i have a 84 trans am and i am going to being swaping out the 305 H.O. thats in it and i want to put either a 350, 383 in it or a bbc. i want to drop an engine thats got somewhere around 500hp and i kno if i go with a 350 or 383 i am gonna be spending a good amount to get 350 or 383 engine to do that. so would i be better off putting a bbc in my car? if so what bb you think would fit best and would bolt up to a 7 00ra tranny. and if someone has put a bbc in there car before let me kno how much modding needs to be done. thanx

 

There is an "Important/Useful Information" sticky at the top of the forum on BBC swaps.

The cost of SBC vs. BBC will most likely be about the same by the time you get the whole thing done.

 

I've got to start my reply by saying I'm a huge fan of the BBC.Which is better in a 3rd gen,that's a real tossup.

The question is,you want 500hp,but what are you going to do with it?Do you want to burn pump gas?Is it a regularly driven car,or just a weekend toy?What kind of handling do you expect from the car?

There is no answer for what is"better".I personally feel that the BBC is a better engine,and the 500HP mark is easier to achieve in that package,but at the cost of weight,and a lot of it right where you don't want it at.I stuck with a smallblock in my car,because after driving a 3rd gen with a BB,I felt that given the same HP,the SB would be faster and safer.

However,at 500+ HP,a smallblock is anything but "streetable".Yes,mine has plates and insurance,but it is not by any means a daily driver,and requires a good deal of maintenance,even though it only gets driven on weekends or the occasional trip tp work on pretty days.
If I were to build a regularly driven 500HP,I'd either go with a large cube SB,or drop a wad and go with a built LS1.

A BB is going to make the 500hp mark without near as much trouble,and if done properly,there's no reason a 454 or 502 couldn't produce 500+hp,and still have very good manners in a street car.
But,your looking at a very pricey set of headers,and a lot of extra weight,that will in turn require suspension mods to be pleasurable to drive.

So it's really going to be a prefference thing,but I think a SB just works better in a third gen.

Also,There may be 700r4s out there that will live beind 500hp,but I've yet to see it.

Sorry for the long post,but that's my 2 cents

 

i am looking to get my trans am into the mid to low 11 on all motor right now so i think sbc would be better of and this car is not gonna be a daily driver only during the summer on nice days

 

For the money you will have in a BB to make 500hp and the cost of the engine, you can build an LS1 to make 500hp and be a very streetable car. There are a couple running low 7's in the 1/8th running a 12 bolt rear and 6-speed that still gets 26-27mpg on the highway so 500hp and streetable is very doable.

You do get into some weight issues with the BB cars and you really have to stiffen the car up to handle all the torque they put out so it's hard to say which is better since both have their good sides.

 

either way you decided to go your going to have to do a ton of suspension work. no stock rear end in a 3rd or 4th gen f body( less the dana and good luck findin one of them ) will hold 500 hp for very long at all. its gonna break probly the first few times it hooks up. if its a ttop car be lookin at a cage even if your not going to the strip w/ it. if youve ever had a ttop bend out from chassis flex its not very good feeling ( happened to a friend of mune while i was watchin him ).i personally have had a BBC 454 camaro and a few 400 + hp sbc camaros. ive had 3 that were low 12 second everyday cars. its not impsosible but better have a pretty good bank roll. making the sbc go low 11's really isnt that tough but the key to it all which ever way you go is in suspension stiffning and weight reduction and hookin up.
just real quick... when i first put together my 454 iroc it was a tire burner and dyno queen but a track wimp. i think my best run on street tires was a 12.5 just plain awful 60ft times but would trap really high. not too bad for a basically stock motor w. alot of head work closed chamber heads full exhaust and a mercruiser fuel injection system. i has a 700r4 behind her too she was fully gone through and updated big time...how long she would have lasted i couldnt say but for the time i had the car it never gave me 1 bit of trouble