peruvious

a buddy of mine is giving me a 350 block and a set of 350 heads. my 305 just went up and im just going to throw something in there to make it run.

what i have plans of doing is boring it .30 over and replacing the pistons. not the rods or crank. i want to rebuild the heads and port them out and im going to just gut the plenum and intake and put slp runners on. machine work isnt going to cost me much at all. but dont have tons of money for the parts.

does this sound like a decent plan of action? if not what would you do different? if so what kind of power could i be expecting out of this budget motor. thanks

yes i have searched a ton but i havnt come up with a answer that satisfys me.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

What heads? There are a bunch of "factory 350" heads out there, most of them are junk. More than likely you'd be better off porting and reworking your 305 heads.

What cam? What are you doing about exhaust?

Can't estimate power without knowing those things.

Chris89GTA

iTrader: (2)

Haha... they all start out as budget builds. Mine did. Stock 350 crank and LT1 PM rods, to go w/ TRW forged pistons. Was gonna run Vortec heads etc...

Yeha then came the TFS heads, the 227/233 cam, the LT1 intake, and so on...

five7 is right. What cam are you looking at? You can get out for a good price if you stay w/ what you are saying by adding some KB hyper pistons. Although the Speed-Pro (TRW) ones I got were only $20 more!

If I were you I would just get a set of Vortec heads and a Vortec intake base, SLP runners, and port your pleneum. That and maybe a LT4 hotcam. Seems to be a pretty good combo. That is considering the block to be a roller block. Is it a pre 87 or 87+ 350 block?

krly79

If it is like pre-86 then you can get a federal-mogul master engine kit with your choice of cam, pistons, bearing sizes, double roller, etc. The 350 kits are cheaper than my 327 and I paid something like $333 for my kit. I'm thinking they were like $250 or so. http://www.federal-mogul.com/cda/con...5_6779,00.html

Just need to have your crank, cam journal, and cylinders checked to know what cam bearing and crank bearings are going to be and what overbore you will have. You could do it really cheap if you stick to keeping the price down and do the labor, minus machining, yourself.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Somehow I can't envision "Vortec", "TPI", and "budget" being used in the same sentence.

For that matter, "TFS" or any aftermarket head in the same sentence with "budget".

Get the casting #'s off of those "350" heads. There are only a few that would make an acceptable budget/power package. Again, your 305 heads would likely be very good candidates to keep "budget" in the equation.

Chris89GTA

iTrader: (2)

LoL... five7 that was my point. I started out w/ a "budget" build like a lot of guys, but got greedy, and I can't say its budget anymore. Hell I got more inthe motor than I did in buying the car!!!

peruvious

i just talked to my friend. he believes the engine is out of a 92 corvette. it is roller obviously and he has the heads that went with it too. i was going to hot tank and bore everything there is to bore and put new berrings and basic stuff like that. i dont really want to go with the vortec heads because then you have to add all the other vortec stuff. im not tryin gto get caught into a black hole with the engine cause i do plan on building a 383 in the process as well. im just putting the 355 in till the bad 383 is done.

i havnt done a whole lot of shopping but i know what i want to get. i want to have 355. pistons forged just to add a little NO2 if i wanna get some extra HP. i wanna get a little bit of a rough idle cause its not a daily driver. im redoing the exhaust flowmaster in the back and slp headers. why do you all think my 305's on there would be for the best? i wanna just keep the top part of the engine the stock but just hogged out cause i can do all that my self.

any other suggestions would be very much appreciated

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Get casting #'s off of the heads (each of them) and block. That's the only way to know for sure.

There are more engines that came out of Corvettes out there than there have been Corvettes made, if you know what I mean.

ede

the way i plan a budget for engines is total up the cost of all the parts, add 2000 dollars to the figure and factor in another 500 or so for machine work for the grand total. then i square that number and that's my low end figure. cube the grand total and that's my high end number. the actual cost is something higher than the cubed number.

ljnowell

Hey man, I think what Five7 is trying to say is that most people who tell you an engine is from a vette are full of it, and really its irrelevant. If you are rebuildign a 350 roller is a 350 roller, dont worry about that, just cause it came out of a vette or a pickup doesnt make a bit of difference. As far as the 305 or 350 heads, usually the 305 is the way to go when you are looking at stock 350 heads. #1 obviously is the 76cc chamber that comes on a lot of 350 heads. that totally sucks. I'm not sure of the chamber size on those heads, but its prolly gonna be a lot bigger than a set of 58CC 305 heads.

peruvious

well all i know its a 92 roller 350. i know its irrelevant. machine work will cost me like basically nothing. and as i said im not trying to get radical with this 350. just wanna give the iroc a little more umph than before. 355 seemed the way to go. all i really want to do is replace my cam, rebuild a set of heads and then put the tpi on top ( modified of course) and later down the road throw a stealth ram on. just trying to find out some combos i can go with. ive had some experience rebuilding to stock. but not a modified engine so i have no clue where to go or what to build up on

peruvious

would this be a good rebuild kit for what im looking for in the bottom end....i know i need a cam as well..

summit rebuild kit for 87-93 350 FEM-CSMHP760-301

im not sure what cam i should go with ither. i am not worried about how streetable it is, and i do like a little rough idle suggestions?

