350 Vortec Cam Upgrading/Tuning/Chips?

[Chief_Handy]

Hey guys i currently have a 96 K1500 with a 305. For the winter as im saving my money and such i was thinking about doing the 350 vortec swap. Staying TBI. Now this would be a winterish project and would love to have a pretty bad ass 350 to put in my truck for the spring and summer. As my 305 is running fine and dont want to have to worry about maintaining a new engine if there were to be any problems. I was told too upgrade the cam. What cams have you all gone with for more torque and and HP? Also have you all any boughten any good tuners/chips for your trucks? I just went to 285/75/17s on a 3inch body lift i had 3.73s using a calculator i dropped to 3.49s or something. So i will be putting in 4.11s as well. But any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
---Collin

 

[df2x4]

Um... Don't 96 and up already have Vortec engines? What do you mean "staying TBI?"

 

[Chief_Handy]

Um... Don't 96 and up already have Vortec engines? What do you mean "staying TBI?"

Yes they do, some people have suggested to go to a carb. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[df2x4]

Right on, had to ask. When you do a tune, don't waste your money on a handheld programmer or "chip." Contact a company like Black Bear Performance and have them tune your PCM. The results will be much, much better.

 

[Chief_Handy]

All good man. And ive heard great things about Black Bear. I will definitely keep that in mind. I appreciate it! Glad to know the results from them are much better than a handheld.

 

[Chief_Handy]

So i am buying a 97 350 vortec long block with an ecu and 69k miles for pretty decent price. Mild cam and shorty headers. also going to 4.11s should be a pretty dirty truck after this project.

 

[JoshCampbell55]

So i am buying a 97 350 vortec long block with an ecu and 69k miles for pretty decent price. Mild cam and shorty headers. also going to 4.11s should be a pretty dirty truck after this project.

Hey there, I recently did a rebuild on my '98 vortec 350. We did an LT4 cam with beehive springs, 1.6 rockers, .030 over and a tune and it came out incredible. I added shorty headers after that and definitely noticed a loss in low end and a gain in the higher end so if you're looking for more low end go with long tubes for sure.

One thing that is going to make the most difference is the tune, GO TO BLACK BEAR AND GET A DYNO TUNE!!! I got a mail order ECU and the vacuum was all over the place so it wouldn't start and idle so I put in the old ECU and got it dyno tuned somewhere local and it started running again.

I've yet to actually take my truck down to Black Bear with the ECU I got mail ordered so they can dyno tune it which I know for sure I'll get more power after that.

Josh

 

[df2x4]

Did you try contacting Black Bear after having difficulties with their tune? I'm sure they could have corrected it for you through the mail without the need for a dyno tune...