truck vortec fitting in fbody Qs - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

Flippindabird · 07-31-2010, 05:50 PM

i have a few questions regarding fitment of a 99 vortec 5.7L from a suburban fitting into a 87 fbody...
-will the truck oil pan clear, it appears to be larger(maybe more capacity??)?
if the truck pan will not work i have a pan from a 90 fbody
-it did not come with a timing cover, will the 90 cover fit?
-my fbody is an original LG4 car, im reusing the carb and distributor and it will be computer controlled, does the vortec block have provisions for the sensors that the LG4 had?? it does not appear so to me and i do not see a spot for the oil pressure sending unit on the back of the block... what sensors can be deleted? is there a knock sensor on the vortec block? maybe the PO removed it??
any help from members who have vortecs in their cars is appreciated thank you

V · 07-31-2010, 09:46 PM

im gonna do some rough answers, others will chime in and clarify i bet...

first, truck pan may fit, try it. if not then the 90 fbody v8 pan will fit, but you MAY need an f body oil pump pickup if the truck one wont fit that pan.

second, the 90 timing cover will not fit if keeping Vortec ecm(which i saw your not though). the vortec has a crankshaft position sensor mounted in the stock front cover. if you dont need that, then the 90 sbc timing cover should bolt on, and should clear the stock timing chain.

you should be able to fit all the same sensors on the motor. there really isnt anything special for the CCC quadrajet. there will be an oil port somewhere, and knock sensor hole should be there just like your stock motor, and coolant temp sensors will go into the heads, you just may need adapter fittings, im not sure. BUT your intake manifold for the CCC carb will not bolt onto that motor.

if you wanna try deleting sensors, why not just go to a regular carb and dizzy setup?

Flippindabird · 08-01-2010, 12:46 AM

thanks V that was really helpful, ill try to answer you lol i dont WANT to delete the sensors but i thought it may be ness to use the vortec block.
i did know the intake would be different but thanks anyway you never know what the next man knows and i wasnt absolutely thorough in my description of how i was going to use it. the crank position sensor explains why the PO kept the timing cover
.there are 2 reasons that i cant just convert to non cc carb and dizzy
1 PA inspection 2 money
im looking into passing the inspection (paying for a sticker) because im not going to be able to reuse the egr with the performer RPM intake, then maybe in the future if i do get past inspection i can get rid of the cc Qjet and dist

as of right now im just trying to get the engine in the car with everything hooked up and running i just picked it up this morning its on an engine stand in my shed ill be cleaning it up tomorrow as well as taking the valve train apart to swap cams, then ill reassemble with my new hv oil pump, LT1 cam, new springs and valve seals and new timing chain and i think im just gonna go ahead and use the '90 pan just to be sure it will fit, swap the pickup and hopefully theres a windage tray in there wich i think theres supposed to be, ill do a better inspection of the block tomorrow and post a few pics of where i think the sensors are supposed to be... also got alot of sandblasting to do lol

no one knows where the oil pressure sending unit is supposed to go do they??

Flippindabird · 10-15-2010, 07:30 PM

has anyone tried to use a ZZ4 timing cover with a vortec truck engine? i just installed one on my 99 vortec engine and the crank snout only sticks out 1/2" its supposed to work with all sbc's 96 and older, if anyone has had experience with this id love to hear it, it looks like im gonna have to buy another cover

r0nin89 · 10-25-2010, 10:57 AM

I know this has been at rest for a week or two but dont forget that the vortec block has no provision for a mechanical fuel pump. The whole is just no there period so your going to need an electric pump.

Perhaps the zz4 timing cover vs the vortec block has something to do with roller provisions? I'm not to savvy on the subtle differences between the roller and non roller motors.

Flippindabird · 10-25-2010, 04:15 PM

yeah i got it close to figured out... oil pan fits no problem. the zz4 cover fits, it just didnt look like it would at first because it doesnt fit like a traditional small block cover... as for the fuel pump, im using a electric pump in the tank with a reg before the carb... what im trying to work out now is where/what sensors go on the block and heads... btw the oil pump pickup is different then older SBC's as well, i got a new high vol pump and had to use the old pick up