i live in cali, so all parts need to be 50 state legal.. dont worry about budget, no blower or nitrous for now.. i do want a 350 or even a 383 that will do 300-350 hp

whos gonna help me? i guess first steps is to get the block.. 4 bolt mains? single rear main seal sound good?

 

zz4 bottom end(they sell it as a short block for around 2 grand), afr heads(180 or 195 cc), xr270hr comp cam and associated valve train, and gonna have to upgrade manifold and TBI. Go to TBI board for that.

 

You need to contact the authorities and see if you can even put a 350 in the car. From what I understand, cali. is VERY STRICT!!!

IIRC, RB went used to live in cali. and had to really watch his "p"s and "q"s when he modded his car.

 

i know i can swap parts, i asked my local smog shop about it, they said if they see aftermarket parts though, they will really hound the engine and make sure its all legal.. in my county, its all cool as long as all parts are 50 state smog legal.

and plus, im sure ill be fine, theirs people all around this town modding their cars, doing engine swaps and stuff.. so why couldnt i?

 

Well if your needing to go stealth mode for visual inspection, then stroking a 350 and using aftermarket iron heads or even porting some stock heads may be the way to go. I thought I read in a mag lately that California stops actually testing the exhaust when a car is 20 years old. Is that true? Not that it would help you at this point, but just curious.

 

Traviz, Are you going to keep your TBI or not?
That's the first thing you have to figure out. If you don't keep it, you'll have to go through a smog ref.
If you change your induction system you'll have to convince the smog ref that you transplanted a motor from a later year. And if you do that, you need to be prepared to deal with someone who knows exactly what the heck he's doing when it comes to picking over your car. Smog refs are very PROFESSIONAL.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Sure you can mod your car, but you have to be very convincing about making it look like your car isn't modded. Or that the mods were done within the legal guidelines.

BTW, It's 30 yrs for smog exempt in Ca.

 

AFR (180-190cc ish intake) heads are legal (must have the EGR/crossover stuff).
Edelbrock has a legal head (165 cc intake).
383's are legal, 406 too.
Comp and Crane Cams have some legal cams.
Not sure if Holley TBIs are legal (GM TBs may be difficult to detect, not sure about legality).
SLP or Edelbrock Headers are legal (others too), w/ AIR, and heat riser for the TBI air cleaner.
Edelbrock TBI intake is legal, can port it too.
Block year and displacement identification is not required, as it is in the same family of engines as stock. If you were to put an LS1 in, then there would be something to talk to a ref about.
I don't think there is any legal air cleaner mod, so when you go to the smog station, put the stock one back on.
EGR must stay.
Cat must stay.
Air must stay.
PCV must stay, charcoal canister must stay, etc........
All things connected to the computer stay, except AC or trans, but those should stay.
Custom Chip would be necessary, and not detectable.
Basically the shortblock is free-game.
The heads have options.
Vortec heads aren't an option.
L98 iron heads are.
Pulleys are legal, but eh, whatever.
The intake is going to bite you however. But, since the only cams available are mild, it shouldn't be too bad. The TB will need to be changed, but to what? I don't know.

If I stated anything incorrect, please lemme know.
Later

 

I'll admit I'm not 100% sure whether or not this is true, but I could swear that when i spoke to a smog ref about changing from a TBI to a TPI, I was told that it isn't legal unless you swap in the entire engine, ECM, and tranny from a later model.
Assuming that is true though, the engine swap route seems like the most practical approach.
Why?
Because the TBI is considered by most to be the least desirable induction system for performance purposes. Check the TBI boards and look at the times that are being turned in.
A big part of that is because most (99.9%) of the TBI cars are 305s. There was never an F body 350 TBI produced. Another part of the limited performance capabilities of TBI motors is the cam selection. TBI's don't work with a cam that's larger than maybe 208* @.050.
What happens is, when a guy decides it's time to get serious about going fast, he'll usually get a 350 or bigger and then get an induction system that's compatible with that.
That's why my suggestion was to decide first whether you want to keep it TBI or not.
If you don't, then start thinking about a swap.
Engine swap forum.... search out LT1 swaps.
You said "don't worry about budget". I would love to be able to say that. The first thing I'd do is start calling salvage yards for an LT1 with a 6 speed.
I know it's confusing. Look at it as a game with a complex set of rules. But you can win, if you know how the game is played.

 

im understanding very well.. i figure i will stick with TBI for now.. and a long while.. maybe get bigger injectors or something.

i already have an open air intake filter, not legal of coarse, but when i smog i just throw the stock one on..

the only thing im actually interrested in is, which parts effect smog, and which ones should i get that are 50 state legal (assuming i stick with TBI)

 

In that case, you can go with what redngold86z said.
An Edelbrock TBI intake is legal, but I used a performer EGR for a while on mine, with a TBI adapter. Some headers, I guess some guys are using 305 heads. But if you're building a fresh 350 block, it's a good idea to zero deck it, in which case the CR would be too high with 305 heads.
You probably ought to post on the TBI board and see if you can get some of the guys there to tell you what they'd do to a 350.
It's pretty hard not to pass smog with any cam that would work with a TBI.
Some AFR heads would be Killer, so would a 383. You could build on that combo as you go.
If you leave all your smog stuff hooked up and just buy CARB legal parts and put that on a block like the factory caprice motor that would pass for sure. I think those motors are a 350 TBI to begin with.
If I can find it, I'll give you a link for that.

 

Yep, its a tbi 350. l98 cam. Check the tbi boards, like what was already said, for the tbi. Theres alot of debate over airflow on the TBI units. That would be a problem for your air hungry 383. Plus, the worst part of the TBI 350 isnt really the TBI unit, its the awful heads and intake. The bottom end is pretty good too.

Though, since money is no option, the previous posts mentioning LT1 or LS1 and 6-speed swaps sound like a great idea.

Edit: SOME of the caprice 350s had the l98 cam. Any boxy TBI with the factory engine had a l98 cam.

Some wagons and the LTZ's had 350s without the l98 cam.
Check the rpo sheet for l05 and 9c1. That should sort that out.

 

ok well what i think i will do on this long approaching project. is go ahead and build my 383, taking notes and comparing parts with what RednGold86Z said. then once i get to the intake ill use a tbi adaptor plate if I have too

 

You'll be the hero of the TBI boards!