scagz2.8l

Hi I am building a 350 for my 88 Camaro. I bought a donor car and it had the running 350 tpi in it. I want to run a carb setup with it because the previous owner of the donor car said it he had problems with his tpi setup. I have the block stripped down bare at school, I am rebuilding the engine at my vocational highschool, and everything seems to be in good shape. I am going to get a rering engine rebuild kit and oil pump and new timing chain and sprockets. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on some performance parts I should get while its out and apart. realistically I would like atleast 300 hp to the wheels, gotta shut up some local Hondas at my school. so if anyone could help me out with some suggestions on cam/ carb setups id appreciate it. also would it be worth it to get the heads ported? what kind of power would porting the heads add?

redneckjoe

instead of re-ringing it, put some flat-top pistons in it.

before you go nuts with porting, try gasket matching your intake and heads, then your exhaust ports. theres lots of good videos on youtube about porting.

go for a double roller timing set.

probably a good idea to pick up a book like, how to hotrod small chevys, or something like that. i wish you the best of luck. take your time and learn all you can.

scagz2.8l

would you recommend just getting a rebuild kit like this? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fe...1/model/camaro

and to get this timing set?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sl...9sa5/overview/

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Both of those links are fine for the engine. I bought my rebuild kits(3) from northern auto parts. Their kits area lot cheaper than the summit racing kit and have the same parts. Their customer service is great too. One kit was missing the oil pan gasket and they sent me an entire engine gasket kit for free.

Do a search on here for posts from Sitting Bull, he has a great how-to on porting heads.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

From the factory, 350 TPI engines had 9.3:1 compression ratio. That's with a very slight dish in the crown of the pistons. Note that kit with pistons shows a whopping 9.35:1 CR with 64cc heads (which is what 350 TPI engines had).

The only reason you would need pistons is if you have excessive wear/taper in the cylinders. If that is the case, you need to overbore the cylinders, which means you'd need the oversize version of that kit.

Porting the heads would not of itself add any appreciable power. It helps the heads flow sufficiently to support other mods like cam and exhaust. There is a decent tech article linked from the thirdgen.org home page on self-porting, which is basically the same stuff contained in the instructions for the Standard Abrasives do-it-yourself porting kit. This is about all that needs to be done to factory heads like the TPI heads.

300 WHP is pretty lofty. With drivetrain loss, you need to make about 375 net at the crank. Since the stock 350 was rated at about 245 net at the crank, you can see that is a pretty big increase. Not only is it a big increase, you need to build the rest of the car to handle the new power - transmission, rear end, suspension, posi, etc., etc., etc.

Not trying to be a wet rag, just being realistic.

scagz2.8l

92rs_ttop I am looking on northern auto parts now. Do i need a kit made for a 91 350 if im not keeping the tpi setup? Or are there other differences in the block itself?

Five7kid thanks for the info on the pistons. The pistons are in good shape so I guess i will stick with them.

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

The block and it's internal components are independent of the intake system mounted to the top of it. The only exception is the cam, which needs to be matched to the heads and intake system(carb or TPI) for best performance and driveability.

scagz2.8l

for example this rebuild kit says it is for years 69-80

http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/ek-ek1097a

what is the reasoning for that?

bygddy

The pistons were not what 57 was concerned with, the cyl's themselves need to be checked out at a machine shop. I know you mentioned rebuilding this at school, is there a budget in mind? 375 is not hard to achieve with a carb'd SBC.
The bottom line is what do you have to spend to get the HP your looking for.

jokerZ71

If you end up needing pistons,make sure you get them with a 1.560" compression hgt.This is the measure from top of the piston to the center of the wrist pin hole.Some rebuild kits have pistons w/ 1.540" or 1.548.This is very important.If you use the shorter piston,you will be giving up power'compression,& losing your detonation resistance.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Location of the dipstick. Affects the oil pan gaskets.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

And I'm moving this to Tech/General Engine. The fact that you're putting a carb on it doesn't mean it belongs in the Carburetor forum.

scagz2.8l

I have 1,500 dollars that I could spend on the engine. I know that 375 hp is a stretch with that budget but I just wanted to see if it was possible. I am going to talk to the guy at the machone shop tomorrow because i have no idea what the cost of getting the block machined is. I will probably end up bringing him the block tommorow, see what needs to be done, and i will go from there with the money I have left over. Thank you guys for the help I appreciate it.

1gary

Take the machine shop more than just the block.The crank needs to be measured along with the big end of the rods.

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Match the kit to the year and the size of the engine. If you've got a 91 TPI 5.7, then you need this kit:

http://www.northernautoparts.com/Pro...?ProductId=990

Drac0nic

First off, have you bought any books? That'd be where your first $50-60 should be spent.

