Help me get moar powa in ZORV!

[Cowboy Cadillac]

I'm trying to get a little more oomph out of the truck before the first bogs happen here May19-20th. To all the guys who will say "LS swap" its in the works for next year as I have a 5.3L in the other(wifeys)mud truck/my parts truck and I know where there is a company 2011 that was just written off that insurance won't cover.
My budget is just on the high side of $500 as I'm saving/paying for my wedding in August. I'm trying to use parts that I either have lying around, can get from my friends, friends scrapyard or kijiji( craiglist here sucks). I've taken the timing as far as I think it will go and maintain drivability.So I figured there were some old hot rodders and engine guru's among us here who could point me in the right direction.

I figured a change of the heads would be an easyplace to start, everybody says camel humps($) or 305 heads(. Heres what it currently in the truck:

And a set I have sitting in my shed:

Is it worthwhile to swap these heads or will I be better off with 305 heads from friends junkyard?
I also have the block the heads came from in the shed but it needs a little tlc( gaskets, freeze plug,intake etc)and I'm not 100% on its Displacement 327&350 use same casting # and not sure on what dur/lift the cam is.

I know this engine made my friends '78 rcss c10 scoot before we pulled it due to head gaskets leaking.

Hopefully swapping out the exhaust manifolds for headers or these made into truck pull headers through a junkyard hood(fabbed by yours truly of course)

Intakes & better carbs are being searched for everyday in all local classifeds. A better cam would be good but I dont want to build this engine up too much or I'll never get wifey to agree to LS swap. I should mention I run 91octane in current engine.

 

[buRRp]

Here's what I kinda had planned for the burb....

Electric fan should yield ~10 HP

Vortec heads would gain around 40 HP

New bumpstick like a Performer Plus could get you 20-30 HP

Headers might net 10 HP

Hotter coil could do maybe 5 HP and crisper throttle response Tune up the whole distributor, engine, maybe run a little lighter oil, maybe squeeze a fresh 100 HP out of your engine, you'd think it was a brand new one (practically would be too lol except rings/bearings).

 

[Cowboy Cadillac]

Already run an Electric fan when in the mud. The last one kinda died out after being subjected to the mud though thats why I'm planning rad relocation to box. Would like Vortec heads but they aren't the easiest/cheapest to come across, even in my friends scrapyard. I am looking for some though in classifieds.

I should mention Ive replaced the HEI, cap, rotor & wires to better equiptment. Also engine must pull a minimum 14 inches of vacuum to be run in the bottom 2 classes up to 33", and up to 35" tires respectively.

 

[RedRider]

Back in the day we'd run 202 heads over 194s and then port and polish them. Also match the ports to the intake and headers helped give us small gains.

 

[Zembonez]

Nitrous Oxide FTW

 

[66nova]

Nitrous Oxide FTW

That shit scares me.


Sent from Ft. Worth TX

 

[Carolinaboy]

Nitrous Oxide FTW

That shit scares me.


Sent from Ft. Worth TX

 

[Cowboy Cadillac]

Nitrous Oxide FTW

I wish I could run that in my class.

That shit scares me.

Sent from Ft. Worth TX

 

[svensk]

screw the 5.3 save your pennies for a 408 stroker kit for an lq4. Right cam and heads your looking at 440 - 450 whp.

 

[Cowboy Cadillac]

Am saving to get a 6.0 and do just that(possibly with a turbo kit when house is paid off in 2 years). The 5.3 is just sitting there right now and to swap it for a 6.0 later would be pretty straight forward. Current finances just don't allow it, so I'm working with what I got.

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