DirtyCanadian

I didnt know where to post this but ill post it here I just wanted to know what are the best combos you can put together from a junkyard or what are key things to find there like a 500 ci caddy motor, rocket, posi, etc.... I was told you can make a good motor from a 350 rocket with a 454 cam and number 6 heads with other junkyard parts. personally i just look for motors now. Does anyone know of good parts to look for from a commonly crushed car model?

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AlkyIROC

huh? And I suppose you want to put Ford heads on a Chev too.

A rocket block is an old Oldsmobile block. A BBC camshaft won't fit in an Olds block. What's number 6 heads? A 500 Caddy engine looks identical to a 472 Caddy engine except for the crankshaft. In factory trim it has a 5000 rpm rev limit. The valve train will break above that. If anything, it's a hot rodder engine, not a performance engine.

Good luck finding any kind of performance parts in a junkyard. Anything that was once considered valuable is gone or is 30+ year old technology. The best you can do is to find a 70's 454 from a pickup truck as a donor engine for a buildup providing you can find a junkyard that doesn't want an arm and a leg for a BBC.

Buy a crate engine. It'll be cheaper and easier.

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DirtyCanadian

the olds 350 rocket has a higher deck height, maybe it was a 455 cam you can put in it.

AlkyIROC

All Oldsmobile blocks from the tiny 260 CID up to the 455 all use the same camshaft size so any Olds cam will fit into any Olds block. There are however very few aftermarket camshaft choices for an Olds engine. Even the best "race" cam has a max rpm of only 6500 which means there's other limiting factors to keep the engine at a lower rpm. It all depends on what you want to do with the engine.

The "big" factory engines, 455 Olds, Buick, Pontiac, 472 and 500 Caddy or any flavor of factory BBC from 396 to 454 will not have a good factory performance cam that can be found in the junkyard.

As for dropping in any of these engines into a third gen, all can be done with enough time and money but the BBC swap will probably be the cheapest and easiest.

DirtyCanadian

what about differentials what cars or trucks usually have good ones? most importantly which ones would be compatible with the third gens torque arm setup or does it even matter?

AlkyIROC

The only diff that will bolt into a third gen is one from another third gen or a fourth gen. A fourth gen diff is about 2" wider on each side and isn't any stronger than a 90-92 diff.

Finding a third gen performance option 9 bolt diff from 87-89 cars is stronger than the 10 bolt but parts are non existent or expensive because they need to come from Australia. If you're lucky, you may find a third gen that someone bought and installed a Dana 44 that was once available over the counter from GM. This was the best factory available diff but wasn't in any production model except the SLP Firehawk.

That leaves 3 other choices and all from the aftermarket. Strange, Currie, Moser and maybe a couple of others offer a 12 bolt, 9" or Dana 60 as a performance bolt in differential. For a complete diff, you're going to pay over $2000.

As for any other junkyard diff, you'll need fabrication skills to get something else to work since there's no easy way to attach the torque arm onto any other junkyard diff. The only other option is to change the rear suspension to something like ladder bars so you don't need the torque arm. The key to finding and trying to modify a junkyard diff to use is to find one roughly the same width. Trucks and many cars are too wide.

DirtyCanadian

i dont know much about diff's im trying to learn, but if by bolts you mean the number of bolts on the rear diff pan, my 83 trans am has 12 bolts but appears to be stock, what could it be, just off the top of your head?

slaman37

By bolts, he is referring to the number of bolts on the diff cover. I think most 3rd gen had either 9 or 10 bolt diffs.

85gulstrandTA

By bolts when referring to gm rears really means the number of bolts that hold the ring rear in place.

I have a stock 9 bolt in my 85 TA that has seen 100's and 100's of 1320' passes. With a pissed off 406 tring to twist it out of the car. If you have street tires the car will spin having a much harded time hurting the rear with out hooking, like at a drag strip with slicks.

Ward

Well, if you must pull engine parts from the junk yard, try and get them from a wrecked car. If a car in the boneyard has a straight body, it's probably in there because of a blown motor or trans. I mostly wind up looking for odds-and-ends interior parts. Many GM parts interchange, so if you can't find what you're looking for, poke around other GM models (cavalier, sunfire, grand am, blazer, etc). Over the years, I've found some of the more common parts that will swap, such as:

-Some 80's Grand Am GTs got "GTA" seats
-Many 80's pontiac cars came with the same steering wheel as 87-89 firebirds
-S10 blazer front seats are the same as camaro seats
-S10 blazer dome lights are the same as thirdgen ones
-Some 4 cylinder S10s got the 165 ECM (86-89 TPI ECM, mine came from an S10)
-Many 80's pontiac auto shift knobs are the same as the 85-92 firebird knob
-Pretty much all GM rearview mirrors will interchange, and auto-dim one from a caddy is a nice upgrade (requires wiring)

I'm sure there's tons more miscellanous parts that interchange, keep that in mind if you can't find a thirdgen at the yard.

