Vinscully50

You guys may have seen my thread about going to the junkyard and looking for L98 Corvette heads. Well the two C4 Corvettes they had, the motors were pulled. I have a 1986 Camaro IROC Z with a 305 TPI. 700R4 has been fully rebuilt and I have a full Hooker exhaust system (headers, Y-pipe and muffler).

I'm strongly considering going to the junkyard and looking for a 350 to rebuild and swap my TPI system on to it. I don't need a 600 horsepower monster, I just want a rebuilt mild 350 that I can drive for a few years and maybe in the future I can pull it again to build a 383. If possible I would like to do this for around $1,000 but not more than $1,500.

My plan is to find a Gen 1 350 engine, take it apart and really only use the block and the crank. I plan to buy one of those master rebuild kits, either the Fel Pro one from Summit or the one from Rockauto that have new pistons, connecting rods, bearings, rings, etc.If the crankshaft is good I plan to get it polished and machined. The only thing I might spend a lot of money on, is a mild comp cam. (I'm ok with using a stock replacement cam for the time being).

I plan to use the TPI and heads from my 350 as well as the electronics.

A buddy of mine who is a dealership tech, sourced a Junkyard 350 for his C10. His C10 had a 305, he found a Gen 1 350 for $75, had the crank polished, used a master rebuild kit, rebuild the 350 heads and used a mild Comp Cam. I think he said for around $600 or so he had a brand new 350 engine that's still in his truck. It's not a performance engine but it does the job.

The main question I ask is what 350 engine should I source? I believe our cars are 2 bolt mains, I'm leaning towards finding one. Any specific cars I should look for to find one?

I'm going to ask my dealership tech friend and my brother in law who is a machinist to help me with this project. I'm planning on taking my time and doing this project slowly.
My other plan is to buy a stock 350 short block and go from there. I can't find the stock GM Goodwrench shortblock any more. If anyone knows a good stock shortblock replacement that would be good too.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

I really would like to see a 87-up roller block despite being 1 pc and change flexplate/converter while you at it. Having a roller cam today is ideal with today’s oils

Vinscully50

I'll keep my eye out for one. Thanks.

Vinscully50

Regarding fuel injectors, would 22lb. injectors like the Corvette work for a mild mostly stock motor? I'm assuming they would be better than my 19lbs.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

You can make anything work but keep in mind factory injectors are 30+ yrs old now and may not be in good shape. May need tested and cleaned

Tuned Performance

iTrader: (92)

if you planning to use junk yard injectors they might be varnished up.
89-91 Vettes use a multec injector that the coils fail on.
budget money for injectors and contact southbay fuel injectors.

southbay08

We'll give you a good set of injectors. If you decide to buy them make sure you use promo code tg11 for 10%off. Just be sure to pay with a credit card to get the code. For some reason PayPal is not accepting the code
Or you can always call the shop
516-442-4707

zya5point0

iTrader: (4)

If you're not going real crazy hp, 350 tbi 4 bolt truck motors are on Craigslist all day for less than 500. Basic overhaul kit for a couple hundred. But you'd need a vortec base, which occasionally come up for sale used here. Just something to consider

Vinscully50

I'll keep an eye out for one. The only 5.7L Vortex I've found in my area the guy wants $1000 even for it. Claims it's "low miles" doesn't even list what year or truck it's out of.

Vinscully50

I did find a painted 350 block with engine stand for sale for $125. I haven't called the guy yet but running the casting numbers its from 1986.

It's two bolt main, one piece rear main seal.

When I go to look at the block, aside from obvious cracks, what things should I look for?

ironwill

An eyeball inspection isn't good enough to rule out all cracks (some only open up when the block gets hot), but some obvious areas to check are on the deck surfaces around the head bolt holes and between cylinders, and check all threaded holes for stripped threads. Look at the condition of the cylinder walls for obvious deep scores and any ring ridge, and verify with an inside mike that the cylinders don't have excessive taper and hasn't already been bored oversize (.030 is about as far as you can safely go on these old blocks).

I'd advise not to try to rebuild such a block until it's been magnafluxed and properly re-machined in all it's critical dimensions.

Vinscully50

No matter what engine or block I buy I do plan on getting it machined.

Question though, in my area I've only found 3 engines. None of the scrap yards seem to have many V8 engines in general, they are 90% 90s Honda accords and Civics.

I did find the one 1986 Chevy 350 Block I mentioned above and one scrap yard has an 89 and a 93 Chevy. The guy said he believes both engines blew a head gasket and the cylinders are full of coolant.

If I buy the 86 Block I still don't have any crankshaft or connecting rods. If I buy the 89 or 93 engine I do, but is there a chance a blown head gasket block is completely unusable?

ironwill

What you find in salvage yards these days is simply a reflection of what's on the streets; a very small percentage of cars built in the last 10 years or so had V8 engines.




There's always that chance, depending on the specific circumstances of the failure---how long the engine was run with coolant where it isn't supposed to be, and how long the engine has been sitting since the failure---but as a general rule, if you can get the piston(s) out of the block, it can usually be bored oversize. If the engine spun bearings and or wiped the cam/lifters as a result of contaminated oil, the block may be so far gone as to not be economically feasible to re-use it (machine work is expensive; good machine work is very expensive).

