I'm planning on swapping to a 350 my 305 is to slow compared to all these new cars the other day some kind of smart car just smoked me in the freeway out of no where lol.
I'm debating if I should just get a junkyard one or just get the basic goodwrence 350/260 HP. $1,500 hundred one.
I want the most HP for my money.
How would I disconnect the ecm and just use hei dist. Like which wire goes where? Pics would be good Lol

Also what would I have to upgrade on my suspension to handle around 350-400hp I want the least work and costwise
If there's anyone around Riverside CA who can help would be good

 

Those 260 hp 350's suck! You would be better off to get a L31 vortec from a 96-98 chevy truck.

 

Agreed. Read up on the 260 hp motor. It's basically a late 70s smog motor. Awful heads, lousy cam, super low compression, etc. The hp rating is the old style gross rating. In reality, it would struggle to make 200hp. I agree that the L31 with Vortec heads is the way to go. If you can't afford a new one, go junk yard shopping.

 

check your local scrap yards. you may get lucky like i did and find a real diamond in the rough! go to http://www.car-part.com. it's a website that is connected to scrap yards and you can search for all kinds of parts. that's how i found my new engine.

 

I got my 350 by looking around our local car message boards and craigslist postings. Found someone parting out a 1987 IROC for dirt cheap ($400), bought the car, parted it out myself (doors trans and interior), kept the 350 and scrapped the body and wound up making $50 more than what I paid for the car. Scrap was high so I got $300 for the body.

I was lucky that I knew the car ran before I bought it and scrap was at an all time high. Depending on the conditions I would do it again but it doesn't always pay off. Got a 91rs V6 car for $500 for my son. Found out that my parents didn't pay taxes on it for 5 years and the only way out of that was to either pay the back taxes to get it on the road or scrap the title and part out the car. Car wasn't worth another $600 so I turned the title in and parted the car out. Not wanting to deal with e-bay or shipping parts, I barely broke even and it took a couple of years as well with parts sitting in my basement. What saved my tail on that one was the RS ground effects.

 

Alrighty thank for the input guys if I find an l31 would the bottom end hold 750 Holley Carb, intake, good cam(which would u guys reccomend),I want 350-400hp. If it wont hold or reccomend taking it to a machine shop what should I say to look like I know why I'm saying lol. And what is the average price.my local machine shop quoted 650 for malory rings,gaskets,oil pump stud work(which I dont know what it is lol I'm a noon and I dont want to get ripped off.)

 

It depends on what kind of shape it's in. If it has sorta low miles and isn't all sludged up then sure it will. You will want to have the heads checked out and make sure you have enough clearance for the lift on your cam.

 

To take it to the machinist what shall I say I'm a noob I wanna sound like I know what I'm saying so they don't try to rip me off what would be the average cost. What would be a good cam? I want to get 350-400hp thanks

 

If their a reputable shop they should have a price list for their services and should be able to guide you in the direction you want to go. Tell them just that 350-400 hp and decide what you can afford from there.

 

Alrighty thanks man sorry for bugging. What would I do about my suspension? I'm not wealthy lol just need something to get by

 

Depends on what's wrong with it.

 

nothing just needs new bushings all around and some grease

 

Since you are in California, you cannot put a carb on the car. It will not pass the emissions test, especially the visual test. You will have to keep the TPI induction.

If you don't want to build the motor yourself or don't know anyone that does, I'd look at something like this 325hp 350 from Summit.

It comes with a warranty and will accept your intake. Also, the inspection places won't know the difference and you can tune it to pass the sniffer test. You'll just have to make sure you have all your emissions equipment hooked up to pass the visual.

 

My car dosent pass Smog Cuz of headers anyways. I know a Guy who knows a Guy lol. I know bolt ons lol I'm really handy. One of my old friends builded one for 1000 n made 400hp though it took him awhile to find everything dirt cheap

 

You can get emissions legal headers. But it's always good to know a guy who knows a guy!

 

Yeah we hear that ALOT around here.

So what you're saying is, you're enough of a LOW-LIFE to put somebody else's PERMANENT LIVELIHOOD at risk, PLUS ask them to risk HUGE fines; just so you can ... have your toy???

Nice mature responsible attitude.

Whether you agree with the law or not, IT'S THE LAW. If you don't like it, you've got exactly the same power to change it, as everybody else. Go vote somebody into office that will change it; or, run for office yourself.

There are PLENTY of CA-emissions-legal headers available. I know this for a fact, because when I lived out there, I HAD SOME; and my car PASSED, LEGITIMATELY. It really wasn't that big of a deal. All it took was making the right decisions on the front end of the project.

Do the right thing. Obey the law. You'll be glad you did, in the long run. (no I'm not talking about "global warming", I'm talking about your PRIVILEGE, which is not your "right", to drive your car on the streets, as long as you choose)

Meanwhile, that "260 HP" motor is identical, PART FOR PART, to the 160 HP wonders of the 70s. You got yer deeeeeep-dish pistons, yer smogger 993 heads, yer 929 cam, ALL the right ingredients for a HUGE disappointment. That's not the road to "350-400hp".

Big difference between "took awhile to find everything dirt cheap" and "going down to the dealer and plunking down hard-earned cash for a phone-company-van replacement turd".

 

take a step back for a minute. You cant just toss an engine in and have a good time.

These are factory station wagon engines and are great for hauling groceries and bicycles and children around town, maybe even some boats herea nd there. But the smallblock chevy is a terrible performance engine. In order to get any kind of decent horsepower out of a 350 you need to make a lot of sacrifices in low RPM (or "off-idle") torque. This is not a big problem, hot rodders do it every single day with no regrets. But even with modern heads and modern cams that trade off LESS low RPM power than the old stuff that's still way too popular (because thats what grandpa did to make his car fast in 1971) they still sacrifice power in the low ranges. Why does this matter? Because you need to re-gear the car and re-stall the torque converter and setup the drivetrain to handle the power. 350hp is more than doable with stock drivetrain components but you'll at least want a posi and gears to hit that power level or else it's not going to be any fun at all. If you build an engine where you wont need those upgrades, it's not going to be any fun either. It's going to be a stock 14 second Camaro.

If you really want to get the most power for the money, you need to do a Gen III+ swap. Get a 4.8 v8 out of a silverado. less than 500 bucks, it will probably run fine, and it will make more horsepower than even the fancy goodwrench 350 (which is a slightly polished turd, it's awful). Then later on you can put any Gen III motor you want in the car. LS1, LS7, LS6, whatever.

You're going to spend $1500-$2500 to build a 300hp 350 to begin with even if you get lucky on parts. I think you should take a step back and evaluate whether or not it would be worth it to make the initial investment now into setting the car up for a more modern engine platform that will be more reliable, economical, and probably easier to pass emissions regs because it's newer and therefore a "legal" upgrade. Plus it's going to be a LOT easier to get past the 300-350hp wall you see with 350's. Past that level you need to go with a lot of big dollar aftermarket parts. Factory parts just cant really get past there.

But if you must, L31 longblock, beehive springs, Lt4 hotcam, will get you 350hp. Will be fun. About as modern as a 350 can get. Streetable with ease, power with ease...


Also, I would put my 300hp 350 against your friend's $1000 400hp engine any day of the week.