I have been reading alot of the threads on swaps you guys have done and picked up quite a few points along the way but still have a couple of questions before I venture out and start spending money.

First off I have an 86 camaro z28 with the 305tpi... it is time to go for the 350 because putting money into my 305 seems like a huge waste of time from all I have read. That being said, I am not looking for a huge horse power engine somewhere around the 300 to 330 range with headers would be perfect.
I have done my research and have decided that I am going to go with a crate engine but that is where the rest is open (cough cough) you guys can hopefully give me a few ideas where you have gotten them from and which ones particularly and what worked best. I see summit and sdpc has some decent deals going but then again would I be better off going for a long block or the short block and taking off my 305 heads and having them rebuilt? If that is the case I am guessing you guys will say the valves will have to larger but hopefully some insite can be givin to me there as well.

Thanks guys!

 

I say the best value is the GM 12530282. You can look it up on www.gmpartsdirect.com. Then print that out, and go down to your local GM stealership. Get their price, then get an appointment with the general manager. Show him (or her) the difference. If he won't match it, then get hold of the stealership's owner.
If the owner won't give you the same price as gmpd, I'd be surprised.

 

When price-matching, don't forget freight.

Be aware that engine has Vortec heads, so you'll need a Vortec TPI base.

 

he's right, but the MSRP includes freight from the manufacturing plant to the stealership. If you lived 5 miles from gmpd, you'd get the price in their website, plus tax.
You can't fairly count freight from wherever gmpd is to your city.
I already went through this, and it was a hassle the first time, but now whenever I show up, whatever I want, I get the gmpd price just for printing it out and taking it with me.
It's stressful, but the savings are anywhere from 15-50%, so I feel it's worth it.

 

Thanks for the reply's.... what are the specs on that setup you left a link for? When I go to the site look of that code there is very little information given with it.... or maybe I am just not looking on the site right.....

 

even with an 86 tpi? ive been confused on this.. isnt the 85-86 bolt pattern different than the 87+? 90 degrees or whatever. but i guess the 86 still isnt vortec style?

 

The angle of the center bolts changed around 87, but apart from that the bolt pattern is essentially the same.

The Vortec heads and intakes are completely different, and use a different port location as well as bolt pattern.

 

The relevant item is: http://sdparts.com/details/scoggin-d...-center/sd3816