WEll i had a deal for a 350 tpi long block, chromed everything for 1800 bucks, but the guy is being real shady about me contacting the place that built it (naturally i want to know everythign before i buy) and he is being a real *** about giving me the places number so i talked to the motor guru over at teh chevy dealer and this is what we came up with

Caprice 350 tbi crate assembly $1,695
Hydraulic roller cam, nodular iron crank, hypereutectic pisotns, pm connecting rods, torsional damper, cast iron 64cc heads
2 bolt main, 1 piece rear main seal, .360"intake/.385" exh./110* lobe seperation, 9.6:1 comp.

350 injectors $185 each
knock module $85
knock sensor $45
Pan plug $9
Edelbrock headers $439
Edelbrock manifold $235 or whatever


He said the stock cam will produce about a good amount the Lt4 cam will make over 300 horses but isnt emmissions comliant. He said my stock 305 chip will have to be changed to the 350 peramiters before i should start the motor tehn the rest can be tuned he figure i should be able to make about 350 horse with tuning. SO for now thats waht i'm going with seeing as how the budgets tight, i hope to get teh motor in the next few months than slowly get my parts together and have it in by summer, tehn get the rear end done. Whats everyone think, the parts liek the injectors are all gm parts can i pick up more by running a different brand or whatever, anyone with teh same assembly?

 

I would get an new L98 shortblock for a few hundred less. You won't want to use those heads that the caprice core comes with. A $50 set of used TPI heads would be much much better. Do you have an LT4 cam to put in? If not the stock cam in any TBI motor won't even be on par with an LT4 cam. The LT4 cam would be a good start and would be as big as you would want to go on the stock castings. The cam you have listed there might as well be a broomstick. It is tiny to say the least for a fresh 350. Chip work will make or break your combo.

 

Shifty, jsut teh guy i was waiting for to reply...SO basically pick up a L98 shortblock, L98 heads and put my tbi stuff on. I have been told the LT4 cam is not emmissions legal in colorado, is teh Lt1 cam less severe so that would work better?

CAn i get teh L98 setup basically longblock from places, i would almost prefer to buy crate and drop it in for the price reasons, I'll go back and see what i can find for what you suggest.

I guess i should make clear i am trying to make atleast 450 horses on a tight budget of around 5 grand. So any input is awesome i'd hate to buy this caprice core and end up changing a ton of stuff on it. Thanks for the input shifty

 

Check out www.sdpc2000.com. They have all kinds of budget roller shortblocks. I am not sure if you will reach the 450hp mark with budget parts. However a solid 330 or more is obtainable. Either L98 (083) or 305 TPI heads (081's or 416's) would be a much better head than any TBI head. Better yet would be a set of vortecs. Emissions will be based on your ability to tune. There are plenty of TBI's that pass with much more radical cams. They key is to run a cat and have the car properly tuned. With EFI this isn't a big deal.

 

""Also, Im confused as to why some people are saying an LO5 is only good for 250hp. Last I checked you could get some L31 Vortec Heads, ZZ4 intake (or the edelbrock that fits), 454 TBI w/injectors and an LT1,ZZ4, or LT4 hotcam and be looking at over 350hp.""

Avenger007 posted this on teh lo5, goodwrench, l98 post, no one responded, if this is true...

i could basically drop in the stock motor from gm, then go with the lt1 cam, L98 heads, and the bigger tbi and could make over 300 horses. I need to stay away form vortec heads as they dont have the egr stuff i need for emmisions.

 

Aim lower, much lower.

You won't get near 450 fwhp. You will be lucky to get 300 fwhp (which would put you in the mid 13s) using a sbc TBI on a 350. The crate motor (any crate motor, not just the LO5) can be altered to make power, especially on the cam, intake, heads & exhaust. The same can be said for a fully rebuilt junkyard engine. The problem is, and always will be, tuning.

You won't get near to your goal unless you can master the ECM tuning.... and you are a long way behind people that have been doing it for a long time, and even they aren't making 450 hp.

To be realistic you need to aim lower --- much lower, than 450 hp. And if you are dealing with an engine rebuilder, you probably don't know whether he can really deliver the goods. IMO you should buy a crate motor (so you don't have the risk of dealing with a rebuilder) and then learn how to reprogram your own ECM. You'll start in the 220-230 fwhp area (i.e. sub 15 sec quarter mile) and be able to build that up twds 300+ IF you can manage to tune it properly -- yourself. My $0.02.

 

Kdrolt is right, it all depends on tuning. An untuned motor wont' even get you out of the driveway. You really have to learn to do it yourself, unless your satisfied with just barely running and no where near peak power stay away from mail order chips.

You might want to look into a jasper crate engine, or what ever the parts stores around you sell. The gas companies around here go through motors like their candy. They all run jasper motors when the stockers give out. Some one told me 750 to 800 with a core once, you'll have to check on that price. I'de get one of their short blocks and bolt on the best heads you can affoard along with an LT-1 cam, you won't break 300 hp, but it'll be small enough to learn chip burning on before you step up to the hot cam.

 

I totally get you kdrolt, i have thrown the idea around all week and have decided for now, i want to just do heads and cam see what i can get off it tehn i'll have a hole new top end so when i get teh itching for inches i can just swap the shortblocks.

The only place that would be doing any work would be for the computer tuning. My dad has built quite a few race motors all in the low 10's but he has "grown" out of that stage and wants power but not absolutely radical stuff, so he is learnign now how to build power with all teh computer stuff. Motor wise we are cool.

I did talk to a guy on the phone yesterday thats telling me L98 heads are a no no on 305's, yet i've heard to go L98 heads for better improvement on the 305. So right now i'm one confused dude, i can see what this guy says with 350 heads you'll have no compression, but i can see how they flow so much better than teh swirl ports. I think i need to hit shifty with a pm to straighten me out.

 

Look for 305 TPI heads from 87 and up. They flow the same as L98 heads, and have 58cc chambers. Everyone will cringe when you tell them that you are going to use a 305 head only because they tend to relate 305 as meaning "inferior". However, they all settle down when you show them flow numbers. Vader, and F-Bird'88 have some old posts around with a healthy 350 running ported 305 heads, some of the posts had some flowbench results. They were quite impressive, rivaling if not surpassing Vortecs.

Throwing L98 heads on a 305 is not a good idea. It will flow the same, you can't take advantage of the bigger valve because of shrouding issues with the small bore, and you lose compression. Where is the gain?

The heads that are garbage are the ones that came on any TBI equipped engine. You are looking for 081 castings which will mate fine with your factory intake, or 416 castings which can be used with your manifold with slight modification. Do a search on the 305 head topic, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Seriously, enough of this "teh" crap. The word is spelled T-H-E!! THE! THE!!!!! Not hard.

 

i talked to shifty on TEH pm's the other night and have pretty much decided on the 081 heads, LT1 cam, edelbrock manifold and headers for now. Gonn ahave the heads ported so it will keep me happy. I want to do a wicked motor but funds arent allowing me to build what i really want right now so i figure would rather mess with this one than start a motor project and run out of cash halfwqay through and have to sit it out for awhile.