A friend of mine is interested in a set of LT1 heads but is building an older block. Will these heads work as LT1 has reverse cooling.

 

Buddy of mine wanted to do the same thing.... he got some and had the water passages altered and had them basically ready to use. Thats when he found out he had to use a different intake setup that would cost him more. He suck 800$ into stock unported heads and couldn't even use them without dropping a good deal more. It is possible but expensive and not worth it. Tell him to get some Dart heads and be done with it.

 

There is just too many differences between the two generations of smallblocks. Tell him just to get a set of SBC heads and go from there.

 

A vortec head is very similar to an LT1 head, with the exception of reverse cooling, and of being iron. If he just wants a cheap set of heads that flow well out of the box and are proven to make good power, vortecs are the best choice.

If he wants a set of heads that have alot of potential for an "all-out" motor, the vortecs aren't as good of a choice since they require machining and spring changes to handle a higher lift cam.

 

It shouldn't cost $800 to have the LT1 heads and intake modified to work on a Gen 1 block.