Hey Guys,
So i have been saving quite some time now for a motor worthy of my camaro. My car is a 1986 base model camaro that came with a 305HO. The 305 got swapped out for a 4-bolt 350 from a 74 Nova after the 305 threw a rod.
So my parents surprised me in college by doing the 350 motor swap behind my back as i was in school, A very nice gesture but unfortunately not what i had in mind.
So now i am getting very tired of losing to my wife's Hyundai Genesis and My buddy's G37S. They call my car the Slowmaro and out of all of them i am the only one who truly cares about cars, They just enjoy them.
So i have a couple Buddies here in houston, TX who are drag racers that have been trying to find me a build and Here are the two that stood out to me.

427 Build with built turbo tranz NA
or
bore the 350 out and do twin turbo setup

I want to make at least 500HP to the wheels with the room to go much higher later.
I don't want anything LS based and this is only a weekend driver(i don't even care about AC) but i want something dependable that i can beat the **** out of and have some fun.

 

Hard to keep a turbo car cool in houston heat. It will do your goals easily, 500-800 whp with turn of a dial on the right setup. But its not cheap to do right.
Need a good air to air cooler but likely need meth inj on hot summer days at high boosts. Wont need it for 500 whp levels tho, thats pretty low boost.
Will need oil cooler and likely a 3rd fan for that cooler.
Will need to keep big size rad with low temp stat.

May be cheaper and easier to go single turbo...

Bbc can do 650 hp on pump fairly easily with good heads intake and cam. That be near 500's whp. Getting much more is alittle difficult and will need more cubes. 489-540 strokers, likely can get near 700-725 hp which is high 500's whp. 540" motor may get to 600's whp on a well done setup

Neither venture is gonna be cheap but the na motors are easier to tune and manage on street. Less heat under hood less plumbing mess etc. easier to work on

 

Yeah I know it's not going to be cheap, I was looking at 17-25k for the bbc build. I like the uniqueness of the TT build but it is complex.
The bbc build was planning on using spray as well.

 

You dont need that much for the build. But it would make an awesome build for entire car. You'll need 5-7g in suspension, rear and trans. 10-12g into motor for a stout big block. A turbo motor on stock block limited to 800hp would be 8-10g or so fabbing yourself. Cheaper depending on parts used

You really can go far on a budget tho. Even better is a 5.3 lsx swap and turbo that. Easy 550-650 whp without breaking a sweat

 

Yeah i have been looking around for a while and every shop in houston wants to LS Swap the world. I am not anti LS i just do not think that it is a classy swap on thirdgens that are built around the idea of "Muscle". to me a muscle car should have a big block or at least an oldschool motor. The 17Gs for the BBC build included new rear and suspension beefing up and pretty much the whole 9 Yards. I am extremely good with fabricating anything in fiberglass and paint and things like that but have no business doing motor work. I wanted to find a builder who would build me something and teach me how they did it just so i knew what was in my car and how it all goes together. I am very mechanical but have never had anyone more knowledgeable than myself to teach me how to build a motor so i am leaving it to pro's.
I have about 10Gs saved up with another couple on the way and more and more coming it's just hard to be patient

 

Having a shop make a turbo system is gonna kill the budget.... May be better off doing a stroker big block off a 454 core

 

Yeah i got a buddy who has a shop called Limitless Performance in Humble and he is budgeting 8K for the TT setup. Plus then we gotta build the motor and trans and suspension and rear end etc...
BBC is seemingly like the way to go but where would i top out at and do you think that would be enough to make me satisfied.
In reality i want to be able to destroy my wife and my buddies G37 and it would bring immense joy if i could walk my other friends C6 Z06 vette on spray.
I am just worried i am going to drop a whole shitload of money and then 5 years down the road want way more. I figured with the TT setup i could always go bigger and bigger and up the boost...
Where as the BBC is NA lots of HP then add spray and get even more

 

I know of that shop. my buddy knows ppl there i believe. If you ran e85 or race gas mix you could make a 800 hp 540-565" bbc and likely beable to drive it. Thats a mid lower 9 sec car in the south winter air at baytown

If you planned on spray keep it pump gas 650 hp and make a standalone fuel cell for nitrous with race gas in it. Upwards of a 300 shot once tuned will be plenty safe and capable high 8's.

That will handle most cars around although houston has many many 8 sec capable 1000 hp+ cars.

Problem with turbos or any poweradder is desire to keep making more power and its easy, just add more spray or boost. If you are gonna get the bug, sbc turbo setup is a good choice but will need an aftermarket block

 

Yeah so the way it is looking to me is i can drop 10Gs today and end up with a nice TT setup with minor motor upgrades making about 500HP. Tha will scratch my bug to whoop up on my wifes Gen and My buddies G37s. Then i can go back to saving and when i want to bump the boost and make 800HP+ i can get a blueprint 383 or 427 block and build that, crank the boost, and make tons of power.
I know i am not going to be the fastest car in houston, TX2K14 brought in cars with 2000HP and they were insane. But i will at least have a respectable build that's unique and puts damn good power to the ground.

On the other hand the BBC Build is all or nothing in so i basically have to save up 20Gs to get the build done... Which is a tall order for a car i originally bought for 500 bucks.

To me it seems like i am leaning toward the turbo option for now Budget as well as End goal. What do u think?

 

I like turbo myself but its better to do it all now and avoid doing it later imo. Fab a setup around the motor you intend to use because if you change stuff down the road the current setup may not fit.

If your 350 block now was 4 bolt main i'd say its not a terrible idea to try putting in good rods and pistons to just get car running and boost to 500-550's hp. Doesnt take anything special, zz3astro on this board is doing that with a stockish zz3 motor. But, Then down road you would have to buy a whole new block rods crank and pistons for big power. Not cost effective imo

 

Would it be a better idea to just Buy a new 350 or 383 block(same block essentially) now and build it to handle the high HP and then i can baby the turbo's while the motor is breaking in?
Then once i get the Boost Bug turn it up and make retarded power? The block's are really not that expensive. I would just have to buy block, Forged pistons, Crank( bigger or smaller depending one 350 or 383), rods, and build the lower end...
There are literally so many options it is hard to keep in perspective.
With the turbo kit coming around 8Gs probably a little more how much would i look to spend o build a motor for that power pack?

 

Depends on the power. Stock block and forged internals will run you 2500-3000 depending on machine work prices. That will hold 700-800 crank hp for alittle while. Most will say they wouldnt push over 650 on stock blocks but it has been done.

Next step up is dart shp block which is another 1800 machined. Case in point i have shp block and callies compstar internals, ~4600$ shipped. Goood to 1000hp+ as i am near 1200-1250.

Bullet proof would be lil M block at 600$ more than shp. Callies ultra rod and dragonslayer like crank at nearly 1500$ more than compstar stuff.

If you bought good internals and stuck it in a stock block for now and then got the shp block later, that could work. Most items would swap over.

I would just pony up and get atleast a compstar shp block setup to start with and sell off that 350. Go 400" because its all same price

 

I just spent 17k on my motor, bought the best parts and made 900 hp NA

 

Out boost to that stock'ish 350 will be the best option I believe, unless you want a choppy camshaft sound, etc.. Blow-Through carbs have come a long way if you are going that route. Fabbing the turbo kit can be done with cheap cast manfolds modified/rewelded. Goodluck! No point building an,expensive engine if you are new to this power adder game. 400rwhp will outrun a lot of streetcars/soccer mom SUV's/Hyundai's.