does anyone know the specs for a 350 out of a 78 chevy truck?
compression?
carb is a four barrell but what size?
head specs?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

I got this block for free its a four bolt. I want to put it in my car.

 

The motor was "rated" at 180 hP IIRC. Heads are 76cc smog crap, probably 882. Throw them away. Cam is a 929, with .390"/.410" lift. Also crap. Get rid of it. It has dished pistons, the CR is approximately 8.5:1. Carb is a Q-jet, one of the worst ever, with a Q-Jet the "size" is irrelevant, wrong question to ask about it. Get rid of it. The block is probably a 010, typical 350 block in the 70s, may even have 4-bolt main caps installed on it, many truck motors did. That's good, if it doesn't have either The Starter Bolt Hole Problem where the holes are drilled too far from the crank, or The Lifter bore Problem, where one or more lifter bores are incorrectly aligned to the cam, and as a result, eat cam lobes.

It's a typical 70s smog 350, with all the benefits and shortcomings. What would you really like to know?

 

I always wondered why GM restricted their engines so much. I mean think about, why put all of that crap on a basically good motor to drag it down? If they had swaped heads manifold, carb, cam, etc, they could've got a more powereful engine, and It might've actually been easier on gas!

 

At the time, they basically had "deer in the headlights" syndrome, and didn't have a clue how to do anything right, especially when it came to performance, they were too busy just trying to survive... it was a very different world then from how it is now....

The block is the same as a 60s block except that their machines had been allowed to go to hell which is what caused the Problems. Everything else, was total crap.

 

This also was in the era just after the gas crisis of 70's which pushed the Big 3 into fuel saving mindset when it came to engine designs.