I have the cutter control. Working in the polishing industry when I was in my early 20's and growing up around my dad's shop. (he has 40+ yrs polishing) I learned how to use a die grinder very young. I did my first heads at 18, that was a gasket match. I tried to go full out on a set and they looked good but I never finished the other head. By that time I had the cash to buy aftermarket stuff and never looked back. Then by the time I was 20 I was buffing out intake manifolds to a mirror finish. That is almost all done with die grinder. I refuse to do heads now because I have come to the conclusion I don't have a flow bench and I have no way to know if everything I could do would actually benefit the flow. I could make the port huge and look like a pro. But I just don't have any real experience to know what to remove and what to leave.

 

Got the cam yesterday, it is nice looking, custom ground, nobody around here will have anything like it.













Forgot to get a picture of the cam card, I'll get that tonight when we degree the cam. He got one of the intake ports done on my other head yesterday too. He is going to start taking them home with him everyday and working on them there too until they are done.





That look is still in stone and will need some more small work, but he says the shape of it is perfect. I'll be getting the lifters ordered by the weekend, with that hopefully the heads are done and we can measure for the pushrods.

 

Been a month, any updates?

 

This is a sweet build. Ported heads and matched everything always rules!I love this work. I can see this is going to be killer. Bullet cam -lets see that cam card ATM!

 

The builder has the cam card, this is what he says it is: 247/256 @ .050, .570/.556 on a 106lsa installed at 102ic, whatever that means. The heads have since also been punched out to 2.02/160 and reported to that, they are in getting CNC'ed right now, I'm going to mill them down to 53cc, they are at 56cc now. The builder is saying 525 HP, I think he is thinking about somewhat reproducing the head work and selling them outright on his site. I really hope the engine is done by the spring, that will be a year... Bodywork is supposed to start too soon. I've got the interior in the car, just waiting on people at this point.

 

YESH!

 

I'm also using 1.6 full roller rockers so the lift is going to be more than what the cam is specced at. it is really going to be pushing the envelope on the Vortecs, he knows what he is doing though, builds engines all the time and knows how to check everything for clearances. I've never read of any Vortecs getting a workup like this, it should be something cool. Plus, popping my hood is going to get the "big deal" out of people seeing iron heads. I'm temped to get the face milled off too. lol.

 

LOL! That is excellent. I say mill the front off as well or even cut an 882 head identification shape on it! That will upset the dyno bets! It will look like an 882 headed motor bumpin a 292 cam or something haha An 882 look alike headed motor runnin tens everyone saying daaaangg! Or better yet....lol...no, say: "FAIVE HUNDERT HOSE POWA 3 fitty smaull block ....882 heads....HAHAHA! Its got....heh...its got a BIGG camshaft...hahahha! 500hp hahahha. Then run'em for those pinkslips haha.

 

Finally getting some progress going again. I've been waiting a long time for my FIL to begin the bodywork, and it came down to getting the car over to his house, that way he can just go out there at 10:00 at night and work on it if he feels like it, rather than coming over to my house to do it. The plan is for him to get the doors and body done, and get it back here so I can get the engine and trans put in.






As for the engine, I had to literally go out there and help get that going, as of now the entire bottom end is 100% ready to go. The heads are in getting machine work done on them. Just to recap these are Vortec Heads, punched out to 2.02/1.60, full port and polish on both intake and exhaust, totally opened up. They are going to be milled down to 56cc, compression should be close to 11:1. Bosses are cut down, screw in studs, they should be an amazing thing, I've never seen any Vortecs with this degree of work out there, hopefully it is worth it. They are at the shop getting CNC'ed, from there they go to get the valve seats done, milled, and assembly. I'm hoping for two weeks at the most for that one.

















And I went to install the shift kit in the trans that came in the car, pulled the pan off, first thing noticed a bunch of "chunks", pulled one out, metal, alot of it. It's hosed. My FIL says he has 6 other ones at the house, one is for sure good, so I hope to get that one and put the kit in it. This could be the year.

 

Wow! Nice to see you're still working on the '79! I wondered what became of it and you!