Vortec Engine Swap

gbodyera

Amateur Racer
Jan 14, 2010
190
0
0
Miami- Detroit
Ok. My cousin has a Vortec motor in his 99 GMC Savanna van. The van is close to wrecked and I want the engine. What do I need to take from the van to use the motor "as-is", fuel injected? WIll it bolt right up to my 350 trans, headers, etc?

TIA
 

Doober

Moderator
Jun 2, 2003
14,704
1
38
Catalina, AZ
www.cardomain.com
If it's a Gen I Vortec (I'm assuming it is since you said it's a 350) it should bolt right up, you'll just need to make sure you have the flywheel for the Vortec motor. Headers will bolt right up, but you'll need a fuel pump that will supply the pressure you need. Personally I think you'll spend more time and money for a stock setup in this case than finding a used carbed Vortec intake, bolting on a carb, and setting up a fuel pump (stock Vortec roller cams didn't have an eccentric for a mechanical fuel pump). You also may need the correct distributor gear to use with the current one you have (stock Vortec distributor won't work with a carbed setup), but you should be able to pull that off the original distributor in the motor. Be sure to keep the lift brackets for the engine, Vortecs aren't lifted via intake bolts like older SBCs are. When I put Vortec heads on my motor I didn't have the lift brackets and it was a bit of a pain, I had to come up with another solution... wound up being a set of older brackets bolted to the front/rear of the heads.
 

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