rick121

Well, if you read my last thread on this forum I asked everyone if I should get a reman engine or build one. I decided rebuild and use all available funds. Found a '71 350 out of a Chevelle that has less than an hours run time. Not the prettiest thing because the prev owner painted over the grease without any prepwork... But i'm working on it. Besides, the price at $450 was right for me! The pros: Came with distributor, carb, and intake (which I had already bought thinking I was getting a reman) so I guess a garage cleanout is in order soon. Has a better-than-stock camshaft. Will get the numbers and look up how much better later. The cons: it's age... To anyone who has done a swap like this, is there anything different to be done than if I got an '85 engine? Doesn't have the same water temp gauge slots... Is that gonna be a problem? Also, I want a 700r4 on it to avoid losing my speedometer too. Any advice or encouragement appreciated!

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you should be fine with the engine, the only difference could be the accessory bolt holes in the front and back of the heads. the heads should have the same size holes for the temp sensor and fan switch

your v6 trans will not work with the v8, but you can use a v8 700r4 and retain your electric speedo, provided you get a trans with the electric sender, or swap your parts over.

I personally stay away from engines for sale with really low run time, there is no way for you to know if it was broken in properly. It could have developed a noise or knock, so they ditched it. Not saying this is the case, but its possible.

Could they prove it was rebuilt and not just painted?

rick121

yeah, he had the parts list and receipts and even though it wasn't hooked up so I could hear it (i know, i know, don't buy it if you don't hear it first) It all looked good and I wasn't too worried cause the guy is trustworthy. Believe you me, I didn't buy it for the paint job! it was somewhat chevy orange... but mostly grease colored. Mainly I was worried that I think the 70's 350s are 2 bolt main and 3rd gen camaros are 4 bolt. Also about the sensors, the only one i could find on the engine was in the back on the driver's side. Maybe a water temp sensor? idk. not familiar with old engines like that. I'm only 19! I'll have to check it out.. If you know of anymore, I'd be grateful for the knowledge

A friend of mine builds racing porsches and is part of the pit crew for high-end tracks and he says that the whole "break-in" thing isn't a huge deal. I think he said 20 mins at 2000 rpms is what they do and then an oil change and the engine is ready to race. and the guy that sold me the engine has built and sold a ton of classics like the chevelle the engine is from.

Yo

five7kid

Not true. First, no 3rd gens got 4 bolt mains. 2nd, 70's 4bbl 350's got 4-bolt mains through '76.

Third, it just doesn't matter.

rick121

Sweet. I was sorta worried the engine mounts wouldn't fit over the crossbeam or whatever and I'd have to modify the mounts or something. (I'm not so great with mods)

five7kid

The "4 bolts" are inside the oil pan. You can't tell a 4 bolt engine from a 2 bolt engine from the outside.

rick121

yeah, but like i said, i didn't know if that affected the mounting at all. I was going to look for an 85 engine that was carbureted to switch in but they dont put out as much power as some of the older ones

InfernalVortex

In a lot of cases tehy put out more power than the old ones. Those old net and gross hp ratings were very, VERY optimistic.

I would say the most important question is whether or not this thing has a roller cam. It most likely does not given teh expense of putting a roller cam into a non-roller block... so I'd be very careful about deciding what to do about breaking in that cam.

Why'd he ditch it after less than an hour? It's a whole mess of work pulling a motor out of a car. They had to have a reason, and hopefully it's not a bad one. But if the machinework and parts are good you can still rebuild it fairly cheaply at this point if something big is wrong with it.

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rick121

I need to get the cam numbers from him. I'll give him a call and get the numbers again.
Well it was a project Chevelle that the guy before him couldn't afford to finish got done with the engine and realized the body would be too expensive/hard to get all of the parts for. John, the guy i bought it from, is a welder who does fabrication and stuff like that and has built a few Chevelles just like this one too. He basically has all of the skill required to re-build it unlike the prev. owner before him. Honestly, in a 71 Chevelle (2 door coupe) who settles for a 350? That's pretty much requires at least a 454 minimum