Vortec heads have a more efficient combustion chamber than standard heads. The intake runners are about equivalent to those of a good flowing "fuelie" head. Most vortec heads come with a 1.94/1.50 valve combo which is probably sufficient for what you're wanting to do. Personally, I prefer the older fuelie (camelhump) heads because the castings have an older iron composite which contains more nickel and they were cast in the U.S. They're also not centerbolt and look more in place under the hood (again my personal preference). Alot of the vortec heads were cast in Mexico. I recommended the block in the above link for the same reason....higher nickel content and a 4 bolt main 010 casting, while not necessary is hard to pass up at $125. Call a local, reputable machine shop for their recommendation on boring....everyone has their own opinion on this forum. I'd also be curious to see what they recommend and what their price for block work is....hot tank, magnaflux, bore, hone, deck surface and cam bearing install.
