Vortec street 355 max compression? Coolant bypass?

[MadBill]

Why "T" when you could "Y" for less turbulence? (jk )

[F-BIRD'88]

I cannot tell you if hooking both sides to the water pump is better than just the drivers rear, as I did, but what I did on my 400 sbc works very well.
On the racing 406 with Brodix 18x heads both rear water ports were connected to fittings installed on the front of each head. Race stuff.

[skinny z]

Has anyone built or ran a Vortec headed SBC with 10.1 compression on a hot street car? Literally, I live in the south. I am betting the chamber design is good enough to where I shouldn't have any problems but then again I do live in Texas and it gets HOT. I have some new 062's which are getting some bowl and valve work done as we speak that are going on a 355 with a SCAT rotator and we are looking at about 10:1 compression. DCR I suspect will be near 8:1 but I am not sure yet as Mike is still doing the cam.

Older thread I know however I'm curious as to what you ended up with for a cam?

[rebelyell]

Take a long, hard look at how either L30 or L31 Vortec V8 or L35 V6 Vortec cooling systems are configured when OE new.
In particular, let your eye be drawn to its t'stat which has a "bypass valve" at its bottom as well as its OE intake manifold which has a "seat" deep inside.
That OE intake's "seat" is adjacent to the OE bypass hose leading direct to top of OE pump. While overall it may look like a BBC bypass hose but old BBC did Not have above Vortec t'stat & seat. I've yet to identify an aftermarket Vortec intake which has the Vortec-style seat for Vortec t'stat.

[cpmotors]

Never worried about the bypass for Vortec heads, never had an issue.
I use to block the bypass on the old blocks per Grumpy's book for years on all my street/strip builds.

[skinny z]

This isn't why I resurrected the thread (although I see the OP hasn't been around since this time last year) but in regards to the cooling differences, having run Vortecs on a late 70's SBC, it was never something that was considered.
Head gaskets were Victor Reinz (Mahle) 5746. Everyday off the shelf water pump. One heater line from the intake to the heater core and the return to the water pump.
What's the issue?

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[Tom68]

This isn't why I resurrected the thread (although I see the OP hasn't been around since this time last year) but in regards to the cooling differences, having run Vortecs on a late 70's SBC, it was never something that was considered.
Head gaskets were Victor Reinz (Mahle) 5746. Everyday off the shelf water pump. One heater line from the intake to the heater core and the return to the water pump.
What's the issue?



1.jpg

Heater tap or full flow ?

[Tom68]

Take a long, hard look at how either L30 or L31 Vortec V8 or L35 V6 Vortec cooling systems are configured when OE new.
In particular, let your eye be drawn to its t'stat which has a "bypass valve" at its bottom as well as its OE intake manifold which has a "seat" deep inside.
That OE intake's "seat" is adjacent to the OE bypass hose leading direct to top of OE pump. While overall it may look like a BBC bypass hose but old BBC did Not have above Vortec t'stat & seat. I've yet to identify an aftermarket Vortec intake which has the Vortec-style seat for Vortec t'stat.

Never knew that, not too many factory Vortec intakes down in Oz to get a squizz, I was horrified to think it was BBC type bypass, feeling better now.

If you buy a Cleveland thermostat in OZ from a Ford Dealer they sell you a Windsor thermostat that doesn't have the enlarged cup to block the bypass. But then half the rebuilt Clevelands out there don't even have the brass insert in the bypass port.

[RCJ]

I recently did 98 4wd with a vortex. Flat top mahle pistons, long tube headers , 206@.050 cam. Exhaust ported on heads.. on regular fuel the knock sensor will pull timing occasionally . I drill an .125 hole in the tstat if I need a bypass

[skinny z]

This isn't why I resurrected the thread (although I see the OP hasn't been around since this time last year) but in regards to the cooling differences, having run Vortecs on a late 70's SBC, it was never something that was considered.
Head gaskets were Victor Reinz (Mahle) 5746. Everyday off the shelf water pump. One heater line from the intake to the heater core and the return to the water pump.
What's the issue?



1.jpg

Heater tap or full flow ?

Straight to the heater core and back.

[rfoll]

This isn't why I resurrected the thread (although I see the OP hasn't been around since this time last year) but in regards to the cooling differences, having run Vortecs on a late 70's SBC, it was never something that was considered.
Head gaskets were Victor Reinz (Mahle) 5746. Everyday off the shelf water pump. One heater line from the intake to the heater core and the return to the water pump.
What's the issue?



1.jpg

The heads you have look like the later ones. Possible they are somehow different. My setup for the heater circuit for carb heat is a must have for winter here in the Pacific Northwest. In the summer all 3 of my engines run around 180-190 degrees. But when the weather is cooler, the Vortec engine, (880 block), in the 79 Impala runs so cold I have to partially block the radiator or it will never come up to temperature. This car has the smallest radiator of the 3 vehicles. Last fill up gave me 19.2 mpg.

[skinny z]

This isn't why I resurrected the thread (although I see the OP hasn't been around since this time last year) but in regards to the cooling differences, having run Vortecs on a late 70's SBC, it was never something that was considered.
Head gaskets were Victor Reinz (Mahle) 5746. Everyday off the shelf water pump. One heater line from the intake to the heater core and the return to the water pump.
What's the issue?



1.jpg

The heads you have look like the later ones. Possible they are somehow different. My setup for the heater circuit for carb heat is a must have for winter here in the Pacific Northwest. In the summer all 3 of my engines run around 180-190 degrees. But when the weather is cooler, the Vortec engine, (880 block), in the 79 Impala runs so cold I have to partially block the radiator or it will never come up to temperature. This car has the smallest radiator of the 3 vehicles. Last fill up gave me 19.2 mpg.

Good catch on those heads. They're actually the RHS version. That said, I've run the exact setup on my over the counter Vortecs. Again no issues. And I've had my share of cold weather driving as well (back in Ontario Canada) and getting the heater up to temperature wasn't problem either. (But I'm only talking in or around freezing).
Big rad. 180 stat.

[vortecpro]

Has anyone built or ran a Vortec headed SBC with 10.1 compression on a hot street car? Literally, I live in the south. I am betting the chamber design is good enough to where I shouldn't have any problems but then again I do live in Texas and it gets HOT. I have some new 062's which are getting some bowl and valve work done as we speak that are going on a 355 with a SCAT rotator and we are looking at about 10:1 compression. DCR I suspect will be near 8:1 but I am not sure yet as Mike is still doing the cam. Am I being paranoid?

Also what is the best way to address the coolant bypass issue? These heads are on a 77 010 2 pc block which has the second water pump (to cylinder head) coolant bypass hole but Vortecs dont have that hole. Do I just simply drill the hole using the head gasket as a template? Or do I need to use the manifold coolant port and tie into the heater hose? It would seem like a better idea to just drill the passenger head. Right?

I have heard many different ways of doing this, including drilling the thermostat. I live in Texas so the cooling system HAS to be top notch.

Thanks!

I have no heat problems with any of our Vortec headed engines.

[rgalajda]

Vortec head on early SBC
Drill bypass hole using head gasket as template

[Schurkey]

Drill the hole in the head, problem solved
Tom

Drill BOTH heads, so three years from now you don't reassemble the engine with the incorrect head on the right-side cylinder bank.