What I want to do is grab a 350 block out of a junkyard. a SBC (of course ). I basically just want this for the core, and i'd build it up from there... i realize that "a block, is a block, is a block" but i've got a few Q's

do they use the same cores and cranks for all the 350's?

you would think that they would give a higher nickel-content block to a sportsier car like the F-Body for a prime example.

So the bare block from a 350 truck in 1986 would be the same bare block that they used to assemble in a 350 Camaro, or Corvette even, that same year?

Now I have also heard a bunch about GEN 1, GEN 2, GEN 3 blocks... but i dont know exactly what would constitute a cut-off point between a GEN 1 and a GEN 2, or GEN 2 and GEN 3.

If anyone can answer any of these questions I will love you to death! I have searched for hours and espescially the GEN engine questions were not answered, to the least.

Thanks in advance :hail:

 

Sorry to answer your question with another question, but do you know the difference between a roller cam/lifter and a flat tappet?
How fast do you want your car to go?
How much $$ do you want to invest into the project?

All those things will factor into making your decision on which block to get.

If you want a hyd roller cam but your budget is limited, you should be looking for a factory roller block.
If you want a flat tappet cam (cheapest) then just about anything would do, as long as it's not too worn out or broken.

Do you want to keep the heads that came with the block you bought and use them for your build?

I'd say that a good general purpose performance engine can be built upon the vortec truck engine. It probably has more parts that could be re used for a HP buildup in the 350 to 450hp range.
If an iron motor with a factory roller is what you'd like then vortec is a good choice.

They don't use the same blocks and cranks through all the years. Although many parts are interchangable.

It's past my bedtime...

 

Gen. I is what you should concern yourself with. Gen. II is the reverse cooling LTx series. Gen. III is the LSx engines.

Crankshafts can come in everything from lower end steel to gray iron. In older older engines, gray iron and "forged" steel were options. Now, nodular iron is more common. I believe LTx cranks are steel. Yes, LTx rotating assemblies can be used, as long as the block they are going into is a 1 pc rear seal and you use an LTx damper. LTx cranks are balanced differently and more closely resembled the counterbalances of the 305 crank. All 3 (steel, gray, and nodular iron) will work in street applications. As far as rotating assemblies themselves, as far as the crankshaft is concerned, there are either 1 or 2 pc rear main seals. This cam about at the same time as the flat tappet to roller conversion was made (2 pc switched to 1 pc).

Truck blocks and passenger vehicle blocks may or may not be the same, depending on the year. In 87, the switch from flat tappet to the basdardized factory roller was made, in the blocks case. Passenger vehicles got the roller cam as well. Truck blocks got these new fitted blocks, however, did not receive the roller cam itself until the Vortec top end came along in 1996. Trucks also usually can be found with the 4 bolt mains.

the "010" casting is the most famous "high nickel" block around. I have one, 4 bolt mains, out of a early Blazer.

As for what's easiest, that would depend on what you have planned and what you want to do.

 

i'd look for a 1 piece crank seal and roller lifter block for street preformance applications and for all out preformace with aftermarket cranks a 2 piece seal block may win out. i wouldn't worry too much about 2 or 4 bolt mains

 

Thanks for the answers, I feel a little better with going out and grabbing a chevy V8 outta a junkyard.

I didnt really want to get into what I wanted to do w/ the engine b/c that would throw it off topic, but since it seems to interest you guys .

I just want something to do for a bit of hands-on experience while I wait around for WyoTech to come up for me.

Been trying to get my "learn on" so I will have a tiny head start in WyoTech and not be completely lost heh.

Basically I was looking for something that I could not only learn on, but slap into my car and would make it run with the LT1's, but I wanted a bit more down-low torque, and a better higher end (probably not too hard with the right valvetrain)

I was looking to spend about 1,500 on the motor alone (within time, not all at once hehe. Just wanted to start out by getting a core to put in the garage and wait for me to gather bottom and top end pieces)

I figure it will probably be a lot more plausible for me to do if I get a bunch fo junkyard parts. I figure the bottom end will probably stay in the block, that way I can focus on top end and not spend as much lol.

I want the car to be Fuel Injected, for complexities sake (this is a learning experience after all!) so I was thinking about nabbing the whole FI system off a junkyard LT1.

How much do you think I could get a junkyard LT1 for anyways? lol, that would really speed up the process just to start with what I want to compete with.

 

oh, i was also leaning towards hydraulic roller. It doesnt need to be a massively high revving engine. I just want it to be fun to drive around the freeway, as well as from a stop sign. It wont be a drag strip monster. Also keep in mind, chances are I'm using this block when I go to WyoTech for the 9 - 14 months, so I want it to be low-maintenance.

 

A used LT1 would be a great choice, they're built with some pretty good parts to begin with. The best thing you could hope for would be to find an F body or vette with a 6 speed that was totaled in a rear ender, that way you could get a killer tranny with the deal.
If the engine wasn't too worn, you could get by with doing a ring/bearing job on it, and put in a cam, and you'd be doing just fine with that. Headers and a chip tune as well.
Hyd rollers are a nice plus bacause in addition to the performance advantage, there's no cam break-in, that makes it easier on a rookie.

Shop around for a complete donor car if you can, it might have some nice wheels/tires too.

LT1 is gen2. Not sure what price range you should be looking for.