kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

Ok I know this is probly a often asked question but I can not find the answer Im looking for. I have a 88 camaro with a 350ci Carbed. Im thinking of going up to a 383, or maybe keeping it a 350, not looking to be draging but i want the power. Its a remanufactured engine and to be honest I have no idea whats in it. I've been shoping for pistion kits, cranks, cams, rods. I have no idea what the difference between forged and hypereutectic which one is better, do i want internal or external ballanced crank?
Im want to build a quality reliable engine. It doesnt have to be anything hard core, more of a daliy driver and stop light racer. Could someone help me out with this. Also does brand name matter or would summit be jsut as good as eagle. Am i just buying a name with that high price?
Thanks I know I can count on you guys to hlep me out youve done it before.

kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

bump

dave-92gta

iTrader: (1)

well, i know nothing about cranks, but i thought i would add that jegs and summit stuff is name brand stuff, jsut cheeper with their name on it. since i have been reading, forged is the way to go, but very expensive.

Dave Farr

I'm going with Mahle pistons due to the total kit cost and coated skirts- forged with rings included.

F-BIRD'88

Summit racing markets a Eagle stroker kit that is just right for a street performance motor. It includes KB hyper pistons
Eagle 3.75" cast stroker crank (balanced), Eagle 5.7" I beam rods, External balance harmonic damper, and auto flexplate.
All you need to add is a prepped and clearanced 350 block, gaskets seals and cam bearings, cam and lifters and timing chain set and a oil pump. Its a little less than $800.
many kits are not "balanced" this one is.
You can choose dished or flat top pistons.
use the dished for 64cc heads and the flat tops for 70-74cc heads.
The eagle I beam rods may or may not require clearance grinding for roller cams. it's up to you to ckeck.
Summit #ESP-B13404E030 (+.030" dished)

Add the right heads, intake,carb, cam set and you've got a 500hp street combo.

84camaroturbo

personaly i wouldnt build a stroker unless you are putting it in the truck to pull your car with.
take your 350 to a good shop have them regrind your crank bore the block put 6inch rods in it use i-beam they are stronger. unless you are boosted or nos you should be fine with hyper pistons. have it completly internal balanced if you have a one piece rear main you have the option of pulling the weight off your flex plate and adding some to the crank to do a full internal balance. if not you will have more of a internal external balance.
internal balance is you are not using the dampner and the flywheel to help balance.
external you mostly use the dampner and flywheel to balance. if you take a internal balanced crank in space and twist it it will never stop turnin.
external if you twist it will start going end over end and start to tumble. if that makes any sense.

kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

So just rebuild the 350 and make it stronger is what you are saying. So I dont need forged then? This is really a great help, i wasnt sure what to do. I lvoe power and going fast but I dont wanna kill my Fuel Economy any more than I have to.
So I should be able to find a good kit on summit then, and im looking for 350 or should i just take it to a shop and have them out in what ever they use? I think i would just rather have a good hands on for whats in my car, guess its the braggin thing, saying hey I built it. So far no mechanic has touched my car I have done it all myself.

1989GTATransAm

iTrader: (3)

For a street machine you do not need forged. Hypereutectic pistons are fine as long as you are not going to be using nitrous etc. If you are going the 383 route the block that F-Bird 88 mentioned sounds good. Put your money into the best heads you can afford.

bubba353z

iTrader: (1)

I'm not an expert, but I did work for Jegs for a while (but didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night) and here's what I'd suggest:

For a mild street car, skip the 383 and build a 350. The 383 will generally cost more and will need more machine work. You can keep your stock balancer and flexplate/flywheel with the 350 (all 350's are internally balanced). The 400 crank (which you need for the 383) is externally balanced and will need a new balancer and flexplate/flywheel. You can get a new internally balanced crank to build a 383, if you just have to have one (not sure of the price).

If you keep the RPMs reasonable (under 6k) and don't spray the engine, you can get away with a prepped cast crank and rods (just get good rod bolts and main studs, like ARP's). If you want to push it a little more, then a forged steel crank and I-beam rods are good. You don't really need a 4340 steel crank, a 1053 or 5140 will be fine. The Jegs / Summit parts are fine products. GM Performance has some good parts out there too.

As for pistons - the hypereutectic pistons are a good compromise between cast and forged, and good ones like KB's can easily handle the occasional 100 shot. If you plan to spray often, then forged pistons are the best choice. They have to be set up looser (they expand more) and can make a little more noise when cold. Set the rings gaps a little looser for spray, if no spray then tighten them towards the low end of their range - let the machine shop guide you.

Where you are going to get the most bang for your buck is in the heads and cam selection. Stay conservative, and don't fall into the bigger is better trap. I'd look at the Edelbrock Performer package (RPM if you just have to have more). I suggest AFR's 180's, and a mild Comp Cams roller - if you have the $$$. There are too many cam / head choices out there, to discuss in this forum

You're also going to need some exhaust work to take advantage of the changes - shorty headers and a cat back at the minimum.

I hope this has helped - PM me if you have any questions or like more suggestions.

kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

For my exhaust I plan on running 3" all the way back. Im thinking Summit shorty, but the Y pipe is 2.5" does anyone know if you can have a shop just convert that to 3" I know it will take some money, but can it be done, cause the only way I have found to get 3" is to use edelbrock and the headers alone are 399.99 and the Y pipe is 99.00 the summit is 90.00 and the Y is 90.00 now i know that the steel is diffrent, but i mean is there any real diffrence in performance? I think Ill order the Y pipe from summit first and take it to my shop and see what they say. But 3" to muffler then 2.5" dual tips. The summit number is FLO-17151. So decent heads and a good cam and all new internals? That sounds alot cheaper than a total rebuild to a 383.

fenton06

I have the Hedman shorty headers on my car, and then had my exhaust shop fab the y pipe (3 inch) for me. Yes, it was a little more expensive, but I got everything exactly how I wanted, and the clearance is better than the stock pipe. (I had them put in a cutout too) I had them cut the stock pipes and put on a reducer from 3 inches to stock after the flange so that when I get my 3 inch exhaust its all ready to bolt up.

bubba353z

iTrader: (1)

I've got the full SLP set-up, from the headers to the exhaust tips. It's all 304 stainless, so it should last the life of the car.

