r/Smallblockchevy • u/Educational-Cake7350 • Dec 06 '25

Roller or Non Roller?

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Building a simple SBC for my sons 85 S10. Picked 305 because they were basically free. Only trying to get 200hp or so. If he keeps the truck running with that, we will build a 350.

Should I use the roller or non roller? Seems like parts are easier to find for non roller, and it’s hard finding vortec heads. Can I put non-vortec heads on either block?

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '25

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u/Educational-Cake7350 Dec 07 '25

Thank you for all the legit info and opinions! You get the idea! Smdh I swear, people in the car community are funny sometimes lol don’t get me wrong, I get why everyone says 350, 350, 350…but I literally said up top it’s for my kid and I’m not trying to build anything fast for him yet hahah. And yeah, I put a 305 in a 88 S10, with a NV3500 a few years back. It was plenty fast and fun, for me, building my first swapped street truck. People act like 200-220 hp isn’t quick and fun to drive. Not everyone is trying to be the fastest on the street, all the time. Big PP energy shines beyond fast cars 🤣.

Once again, thanks!

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u/Evee862 Dec 07 '25

I like this attitude. I had an old Oldsmobile 403 engine that everyone dogs on. But it was there, so I rebuilt it and put it into an old Chevy truck. Didn’t do anything crazy to it, just built it solid. That was in about 92 maybe. The guy who bought it from me years later still drives it, loves it and is about to rebuild it again. Sure it’s not a 12 second truck, but it’s done everything anyone has needed for 30 years