Here are a couple more pics:
Carb is a 1903 Edelbrock Q-jet. I bought the rebuild kit and book from Cliff's High Performance (Cliff Ruggles) I thought about having him do the work, but it's pretty spendy and the lead time is measured in months (as in several to many). But with both his book and Doug Roe's, plus lots of internet research, I feel fairly confident. I would have liked to have had it plated, though - maybe some day. Choke (cover and coil not installed) is an electric conversion - no hot air provisions on the Vortecs.
I also had some challenges with the ignition shielding. The intake bolts are straight up for Vortecs and there are only eight, so things don't bolt up quite the same. There was some bracket bending required and some other "re-engineering" but I think it will all work out now. And I was worried about the stock type fuel line since the Vortec is a just a bit higher, but it seems like it will fit.
Here's my air cleaner set up. My '76 stock base so I can run the factory duct that goes over the radiator (will give me a little cold air), but then a top from a '73-'75 to get a little more in there. I'm using my original '76 element height (K&N that I had before) but if I run into hood clearance issues I can always go with a shorter element. Also note that the temp sending unit is installed right below where the top radiator hose will be. There are locations on Vortec heads for sensors, but they are smaller than mine. Smaller sensors are available if you know what you're looking for, but apparently they read high. Hopefully this location won't cause interference issues.
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1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.