The TPI can produce some decent power, but honestly it's not going to make power where you want it to easily. Something like a Performer RPM or a similar knockoff high rise would work a lot better. It's something I would definitely want to keep an eye on craigslist or ask around for. Don't settle for something stock! This is one of the places you need to be spending cash. You're better off with the TPI thank a stocker. The TPI will probably actually be less of a head ache if properly tuned for a modified engine although some time with a grinder can fix that to an extent.

For a carb, I'd do something in the 650 range. You may as well ask someone their preference in underwear than give opinions on carbs, so I'll leave that one be. I will say that if you do a Holley do a vacuum secondary one and electric choke is preferred.

Is your block a roller setup? Just being sure. Cam selection is a high priority for you. There's a lot going on and the choice can make or break driveability.

What's wrong with your bottom end right now? If it's EFI and the engine's apart, I'd look and see if there's taper at the top of the bores. If not, I would just get it honed, toss some new rings in it and save a ton of bucks for other stuff. Odds are above average that it has cross hatch still. These don't taper at the top like old carbed engines tend to.

Have you measured how far the piston is in the bore yet? That'd be a good thing to do. That way you have a realistic idea what your actual compression's going to be. If you need be thinner head gaskets (you can also make your quench better this way) to up the compression some. You may also consider shaving the heads too, so that you can increase your compression ratio. There are a few calculators on the net.

Head wise, I'd spend bucks on a good valve job and back cutting of the seats. You really don't want to just "hog out" the ports of the heads. Go to about 80% of the valve diameter. Something that may help with that is you can take a couple old valves, grind them to the diameter you want and then when you're porting you can insert them and check. Don't sweat the runners too much, there's some gain to be had there but most gains will be realized with the valve job and working the bowl/the first 1-2" of the port behind the bowl. That being said though even a set of stock L98 heads should have enough flow for over 300hp. You also need to be aware that it is a time heavy process to port heads, so if you can find a set of Vortecs work the exhaust a bit you're probably ahead of the game provided you haven't bought your intake at that point.

Exhaust wise, headers and a good system are pretty well required. Long tubes are preferred, you shouldn't need to go too crazy with the system. A single 3" or dual 2.5s should feed you to your goal just fine.

scagz2.8l

I went to the machine shop and it costs $350 to have the block bored and honed. my teacher told me I don't NEED to have it machined because there looks to be minimal wear.

what is involved with vortec heads? I just need an vortec intake manifold to match? I found a reasonably priced set on craigslist that were just redone at a machine shop that I can get my hands on.

the block did have a roller setup. does that mean I have to keep a roller setup?

jokerZ71

Looks fine & measuring fine are 2 totally different things.You can't tell if a block needs to be bored by looking @ it.The cylinders need to be measured for wear,out of round,& taper.Piston to wall clearance needs to verified with the pistons being used.If the heads are rebuilt & have been ckd for cracks,sure.Ask 1st tho for what lift they are set up for?You will also need new springs if the current springs aren't suitable for your cam choice,so,factor that in along w/ the cost of the heads & possibly more machine work,again,depending on cam specs.You can use a flat tappet cam in a roller block,but,why in the world would you want to?That will require different springs as well along with different pushrods.Your instructor may be experienced,but,each cylinder has a minimum of 6 precision measurments to be taken to dtermine if it needs to be bored that be as small as .0005".I don't think he can tell that by lookin @ it.Have the machine shop measure the bores,ck the deck for flatness,& proper alignment of the the mains,etc.

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Vortec heads most likely have a smaller chamber size than what you're stock heads have. If you get them, you'll need to account for that when selecting your pistons. Flat tops may raise your compression ratio too much. You can change the head gasket thickness to help, up to a point. Same thing goes with having the block decked or the heads shaved, and those will change the length of the pushrods you need as well.

To run the vortec heads you'll need an intake to match them, and check the valve spring height and diameter as well as the max lift of the cam you go with to make sure it will all work together without binding or the valves hitting the pistons.

jokerZ71

You DON'T wanna adjust your CR up with gaskets.If your CR is too high for your choice of parts,you add volume either in the piston,or,the chamber.You want to set your piston to head clearance(quench/squish) from .035" to .045".This gives your engine a complete & efficient burn.Absolutely not over .050".Anything more than that gives up power & provides virtually no detonation resistance.It would be better to have a slightly higher CR & tight quench than a lower CR with a wide quench.

scagz2.8l

so I took the engine to the machine shop. I didnt need to have the cylinders bored so I got them honed. I got my crank miked and polished and will fit standard size bearings. I am buying this rering kit. http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/ek-er1084
I know everything I need except the ring groove depth. I am reusing stock pistons so does anyone know which of the two options to select?

thanks

Drac0nic

Grab your trusty calipers be they venier or dial. When you slide them apart there'll be a little "stub" that pops out. You use that to measure depth. Should be able to figre out which you need, 45 thou is quite a bit if you've got a set of calipers that does 1/128 or better. Just make sure the land is clean when you do it and probably measure in a few spots around the piston just to be sure.

1gary

If you don't contact Northern telling them what your using,that is a mistake.