im building a 383 stroker motor for my '87 Formula, and im gonna retain the TPI unit. i have a TPI 305 in the car right now so im gonna need a 350. i have been lookin around slowly for one preferrably with all the stuff just in need of a rebuild and everyone ive found thus far is "fresh" or too darn expensive. so while looking through the local "buy and sell" today i found an Olds 350 Rocket block for $40. i know it ain't a Poncho block and i would like to have one but the way i look at it, all GM cars have blocks from different divisions stock, very rarely do you get a Poncho with a true indian inside! so by doing the Olds block thing i wouldn't feel so bad. my question is, do ya'll think building off this block is a good idea? what potential probleams do ya think id run into, any at all? do ya'll know of any good deals on a good (preferrably 87-up) 350's that are complete but in dire need of a rebuild with good blocks? if so how much? and is the party willing to ship? i want a complete one so i will have the stuff i need that doesn't come in the kit and that i can't transfer off my 305.

 

i tihnk building the olds 350 or trying to make a 383 out of it is about the dumbest thing i've heard in a while on here, glad you ask what i thought or i'd never of said it.

 

2 Olds 350 questions in one week?

I'll respond the same as I did on the other thread.

Go grab a Jegs or Summit catalog and look for the Olds 350 parts. When you do find the 10-15 of them they'll be twice the price of a chevy 350. So you have a 16th of the selection and twice the cost. You pretty much have to go to guys like Mondello for any real parts and you will pay big time.

So unless you like spending tons of money for no real reason I'd say scratch it from your thoughts. If you still want to blow a ton of money and get nowhere go to TBI.

 

Listen, i thought about building a stock one and didn't want the trouble. You need a BOP to Chevy trans adapter if your not going to use a BOP tranny, the engine is about as wide as a big block,
need custom exhaust, new mounts, parts are hard to find and the ones you can find are expensive. my advice to you would be find a chevy 350 block and go from there.

 

hell we had 2 questions about points in the last few days

 

Ever since DRCE resurrected their "Rocket" tradename for the GM Olds-Chevy hybrid racing block, everybody seems to call every Olds motor in the world a "Rocket" even though Olds themselves dropped that name back in the 60s... so, bottom line is, it's an Olds motor, but not a "Rocket" block, at least not the "Rocket" block listed in the GMHPP catalog, or anything even dimly close.

I gotta agree, don't bother. There's no such thing as a TPI setup for an Olds motor. The reason an Olds 350 block is only $40 is because it's so nearly completely useless. Of course, there's no such thing as TPI for a Pontiac motor either, so a Pontiac 350 wouldn't do you any good.

Keep your eyes open for something like a wrecked 350 Caprice from the 90s in the local junkyards. That would be a decent short block core to start from. The heads suck, they would choke a 350 even worse than TPI itself does, but there are people selling used L98 heads all the time in the classifieds on this site. Gather parts slowly instead of trying to find a whole motor with the exact right combo all at once, you'll have alot more success.

 

thanks for the replies, guys! i am now steered back in the direction i originally started in!!! so what about the second half of the question?

 

for me i can find 350s laying around everywhere. guess i'm lucky to live in part of the country where people park their old trucks in the yard when they quit running. might want to look around car shows/swap meets