Okay, my short block is darn near done. It is a 350 standard bore, 4-bolt, Speed Pro forged flat tops, GM LT4 connectong rods, ARP bolts. My original plan for the rest of it was a set of Edelbrock 6085 heads, 1.5 aluminum roller rockers, and a GM ZZ3 camshaft. Sounds like a good plan right? Well a friend of mine who is a camaro and firebird Guru(helping me through this project) has thrown a curve at me. I really want this motor done, and it is more af a pain in the a** then I thought, plus it is costing way more than I planned on. He thinks that I should just use the 350TBI heads that came with the motor and redo them in the following way: Cleaned and magnufluxed of course, Z28 valve springs, 3 angle valve job, and screw in rocker studs. That's it then slap them on. I'm sure they are 1.94 1.50's and that is what a ZZ3 motor had anyway. He thinks this way, I could have the motor on months sooner due to cost constraints, and that it will still perform great. The whole thing will be like 300 bucks, cause I got the heads for free with the motor. Then, if for some reason down the road I have saved up the 1500 dollars for the aluminum heads and rockers, we could always put them on the car later on. Then I could sell the TBI heads and lose hardly any money just for trying them out. A guy wants to buy them right now, so I have to make a decision soon. I mean its tempting cause I'd have the motor on so much sooner, and I'm not out much more than the time to swap the heads if I decide to later. what do you guys think?

Now the plot thickens big time. Okay so I had decided on the ZZ3 cam right. Well, there are some issues there too. For one, what if I don't do the aluminum heads(I probably will), how will the ZZ3 cam be for those TBI heads with a valve job? I am going cheap all of the sudden in considering to use these heads, cause I happen to work at a parts place so guess what? I have a Melling roller camshaft in my 305 that's for an '89 vette which I can warranty out for free, for either a new one, or even a replacement LT1 cam. So now I can have 300 bucks in a cam and heads instead of almost 2000. I was even thinking that one of the milder cams(LT1 or L98) would make it run better on the street with the truck heads anyway. Once again, I'm out nothing if I decide to change later, and the 350 is in sooner! Last thought is, that the TBI system would be more well suited to run with one of those cams instead of the ZZ3 cam anyway. So let's say I'm going to go ahead with these iron heads for now, do I buy the ZZ3 cam now anyway as planned, or do I warranty out the other cam for another one? Thanks for taking the time to analyze this post, I need help in not making a mistake and winding up with only 250hp like the nasty 1200 dollar GM crate 350.

 

I "think" you will be pleased with the LT1 Cam in the TBI engine but disappointed in the heads. I think you would be better off with a set of World Torquers for a little more than you have invested in the L05 heads. On my truck I had my L05 heads shaved .045" and had the intake shaved to match. I then had them install 2.02 intake and 1.6 exhaust valves in it. Cleaned the ports up and installed new guides, seals and k motion valve springs. It pulled strong to 5500 RPM which was much better than the stock L05 redline of 4500 . But it didn't feel like a 300hp+ monster. More like 270-280hp with headers and cat-back. I didn't dyno it and traded it on my 99 TA so I can't be more help. It was definitely faster than a stock L05 and had better broad powerband too.

 

was the cam in your truck the LT1 cam, or the stock cam?

 

94 Z28 LT1 cam. I bought the truck new and then put a Crane compucam 2050 in it. (Did not like it at all) then I had a lifter collapse and trash the cam. So I did the conversion to roller cam with LT1 cam after reading about them on this site. GREAT cam for TBI is all I can say.

 

I AM doing what you're thinking of doing.

I bought a used #638 4 bolt main, 1 pc. seal block, along with the heads for $100. Local machine shop bored it .030" over, .010" under on the crank, and resurfaced the deck, align honed the mains, etc.

Machine work plus block totals about $500. So I got the "Deluxe Master Rebuild Kit" from PAW. Cost me about $400 for Speed Pro hyper pistons, moly rings, Clevite 77 bearings, Milodon 'true' dbl roller timing chain, oil pump, cam (442/465 214/224 @.050". 112LSA) w/hyd. lifters, & a complete Rohl gasket kit. I added little stuff like ARP bolts for mains and rods. So now I'm up to $900+ total.

It's been 3 yrs now since I bought that block. So needless to say, I'm getting anxious to use it!!!

I found a G20 van that had rebuilt heads, with only 500 miles on them, for $120.

Guess what I'm gonna use? I'm gonna pocket port them, clean them up, and throw 'em on!!! I figure 'why not'? If I ain't happy with them, then I can buy better heads later on. So call it a $120 experiment. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine for now because of the mild cam I'm gonna use.

Hell, that's why I bought the 'little better' stuff (hyper pistons, dbl roller chain, ARP bolts) anyway. So I can continue to build the motor up as time goes by without having to change the bottom end.

IMO, that's what keeps the 'what can I do to my car/engine now?' spark alive!!

AJ