84camaroturbo

if you run the 6inch rod and balance with the right cam and heads their is no reason you cant spin it to 7000 or 7500.
by using the longer rod it it takes alot of the force of the mains and rods.
i have built alot of 350s and a few 383 and for the power and money i would build a 350.
like stated above take the stroker money and put into some good heads cam and intake.
you will want to chose the cam and heads for trans and gears to get the best performance out of it.

rsmaroo92

BUBBA353Z, you make some good points, but not all 350's are internally balanced. All 1pc. rear main motors, (86+, I think), are also externally balanced just like the 400's. They use added wieghts on the dampener & flex plate/flywheel to balance the unequally weighted throws of the crank. These motors can be internally balanced, but you must have the crank balanced and use the correct dampener/flex plate.

onfir3

Some good points here. Boring the block .20 over could help, gains won't be huge, but depending what you do with heads/cam it will increase power. Also, Northern Auto Parts has some decent kits, and if you call they can swap all kinds of parts in, mainly cam/timing. http://northernautoparts.com/Products.cfm?CategoryId=76

bubba353z

iTrader: (1)

You got my curiosity going here. You're right, but it looks like the 86+ cranks are a bit of a hybrid. From what I can find online, the balancer is neutral but the flywheel / flexplate is weighted.

KJVAIL1204 - as you can see it's not always easy to figure out what you need. You might want to try and track down the details on the current engine, to help match up what you are going to need. If this is a second vehicle, you might want to pull the engine and let the machine shop tell what's in it before you go parts shopping. Might save you some time and effort.

If engine is in overall good shape (low miles, no smoke / oil consumption, good cylinder pressure and leakdown numbers), you might just want to swap a cam and heads on it and save the rebuild for later. Just a thought....

kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

Well here is my thing Im deploying in June and will have the extra money. Also I am not sure how many miles are on this motor. I got it from a junk yard and the guy told me it was a rebuild. Turns out it was a remnaufatcured. I cant find out anything about its besides its a 350 5.7L. the engine block number have been milled off so I dont know very much about it. I dont know what is in it, where it was done, and what shape its in. It doesnt burn oil, well not that I have noticed at all. And I have a few leaks but nothing to awful. I would just rather know it now has Zero miles and the parts are good quality

bubba353z

iTrader: (1)

Have you looked at the GM and Edelbrock crate engines? You'd have to add up the numbers, but you might be better off buying one of them. You can have over $2k in heads and valvetrain (if it's a roller cam), which would get you 1/2 way to a crate engine. Check out Scoggin Dickey's on the ZZ4or ZZ383:

http://www.sdpc2000.com/

Jeg's price is good too.

84camaroturbo

if that motor has already been rebuilt you might be better off buying a crate. could be way over bored or crank turned to far.
as for the one piece question the dampner is the same as a normal 350 but the flywheel has a weight on it like a 400 but not as big.
my crank is a one piece so i nocked the weight off and slugged the crank to internal balance the whole thing then zero balanced the flywheel.

kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

So rebuilding a reman. engine is a bad idea. I mean as long as they smooth it out it should be fine right. What if i go 5 or 10 over, i mean nothing big just enough to get a good seal. Like i said its not smoking or leaking, but I would jsut feel better knowing whats inside her. I just want to know that it will last and is good quality like i said. Im not looking for a nitro shot or anything like that.
Would I be better or getting another block from a yard, or even ordering one and just building a whole new engine? NOw im kindda leaning to that, I could just start ordering parts now, and not worry about the things I wanted to put on here piece by piece you know what i mean.
If I would be better off just replacing the internals thats what I will do, Like i said I dont really want it to run 11's or anything, i just want it to last for more than a few months or years.
I have no idea how old this engine is, and i dont know what is inside it. Parts or build a whole new one.

bubba353z

iTrader: (1)

You can only overbore a block so far - .060 over is about as far you want to normally go, before looking for a new block. Chances are yours is .020 or .030 over, if it has been remanufactured / rebuilt. It may be OK, but you really can't tell until it's opened up and checked by the machine shop.

I'd strongly suggest looking at crate engines - they are probably your best bang for the buck. Since you aren't looking to go racing, you can have plenty of power and still have the reliability of a factory built engine.

kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

there is a nice 350 that puts out about 330 hp, for 2400.00 I think that is a good way, so your saying i should have it looked at first or I should just order an crate engine and just forgo the hit in the pocket for taking the other one apart.

bubba353z

iTrader: (1)

The GM 350/330 hp is a great bargain - it will make nice power, run on 87 octane, and last 100k+ miles. You can't build one that cheap, and still get all new GM parts. You'll need a vortec pattern intake, if you don't already have one. I'm not sure about the flexplate / flywheel, so you'll have to check it against what you already have. I'm thinking it's a one piece rear main, so what you have now will likely work.

If the power level is acceptable to you, then that is the route I suggest you go.

kjvail1204

iTrader: (4)

Thats it, my mind is made up. The GM350/330 hp is the one for me, its a soild engine and a great amount of power. Its more than what Im running now. And its not to much for me to still drive day to day.

84camaroturbo

it probly has a roller cam to thats good power.