I bought my 1990 vette about a year ago. I have had nothing but problems with the new engine that was installed by the previous owner (less than 10K on the new engine). He bought it from ORielly Auto Parts. It was the block and heads only. I have been through 3 sets of plug wires (exhaust manifold too close). I installed the straight plug boots and insulating cloth but still too close. The spark plugs come straight out from the heads. Then i looked at a friends vette an noticed that the plugs angle away from the exhaust manifold. This engine has the wrong heads. Question: Can I install corvette heads on this block?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Welcome to CF.
In most cases, there are heat shields to guard against this.
Small block heads, are small block heads, and will interchange.
Basicly, 265, 283, 327, 305, 350, and 400 are the same engines. The dif is in the bore and stroke, and the valve size for dif heads. All parts are interchangeable except for pistons, rods, and cranks.
Hope this helps.

Let me explain.....
A piston from a 400 will not fit a stock 283.
You can use a 400 crank, but you have to change the rods.

 

1st, let me ask you, are the heads aluminum or cast steel? In 1990, they should be aluminum with angle plugs. Steel heads have different manifolds. It might be easier to replace manifolds and have exhaust mated to the new manifolds. Good luck. [8D]

 

This is not the original motor. The previous owner bought the new engine from O'Rielly's auto parts. It consisted of block and heads. It is a 350 competition engine according to ORielly. It has cast heads not aluminum and the plugs come straight out. Instead of changing the heads my thought was to change the exhaust headers for better plug clearance.

Thanks!