heads live up to eqs reputation for quality parts and incredible service.
Some vehicles may experience a gradual coolant loss over time. I can barely fit my finger nail into it, and its not deep at allsee next picture. When it comes to rebuilding these gen i sbc engines, selecting the right combination of cylinder head for the block becomes the ultimate performance question. During the 2001 to 2006 silverado model years, gm had several different suppliers making the cast cylinder heads for the vortec 4.
Still, it was hard to beat some of the aluminum heads at their own game, until late last year, when gm performance parts introduced the vortec bowtie head, an allnew, iron smallblock cylinder. Well i figured out what happened on this 350 engine in this 1990 chevy pickup. I have some later model vortech heads and i am wondering if they will work. Chevy vortec cast iron small block cylinder heads brzezinski. Inspect the cylinder head assembly to determine if the casting was manufactured by castech.
These heads were only used on a few models of vortec. Vortec bowtie cylinder heads are the most powerful castiron heads offered by chevrolet performance. So, did i waste my money on these heads by not looking at them close enough. The newly redesigned vortec cylinder heads were intended to. This product contains chemicals known to the state of california to cause cancer and reproductive harm. Go to the passenger side, look at the front of the head and see if you see the casting number 706. Are you looking for a good set of heads to up the performance factor of your vortec engine. How to repair cracked cast iron cylinder head it still runs.