As an aside, a good rebuilt 350 short block can be had for about $2K; that might be your best route.

Aside #2; sometimes, machine shops---especially those that do a high volume of work---will have good, used blocks available for sale. You might also get a discount on machine work you subsequently hire that shop to do for you if you buy a block from them. You might try that avenue.

Vinscully50

Yeah in my area, muscle cars and V8 pickup trucks are rare. 90% of my neighborhood is thirty somethings with young kids and they drive Toyota Camery's and Hyundai Tuscons. I have about the only muscle car I see.

Last time I walked one of the salvage yards all the pickup trucks were V6 F-150s and Silverados. Thats because there are few tradesmen in my area, so few work trucks. The machine shop didn't have any blocks for sale. A few drag racing engines but no blocks lying around.

I want to keep this build under $1,000. I'm about to be a senior in college so I am on a budget. I rather just find a block and do a slow budget build.

1983Chimaera

What part of the country are you in? I just scored a complete 91-92 Camaro TPI 350 from the junkyard. One piece rear main, 4 bolt bottom end. It's been bored .030 over, was about to start machine work on it when I decided to go LTX route instead. Now it's just gonna sit as a backup motor unless I find a home for it. I have the complete TPI intake, harness, 730 ECM, sensors, injectors, etc.

Vinscully50

I'm in Florida. As a whole it's nothing but subdivisions and gated communities. It's different from New Jersey where I am originally from. In Jersey you could go to Wawa any weeknight the parking lot would be full of 3rd and 4th Gen F-bodies, Mustangs, 5th Gen Camaros, Challengers, Chargers, the occasional El Camino, Monte Carlo and usually one are two classic muscle cars getting ready to cruise or street race. On Craigslist V-8 cars and parts were easy to find.

Searching Craigslist a Chevy 350 block for $40 is available in my old town in Jersey. I also get a lot more results.

Only one junkyard had any 350s and they only had 2.

1983Chimaera

The local pull your own parts yards here used to be full of third gens. You could virtually throw a rock and it would bounce off 20 before it hit the ground Now you're lucky if they get one every 6 months, with TPI cars being a rarity. The one I got the TPI 350 from was a 91 V6 car someone had swapped everything but the rear end from a 91-92 Z28 on. It did have the 4 wheel disc, but no positraction. Everything else was there though, including the factory dual y-pipe. I have headers so left that behind but grabbed everything else. Also had a Daytona IROC hood that I got for $40, a good nose and 91-92 front air dam, good fog lights ($5 each, score!), and a host of other goodies. The car itself had SERIOUS cancer issues though. The firewall was rusted out all along the cowl, the bottom of the doors was absolutely crunchy. No idea why anyone would go through the trouble of swapping all that into a rustbucket body.

Vinscully50

I found two more 350 engines both have a milkshake from blown head gasket. One if from a 1989 K5 Blazer and the other is from a 1993 Suburban. Are both of these engines roller cam? If so would it be easy to convert to flat tappet? Reason being is I want to keep this a budget build. Cheap Summit Racing flat tappet cams could be had for $112. The cheapest roller cams are just under $500. Would it be easy to still use my 305 heads on the block if I converted everything to flat tappet.

ironwill

They probably planned to Bondo it up, shoot on a cheapo paint job, and sell it on ebay as a 'collector' car.

1983Chimaera

1987 up should be 1 piece rear seal roller cam block, but junkyard could really be anything. You can get roller cams for under $300, hell a junkyard LT1/L99 cam is under $30. And do NOT put 305 heads on a 350, no gains to be had there. Iron TPI heads are scarce, but plenty of swirl port heads to be found. You won't get high rpm horsepower out of them, but you can get lots of low end torque with them, great for daily driver grunt off the line for cheap. I built a 327 with a TPI and swirl port heads and it made gobs of torque and made it quickly, lots of fun on the street. TPI isn't designed for high end horsepower anyway, so it was a good match parts wise. Used an LT4 hot cam I got secondhand for $50. Nothing wrong with a junkyard budget build, just pick your parts carefully and match their performance profiles.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

52cc chamber 601' 305 heads worked great on my TBI 350 years ago. They flow nearly as well as the smog/TPI heads do and gave the dished piston 350 alot more compression.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

Where are the big vans? Check those...G-vans and Express vans both often had a 350 5.7 wedged under the dash.

ironwill

Small block truck engines didn't get roller cams until the mid-'90s, specifically, 1995, IIRC. Reverting to a flat tappet cam would be a bad idea.

1983Chimaera

My 4-bolt 350 came from a 1991 Suburban, was a 1 piece rear main roller block. Conventional wisdom says 1995 was first year for factory roller cam SBCs in trucks, but you never know what you might find. Look up the Mortec block casting number list and take it with you to the yard. Look for something promising check the casting number against the list, and if all else fails pop the intake and check for the spider in the lifter valley. If it's a swap there's also a good chance for an aftermarket cam in it or other goodies. Remember also when buying a short/long block or complete engine you can "shop around" your parts in the yard. Pull out the factory cam and slide an LT1 cam in there. Replace the alternator with a higher output unit. High flow injectors instead of the low flow stockers. Better heads or intake? Slap 'em on! It's generally cheaper to buy as an assembly than to piecemeal stuff later. Junkyard crawling is an art form.