Cost is a big issue here. Can I get a good crate motor under $1500?

 

Define "good".

 

Good running 350',more desirable stronger blocks usually out of a truck,sometimes even more powerful versions (the vortec motor which has better flowing heads) are all over craigslist from 100-500 dollars!

Look hard enough and youll have 900 to add to performance upgrades and have your self a nice sounding quick 350 to swap in for around 1500.

To answer your question, you are going to have a hard time finding a good powered crate motor for 1500. Even then youll need other parts for it.

 

yea i think 1500 for a 350 swap is gonna be somewhat stretching it. even if you do find a used 350 for cheap are you just gonna drop or have it rebuilt. if ur having it rebuilt 1500 isnt gonna get it done. alot of other little stuff comes into play to when talking swaps, plugs, wires, while ur in it might as well replace the motor mounts yadda yadda yadda.

 

If I went with a vortec motor, doesn't that mean it's out of something from the '90's which means more computer? I'm trying to get away from my computer controlled mess.

I originally meant a crate motor just to drop in and have it run, nothing more done. Now after thinking about it yeah, I'd go with a used motor but I'm probably not rebuilding it unless I get if cheap. I just want to get something in and be done. Otherwise I might as well just rebuilt my 305 and put money into it.

 

if thats the case i think u can get a 350 from summit (forget who its made by) for like 1200 i think. not performance oriented but a 350 none the less.

 

They make carb intakes for vortec heads so if you are currently running a carb all you would have to do is get the proper intake and swap the rest of the parts over. For that amount of money you can defently get a good running reliable 350, the main money constraint is how much power you want. The most important question to answer is what will you be using this car for?

 

probably not the answer you want but hang on to that 1500 and in a year turn it into 3000. not sure if you need the car for daily driver, but nothing worse than not getting what you want. i've done 2 swaps in less than a year because I didn't have quite the $$ I wanted. a year later I got what I wanted in the first place and I'm much happier now, but it costed me more in hte long run. it will nickel and dime you with all the little things that your not thinking about. my 2cent

 

I'm only driving the car a few months of the year, not a daily driver. I just want somthing decently fast to bring to the shows.

I could just hold off on the swap, thats not an issue either. I can save some more money in the meantime. I don't even have the $1500 yet but figured that $1500 would be a good amount to build up the 305 I currently have, right?

If I threw a vortec 350 in even with the carb and proper intake, isn't everything in the engine computer controlled?

89importeater, any idea what that summit engine makes for power?

I work with a guy who has an '88 Chevy 1500 pickup longbed with a 350 bored out to a 355 that I might be able to get the engine from. It has 240,000 miles on it and he has no idea when/if it was rebuilt or when it was bored out. He bought it from a friend and has not additional info.

 

No, That's about what it costs to get a rebuilt from someone like ATK. Although for $1800 (shipped) you can get a new crate 350/290 hp (minus intake, carb, distrib, and exhaust manifolds.)

 

If you convereted it to carb there wouldn't be anything else left for a computer to control. For that you would need a vortec carb intake, non-cc carb, and vac advance dist.

 

That doesn't sound too bad. So I'd just leave the sensors in the engine then?

A friend of mine told me his cousin is selling arebuilt 454 with a Turbo 400 trans for $800. Just sounds too good to be true and thats a damn big engine. I was always advised to stay small block.

 

http://cnj.craigslist.org/pts/815499246.html
Talk him down to 1000 or so and use the rest of the money on some mods.
Look for deals like that and youll be set. But your not getting anything brand spanking new with decent power or parts for 1500.

 

yeah you could leave the left over sensors in the holes if you wanted, there won't be that many actual sensors after the carb swap since a good amount of em are in the intake.. that price sounds way to cheap... something is up there.. big blocks can fit in these cars but you normally need to convert to manual steering and brakes..