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

If it really came out of a '92 Vette, it should have aluminum heads. That's not a bad place to start. But, you still need to verify what you're getting.

The rebuild kit should be okay.

Rough idle and TPI aren't a good mix. A computer-compatible cam, or ZZ9 w/1.6 rockers is about all you should expect to be able to handle. And get some PROM burning equipment, it's the only way to get what you can out of TPI.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Oh, you have MAF TPI. Handles displacement increases fairly well, but is limited how much air it can supply to the engine.

Stekman

Look at Comps Xtreme Energy EFI cams. They are designed with the same lobe characteristics as the 'normal' Xtreme Energy series, but are ground on a 112-114° Lobe seperation. I dont know if you plan on staying with the roller setup or going with a flat tappet cam, but if you dont feel like playing mix and match with springs and what not, i would suggest one ofthe corresponding "K" kits. If this is a budget rebuild, i would suggst a flat tappet kit. They are about $300-$350 for the Cam, lifters, springs, retainers, locks, seals, and timing set.

Before any individual cam suggestions are made, what transmission are you using?

peruvious

700r4...rear is stock as well. i would like to stay with roller. i hear that is the way to go.......correct? is there pro's and con's to having a roller set up.

i got to get into my buddies garage and get those casting #s

Stekman

Do you have the factory roller lifters, "dog bone" retainers, and spider? A hydraulic roller cam is about $250, give or take, depending on which company you go with. Comp is a bit cheaper, like $240, Crane is a bit more.

Like all mods done to a car, there are pros and cons. The pros of a roller setup that it is in better in every way (except one) than a flat tappet cam. The roller setup reduces friction, reduced friction means more power. Roller cams have faster ramp rates (the rate at which the valve open and closes) due to the fact that they dont have to worry about lifters grinding into cam lobes. Faster ramp rates mean more power. If it is a roller block youre going to want to use a "factory roller" cam. There is no difference in the lobe profiles. The only difference lies in where/how the cam walk is prevented.

Be sure the block has one of these cam retainer plates in the front.


The only down side to a roller setup: Price. Everything is more expensive.

littlebagz

I would use teh 305 heads and port them according to David Vizards book, "How to inprove small block chevy cylender heads" or and other book "How to hot rod small block chevys".

When porting them yourself it is important to note that teh shape of teh port has much more to do with flow than the size. Work in teh bowls will help much more than teh runners.

The 305 heads will also boost teh compression to about 10.5 to 1
You might have to get a different knock sensor though....

Roller cams are nice, but you could also convert to a flat tappet for much less. and get the same power increase.

I had an 84 z28 with a 350, '86 305 heads shim head gaskets EDL performer intake , heddman shorty headers, and a Blazer Cam (made by crane PN 4002 460 488 lift) the car ran 14.0 at 102 thru exhaust and street tires. THe motor including machine work was built for less than $1500. The Northern Auto engine kit with the cam upgrade was about $300 Im not sure how well the combo works with TPI as I was carbed. I do know that the compression alone will help make some more ponies

Good Luck
Bagz

Tobias05

I'm no engine expert by any means but, I would have to agree w/ this previous statement. I am reading David Vizards "Max Performance Small Blocks on a budget" and its a really, really good book. It'll give you casting numbers to look for and even ones to stay away from as well as basic at home head cleanup and bowl porting.

I'm sure his cylinder head book has even more detail...

just my .02$,

Brandon

Stekman

Hydraulic roller cams will always make more power than hydra. flat tappet cams of similiar .050" duration and lift figures.

peruvious

where can i get one of those books

Stekman

Amazon.com

Local book store

Tobias05

i got mine from amazon

roughly 15 bucks, came to my doorstep in 2 or 3 days,

Brandon

blacksheep-1

try these guys for lo-buck parts http://www.midwestmotorsportsinc.com...Assemblies.htm

Nixon1

I'd say the only downside to hydraulic cams, excluding the pricing.....is their rpm capability. And since this is a budget/street motor, that doesnt matter.


But yeah youre right, hydraulic ROLLER is always better than just hydraulic. The only REAL concern is between hydraulic PERIOD, or solid.