Napster134

Hello everyone, Im about to start building my 1st engine. I live in Santa Maria, California and will be getting some help from my uncle whos got his own shop/yard. My stock 305 will be coming out of my 91 Firebird for the 355.

So im just hoping i can get some good tips/walkthroughs/suggestions from you guys while I build it.
It will be a daily driver btw.

Im hopping to get at least 400+HP and 400+TQ out of this thing while keeping it a budget build.
So far all I have is a 5.7 block out of a 93 (I think) Chevy Tahoe.

I just ordered a rotating assembly a few mins ago from CNC-motorsports.com, for 598$

Here is what the kit came with:
-Flexplate 153 Tooth
-Eagle Cast Steel Crankshaft, 1 piece rear main seal
-Eagle 5140 Steel I beam connecting rods , rods will be pressed fit pins and will be pressed on the rods
-Speed Pro hypereutectic pistons, 4.030 bore
-Clevite 77 Performance rod and main bearing set
-Perfect circle moly face piston rings
-Rotating assembly is fully balanced

Once i get the kit ill be boring the block and start installing the rotating assembly.

Im debating on stock 350 ported heads or buying a set of ebay heads.

Im not sure what id be doing about choosing a cam since i dont want to rough of an idle as its going to be a daily driver. But i know ill be needing a pretty big cam for the power I want.

I will be buying some headers, chipped computer, and larger tbi injectors once i get closer to swapping it in.

Thanks everyone!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Do you have to go through smog inspection/testing in Santa Maria?

Napster134

Yes i do, imma go ahead and take it to a shop when its all done to
see if it will pass, the shop i take it to has a tech who don't really
seem to check many numbers or the computer.
He makes a visual inspection, makes sure all the smog stuff
is in place and working and puts it on the sniffer.

Although im really not expecting it to pass, which is ok too,
as there are other ways lol they just cost a bit more.

knowing all of this, my current issue is whether or not to go
with smog legal parts for the moment, such as an intake that
would pass the visual....

an update about the assembly; My kit should be in by the end of this week, i made a list of what im gonna be buying once i get the kit assembled on the block

-cam & bearings/ 262 or 268 comp cam
+heads
---vortec/ebay/stock ported (not sure yet)
---push rods
+Intake for the heads i choose
---Tbi/carb intake adaptor
---350 injectors
---walbo high flow fuel pump
-350 computer
-350 knock sensor

Not sure yet whether to go with comp cams extreme energy 262 cam or the 268

their both the same price and i was reading about the 2 cams being just about the same yet one more convenient for a daily driver and 5-10 less hp

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te...d_v/index.html

rite before the conclusion in this article, theres a lil info about the 2 cams

Thanks for the reply!

Napster134

Hello again, i just received my flexplate yesterday and im starting to think my kit is going to be externally balanced, the flexplate has a big weight welded onto one side of it and a bunch of little welds all along side the teeth. I thought all 350's were supposed to be internally balanced.

I hope this dont mean anything too bad?

Napster134

So i found out the flexplate thing is normal.

I ended up ruining my 1st block when i was boring it. i didnt clamp the boring bar clamp right and cut the wall a bit sideways.

So i got a new 350, it ended up being already bored .030 over so i got lucky, it has a bit of wear from where the old pistons were sitting but most of it came of after i honed it out a bit.

Hopfully start assembly on wendsday.

I decided to go with the aluminum ebay pro comp heads
(190/64cc)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

and I just found out my stock tbi wont get anywhere near feeding my engine enough for the power I want

I was wonderin if any1 had any info regarding this TBI im thinking about ordering.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Thanks every1!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I'd suggest asking about that TB on the TBI forum.

Napster134

Heres a few pics of the engine as i have progressed.

Napster134

Just an update. Heres what ive spent so far on everything:

594.90 Rotating assembly
317.30 cam/gaskets/cam bearings/freeze plugs/lifters
649.91 heads
70.00 Intake
470.00 ECU
300.00 Full exhaust
80.00 Fuel Pump
126.62 Fuel pressure regulator
23.98 Fuel pressure regulator gauge
113.00 Push Rods
60.00 Oil pump/head bolts
60.00 Bolts/FPR fittings
120.00 Engine Paint/Knock Sensor/ ESC Module/Spark plugs/FPR stuff/ect.
16.07 TBI Injector Installation Kit 7.4L
22.40 IAC Adapter Connector
78.69 TBI to Carb Intake Adapter
23.98 LIQUID FILL FUEL REG GUAGE
81.56 7.4 454 TBI
150.00 Wires/Oil n Filter/Knock Sensor/ESC Module

TOTAL: $3302.2 more or less.

I have a few small things left to buy.

Heres a pic of what it looks like today.

I will be pulling my engine out next week hopfully.

thomas1976

Much better to get TBI parts here http://stores.ebay.com/TBIPARTS

This the best way to tune http://dynamicefi.com/ tbi.

A member posted this link with warious calculators http://www.wallaceracing.com/intakecfm.php

Hope everything will work nice.

Napster134

Thanks. I guess I did pretty good then.

I bought all the parts i needed for my TBI from Dctrumpet.
I bought my ECM from Bobr.
I beleive my 7.4 454 TBI will be able to handle it with about 23psi.
I hear they flow up to 700cfm.

I made a rough tune for my engine start up this weekend. So I hope it will start. I used the Corvette 113 Head SA and VE tables and a few other settings from some of the tunes that come with ebl. I hope it comes close.

Thanks for all the help.

nalls426

iTrader: (1)

so did it all work out for you? this is the exact same swap im wanting to do to my 91 camaro. did you just get an ecm from a 350 tbi year of your car and tune it?

Napster134

It went pretty good! First engine I ever built and its a really good idea if you have the time and money, you learn alot! I built it last year before I turned 18 so its nice to say you built it yourself and pretty impressive for some.

Anyways I used EBL Flash. I actually got a tune sent over to me from Harris at TBI Chips. I thought I would take on tuning myself but got too busy and ran out of money for gas lol.

You can see the final engine bay in my pictures.

Its been running pretty good and ended up spending about 4500 in total.

Only bummer is im not driving it at the moment as I ran into a few lil problems as you can see here lol --->
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...ve-brakes.html

But this happened later down the line.

You will definitely need a tune for it to run decently.

if you have any questions about it let me know.