speedingpenguin

iTrader: (1)

I'm currently saving up all my $$$ so once it warms up a little outside I can get rid of my old engine and put something new in. My plan is to get a nice, used 350 in good shape, clean it up real good, and put a decent set of heads and a cam and swap the intake and carb from the old motor over. I've been told that the edelbrock heads are good and can be found on eBay for cheap some times, but what else is there for not much money thats easy to find and get ahold of? What about cam recomendations? Total, I'd probably have like 600-700 bucks for heads + cam, but the less money it will cost, the sooner i can have it done and the sooner i'll be to a new transmission too. What should I be looking for? Thanks,
-Chris

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

Research the Vortec heads. They make the most power for an empty wallet modder.

IHI

iTrader: (1)

Start going to your local machine shops in your free time to see what they have all ready done on the shelves ready to go. Most if not all good shops will have dozens of sets of heads in all castings/brands that can often be had for less than what it'd cost to ship a set in. They can often times get better deals from the manufacturers shipping the heads into their shop than if you ordered them shipped to your door. Most shops will sacrifice a moderate profit to win your loyalty since alot of times they stock many of the items we order from speed catalogs, here's the catch, the items are usually priced $5-10 more than the mags, BUT they're in stock with NO shipping charges so it coomes out in the mix.

I've always been one to try and keep the money local when possible to help our guys instead of making sombody else rich out of state, but there are times to void that rule when your savings can be bigger out of state.

Otherwise, Summit/Jegs are the 2 biggest catalogs to start your "pricing" search and will give you an idea of what going prices are.

speedingpenguin

iTrader: (1)

How bout used heads though? This motor is in no way going to be perfect, because right now i need something that runs good, but doesnt need to be perfect in every way, know what I mean? So yeah, I could do vortec heads, but if I could save 150 bucks or 200 bucks by getting some used (but still good) vortecs, i'd do that....
So new, used, etc., theyre all a possibility

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

I meant used ones. You can get a good set for 200 to 300 bucks. New ones run about 500 to 600. $650 will get you vortecs prepped with all the goodies ready for more than .470 lift.

speedingpenguin

iTrader: (1)

Nice. Which vortecs should I be looking for?

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

The ones off Vortec motors (Hint: 96 thru 2001 GM truck/van 350 motors). A quick search will tell you what casting numbers to look for as well as where to get these gems. Ebay and local classifieds are full of these heads.

Stekman

062 or 906 castings.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

What are you really after - a 350 that runs decent, or a "project"? Which is more important - the final result, the money spent, or being able to say you did the work?

This is what my brother did for his truck http://www.rebuilt-auto-engines.com/...46&p_catid=111 . He absolutely loves it. He ordered on line, they called him up to verify all the details and to be sure it would work with what he intended. He specified the 083 heads, they included a good L98-type cam, it ended up a little over $1600 to get it to his door - he didn't send the core back. If you want 4-bolt mains, the core charge will be higher (and they'll reduce the refund if you send back a 2-bolt core). He went this route because he couldn't afford the down-time required to rebuild his current engine, and didn't want to get into the "project" aspect so much.

It won't be a "screamer", a Vortec probably has more performance potential, but not for a $600 budget for just the heads.

Something to consider. For what it's worth...