I know theres another thread on this but I've got a couple more questions. The 355 is complete turnkey with longtubes and purple hornies. It's a 1977 4 bolt with an edelbrock performer intake, holley 750 carb, single relief flat top pistons, refurbished rods, new crank, and 2.02 1.60 64cc heads. The guy told me I would have to find a 12V source for the distributor. How do I do that? Also, how hard would it be to switch from in-tank electric pump to mechanical pump? Is there anything else I should know of about the swap? The guy estimated about 330hp and 400ft/lbs from this setup, so would I need to upgrade anything else (suspension, drivetrain, cooling)?

 

I'd want to know more about the heads. Having casting #'s would be very good.

The long tubes fitting in the chassis is a crap shoot. Most likely they won't fit.

The 12v source is the pink power wire on your current coil.

Check the sticky at the top of the Carburetor forum for details about converting from in-tank electric to plain pickup.

You need to get the TV cable geometry spot-on when you hook it to the carb if you're going to use the TH700. You can search for more details on that.

Cooling shouldn't be a problem. Chassis - subframe connectors, poly bushings, boxed control arms - are always a good idea. Most likely you'll need more stall in the converter.

 

this engine is coming out of a 1987 trans am and the longtubes fit fine ground clearance isnt an issue either. he said he'll give me the TV cable that was made for the carb. he said the cam was a little bigger than stock but didnt know the specs right off hand. what stall speed would be good? this would still be my daily driver and occasionally go to the strip, so nothin too high.

casting number: 462624
heads are actually 76cc, but the valves are still the same

 

You never said anything about the engine having been in a 3rd gen.

Those heads are crap. Very unlikely to get 330 HP out of them without serious, knowledgeable port work. Low compression, poor flow in spite of the large valves. You'd be better off with 305 carb or TPI heads with 1.94" intake valves and some basic porting.

If you don't know the cam specs, you can't make any decisions about stall without running it first. When the power comes in, that's the RPM stall you should use.

 

I forgot to mention it, I thought I did. He said he's run a 14.6 in the 1/4 with this engine, and I think he's got non posi 3.73s. So the heads from my engine would work better? I've heard the 305 heads tend to flow better than 350 heads. Would you know a ballpark rpm range just basing it off the fact that the cam is slightly bigger than stock? I'd eventually swap the heads and cam but it would be a while.

 

and what all exactly would i need for the swap? mainly with the fuel stuff. ill probably go with a bypass regulator, so what else would i need?

 

There's a tech article linked from the thirdgen.org homepage about converting from EFI to carb. The details are there.