A few days ago one of my buddies told me he had a 350 block/heads/valvtrain in his living room and i could have it all free, so i took it. Now i need some advice, i went to mortec.com to check out the casting numbers and heres what i got......

block
CASTING#.....SIZE...YEAR...MAIN CAP BOLTS....NOTES
10066036...350...........2 or 4..........Target Master/Goodwrench crate motor, 2-piece rear

heads...CASTING#...size......
3986339X...71......307/350......74cc chamber


I have the block, heads, crank, and valvtrain, I’m going to get it magnafluxed to make sure its alright, but my question is if its alright and I decide to use it what setup would you all recommend going from what I got from mortec as far as what type pistons and such, and also cam to go with. basically im just looking for some advice, thanks in advance.

 

Throw the heads away. No matter what you think you're going to get out of it using them, you will get less; I can guarantee you will be disappointed, same as everybody else that has heads like those.

A block is pretty much a block, as far as all that goes. Different situation from the heads.

What do you plan on doing with this motor? Carb or FI? Stick or auto trans? How much HP, or what ET, or other performance goals? What kind of budget? etc.

 

I got that exact block last week. mine was just the block though.

I've got some heads on the way, i just need a crank and cam.

From what I've found, that block was used for a general 350 replacement engine. making 220hp?? 300tq?? somewhere in that range. I've also run across conflicting reports on the durability of the block, some say it is higher in nickle, others say it is low.

I guess you should be ok with it unless you want to get a lot of power out of it.

 

Tequilla!! The infamous 'heche en mexico' block. I have a few of those. They are ok, a few may want to clean the casting up in the valley and maybe take the filter adapter off and peek in there as well. Then again, I'm **** about these things.

 

I was planning on keeping carb, and auto trans, power wise, comming from an LG4 I think almost anything will be better. I'm pretty much just trying to get rid of the LG4 and find something with some Decent power, not on a really high budget but I work things out. I might not even use this. the only reason i took it was because it was in his living room taking up space and soon to be headed to the dumpster.... and i couldn't let that happen. also what are the negitaves about thoes heads??

 

The negatives about those heads, is that everything tha tcan be wrong with them, is. They have small intake ports; very poor exhaust runners, especially the center 2; very thin castings in critical places, that make then prone to cracking of you try too hard to overcome their deficiencies; and huge chambers, that give low compression.

Look for heads with 64cc chambers; and build the bottom end back with flat-top pistons, instead of the dished ones that are in it now. Good head alternatives for not too much $$$ might include Vortecs, or L98 heads such as you cna often find in the clasifieds on this site, or even some of the better 305 heads such as the 416 casting, which you'd want to use with dished pistons instead of flat-tops.

The right cam will depend on what heads you end up with.

With the 993 casting, no cam will make up for their problems.

 

ok why dished with the 416's? Those are the heads i'm gonna put on my block? Also would a ZZ4 cam go with it ok? I can get one really cheap

 

The 416 heads have a smaller ~58cc combustion chamber. The dish would lower compression, and pretty much compensate for the smaller combustion chambers. As for pistons, perhaps, not a full dish. Maybe you could get away with a SLIGHT dish and 4 valve reliefs.

The ZZ4 cam is a fine cam. It really depends on what you want out of the engine versus what you put in. However, keep in mind, that "hencho en Mexico" block is a flat tappet block, whereas the ZZ4 cam is a roller cam. In order to use the it, you would need a retro-fit roller setup and a factory roller design timing chain. While there's nothing wrong with that, if you're on a budget, a flat tappet cam might be the way to go. Look at Comps Xtreme Energy grinds, the regular hydraulic flat tappet ones. It's about $150 for a cam and lifter kit from Summit.

 

kewl, i'll take a look.
So how can you tell what type of cam a block uses factory?

 

Well you could look; or if you're familiar with the motor in question, you might already know, or you could ask somebody here. Sometomes the only way to know is to look, especially if you don't know where the motor came from.

The Cheapo "Goodwrench" motors don't have a roller cam, and IIRC are 2-piece rear main seal. Keep in mind, those are sold as replacements for large fleet customers who need a new engine to replace that occasional failed one where the morons in the field forget to check the oil or whatever; think "phone company van", and the correct mental picture for the target customer base, and therefore the use of the motor, and therefore the motor itself, will become clear. These people want the cheapest thing they can put into a van that already has half its life used up out of it, that will just push the thing around. That's who and what those motors are for. They don't care about "value", "performance", "features", or any of that; remember, the cheapest thing that will push around a half-used-up work truck type of vehicle. That's what that motor is.

But, throw away the parts that suck and keep the ones that are upgradeable, and you have something to start out with anyway.

 

Yes, they are flat tappet cams. However, if you want to look for the heck of it, heres what to look for if you are looking for a roller block:

Thats the lifter galley. Notice how there are 3 raised bosses that have been tapped. Thats where the lifter retainer/spider goes.


Thats the roller cam retainer. If its a bare block, you may or may not have that particular piece, however, there still would be two tapped holes on either side of the cam hole for mounting that plate.

 

Don't make the same mistake I did. I got an engine from a friend of mine and spent almost 4 grand on it. I used the factory heads that came with it. I put $750.00 into them. They are thin castings, with peanut ports. I could have had a set of iron Vortecs for $570.00 and been light years ahead of the old 882's that I have now.

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...42&prmenbr=361

 

Keep block, Buy Vortecs from scoggin dickey with upgraded spring package

 

Also, remember that the block doesn't "make" HP or torque; the induction system does that, and the single most important part of that is the heads. So it really doesn't matter that the block you have came from a motor that was "rated" at 150 HP or 400 HP or whatever. It's just a block. The power output comes from the heads and cam and intake and exhaust, and the only things the block does, are to contain the combustion, and to survive. Once you get past that, they're all the same, as far as power output. Pistons are different, and can almost be thought of as part of the induction system, and cranks and rods are different as far as weight and survival; but a block is pretty much a block. Get one with the rear main seal arrangement you want, and a roller cam if you want that, and that's about all that matters for a street build.

 

just about any production block will handle 350-400 HP. The important part is the block prep and machine work.