Back in May my 305 blew where it was replaced by a 350 H.O long block crate engine. My brother, two friends, and I did the engine swap. But it couldn't have been done without the financial backing of my awesome parents. Along with the install came 2138 headers, 2000 stall, 3" exhaust cutout and other goodies you can see in the picture. After driving it more than 2000 miles I can say it is an awesome engine. It sounds great, runs smooth, and has allowed me to commute 60+ miles a day with no troubles. It has gobs of passing power leaving me extremely impressed. I tried keeping it under 2500 rpm for the first 1200 miles and changed the oil at the routine break in intervals before messing around with it. I highly recommend this engine as a reliably-fun replacement. Enough of the talk, here are the pictures. oops 1am Installed with the addition of Fall leaves. And thats all she wrote.

Awesome engine! I'm doing a similar swap and i'm trying to figure out which is the best 350 to get. Two questions for you: 1)how much for the engine? 2) where'd you get the timing cover?

Thanks for the complimento. The engine came straight from summitracing at $2600, and the timing cover came with the engine. The part number for the cover from my GMPP catolog is 141-215.

The rotating assembly is supposedly rated to 500hp and a person told me they run a 150 shot at the strip. For the price and reliabilty its hard to beat. Down the line I would like to install a 6 speed for the gas mileage.

The only other options I know of in the price range for an performance crate engine are: blueprint engines from summit, carolina machine engines, and i think Jasper engines. If you have the time you could do an used ls1, lm7 swap with a 4l80e.

Oh yeah one last thing, make sure you have a way of getting the crate engine of the truck. I had to order a truck with an lift gate and he couldn't drive up my road because it was to narrow. So we had to drag the engine all the way up my road and down my driveway on a hydraulic pallet mover.

WOW. Good thing you had 3 people to help you... I thought about CME just because of how close I live to it (1 hour away) So I could (maybe) convince them to let me pick it up. but I'm never really sure who's got good quality parts. I'm sorta looking for budget street performance. Respectable horsepower (at least 250, maybe 300, would like 350) but for a price that I'm not killing myself to get.

Economical,fun,& up-gradable...
Good choice!

The whole project was a true blessing from beginning to end. It was very helpful in having experienced people help guide me.

Being that close to CME seems the way to go. I would give them a call to see if they can maybe even make a engine on your buget. Saving on shipping is a definite plus.

You have the right mind set. I know all to many people who take out huge loans and sacrifice all to much for their vehicles. Best of luck with your engine swap.

alright man. thanks! hopefully it goes well

Hey, Joyce

I'd appreciate a little info on the Specter piece, as I like the looks but didn't believe it would fit under the hood with my 350HO Deluxe. Oh, and where's the air duct situated?

JamesC

I would say there is about 1/8" gap between the louver nuts and the spectre top. The overall height is 2 3/8". The part number from jegs is 98499, and its the lowest air cleaner I know of. I had the edelbrock pro-flo, but it was more or less choking my engine. The spectre plenum cones in towards the center to make room for the stud holding nut and lock washer, making it even all around. The material thickness is almost a quarter inch of aluminum! It can also be pointed in any which direction you choose to situate your ducting. Here is a picture of where the filter is. I have no charcoal cannister as you can see, and its zip tied to my washer fluid reservoir and STB.

I noticed you have spohn lower control arms. How do you like them?

Ducting number: 865-9751
Filter number: 865-9736

Many thanks for the info. The Spohn LCAs are great.

JamesC