__________________

North Texas Third Gen Association
1988 GTA 5.0/M5/3.45 LSD, T-Tops, Digital Dash, Leather - Current Ride
1983 Firebird S/E - Stripped
1995 Chevy 1500 5.7 Ext. Cab - Daily Driver

whiley

i dont know about BBC combos, but there are some possible SBC combos from the JK-yard

i'm working on a strict budget (about $1000 complete) 350 SBC / 350 hp, build-up right now (but 400 hp is not un-realistic with right cam);

starting with a late model Gen1 SBC, one-piece rear main, roller-cam block, from caprice and such, mine is a 1991 (paid $100 for it)
the later Gen1 SBC car versions typically came ready for roller cams (the truck ones don't), you will notice the three lifter-spider (hold down) in the valley, and the crank is fine for 350-400 hp)

LT1 or 1996+ vortec 350 engine powdered 350 con-rods fit directly to the late model Gen1 350 block, being 5.7" length
these rods are lighter and stronger then the old "pink" rods
typically a set can be found used (someone doing a 383 crank, or upgrading thier rods from stock) for $100 set/8

ARP con-rod bolts are good insurance, and worth spending $75-80

running some hyper-t pistons, either flat-top or slightly dished, several around for cheap brand new, for about $100
depending on your budget, you can find a set of LT1 pistons (which require re-balancing of rotating assembly) or other Gen1 pistons with only -10cc dish or flat-top for cheaper still
for mine, the bore wear is nominal, so i'm just honing the bores, and installing with good rings, and new bearings in bottom end

for a cheap cam try a LT1 roller cam (LT1 F-bodies), usually you can find for about $50 used
the LT4 engine was basically this, with 1.6 roller rockers
for more power look at something like the voodoo cams or comp xe cams (paying attention to your max valve lift)

mate to a set of 1.6 roller rockers (or rockin-rollers, as i like to call them - LOL), proform makes some inexpensive ones, magnums are nice too
i paid $80 for my 'new' proform set

a set of 1996+ vortec 350 heads (350 trucks/vans), dont believe the '906' being garbage, they are same flowing
while getting them machined true/flat; get screw in rocker-studs (or cheaper is to have stock ones pinned) & the valve guides machined down (for increased valve lift clearance)
i paid $125 for my pair, found locally, but $200 for a pair is not uncommon
the vortecs are factory limited for lift, but this can be fixed easily, mine have both the valve guides and the retainers clearanced, so to provide for more lift clearance

for springs & retainers, i've gone with the comp beehive valve springs with matching retainers and 7 degree locks (i lucked out, finding a set of springs/retainers/locks for only $75!), and using viton valve seals from 2.2/2.5 turbo dodge engine, though LT1 seals are an option too (but decrease lift clearance in comparison)
GM 'yellow' Z06 spring or C6 beehives, can be had for cheap also (some performance shops have 'slightly' used ones for cheap), the Z28 springs are an option too
using the beehives allows me to not have the valve spring pockets machined out for wider/typical springs, and they (reportedly) allow for up tp 0.5" lift on an otherwise stock vortec head (always check yours at install), they accomodate the higher rate necessary for upgraded cams, and they offer far better wear resistance

personally, i'm getting a 3-angle valve job (stock valves still, are same as LT1 metric size) done, with the exhaust valves back-cut 30 degree, that really helps the exhaust side flow improve
lastly, just doing some 'very' mild port work in the bowl, cleaning under-cut below valves, and smoothing around the guide boss & gasket/header port matching
combined, these will allow flow far beyond what the cam (i've selected) will provide, but most importantly will give great flow at low-lift (0.5" max)!

inexpensive 5/8" headers with at least a 2.5" or 3" collector size will flow well
i've found a bunch of info on how 3/4" can give up some some bottom end, and dont help top much in the 350-400hp range, so i'm sticking with 5/8" to help retain good low-mid torque
don't forget that vortecs are a "D" exhaust port
a pair from thermal-tech, are a 5/8"-to-3" collector header, shorty rams-horn style, cost only $155
i got hold of a no-name pair brand new (with decent thickness flange) for $50, and had a good local welder ($50), go through the welds and TIG them to make better, then i slightly ported stock SBC port shape to match vortec D-ports better, and east-wood thermal paint coated them myself

after that i spend a bit on the intake (performance-products) version of the air-gap intake, for use with vortec heads, for under $200, and used sanding-paddle-wheel bits on die-grinder, to clean up ant casting flash, and gasket match to heads

then source from JK-yard or swap-meets, a HEI distributor

i'm going with a Q-jet carb personally, rebuilding it and tuning right for this engine, they are easily found on 350 SBCs and 360 mopars, and cheap to rebuild, plus they flow up to 750cfm, but yet with smaller primaries don't give up low-mid torque like a big 750 would (in comparison)

okay, i'm done typing now - LOL

whiley

hey, that's some great info

i found a pair of nice cadillac sun visors, which had the dual visors, the little sun-shades for behind the rear-view mirror & lite vanity mirrors on both sides, which fit right in
they were only $15 (complete with clips) from the JK-yard

if we're not worrying about crossing makes here, then there is the electric rad fan upgrade possible (thank Sonix for tellig me about it) from a furd taurus
they apparently flow far better than other comparible sized, and while installing you could make the manual fan toggle-switch mod