First time poster here.. I've gathered tons of great info from this forum in the last 48 hrs THANK YOU!
Anyway my brother has a 20.5ft larson with a 305 Volvo penta and a duo prop out drive. Last winter caught him slacking and needless to say I'm swapping the engine due to a cracked block. I've acquired a this 350 sbc free from a 1990 truck. I tore the engine down and it will need the heads reworked and crank machined. I'm thinking about upgrading to vortec heads and intake of course because the cost won't be terribly higher than getting the tbi heads rebuilt. I am trying to do this on a budget but definitely want to do it right so it lasts. I am wondering if I can bolt the vortec heads on and use the oem pistons from the truck engine, they are oe dished with 4 valve reliefs and from what I can tell by the pictures identical to the stock marine vortec 5.7 pistons? Our priorities are as follows: reliability, convenience of running 87 pump gas and lastly price of rebuild. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the 350 with vortec heads alone will be enough of a torque gain to be a noticeable upgrade from the 305? From what I've read the comp 262 cam is preferred with bone stock vortec heads. I plan on re-ringing the pistons if indeed they will agree with the vortec heads, all new bearings, new cam and lifters and swapping over all externals including the 4 barrel carb from the original 305. I've looked for Dennis Moore's book on marine sbc's but can only find used on amazon for $329.00. Thank you in advance for any input.
Anyway my brother has a 20.5ft larson with a 305 Volvo penta and a duo prop out drive. Last winter caught him slacking and needless to say I'm swapping the engine due to a cracked block. I've acquired a this 350 sbc free from a 1990 truck. I tore the engine down and it will need the heads reworked and crank machined. I'm thinking about upgrading to vortec heads and intake of course because the cost won't be terribly higher than getting the tbi heads rebuilt. I am trying to do this on a budget but definitely want to do it right so it lasts. I am wondering if I can bolt the vortec heads on and use the oem pistons from the truck engine, they are oe dished with 4 valve reliefs and from what I can tell by the pictures identical to the stock marine vortec 5.7 pistons? Our priorities are as follows: reliability, convenience of running 87 pump gas and lastly price of rebuild. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the 350 with vortec heads alone will be enough of a torque gain to be a noticeable upgrade from the 305? From what I've read the comp 262 cam is preferred with bone stock vortec heads. I plan on re-ringing the pistons if indeed they will agree with the vortec heads, all new bearings, new cam and lifters and swapping over all externals including the 4 barrel carb from the original 305. I've looked for Dennis Moore's book on marine sbc's but can only find used on amazon for $329.00. Thank you in advance for any input.
