STEEL

Ok, I have been on this site since about last October, bought a second gen in December, couldn't fix it (Parts were expensive, and the money all went into fuel) and then finally bought a 91 Camaro RS with a 305 TBI and a five speed in June. Most of my life I have tinkered with my dirt bike, usually under the watchful eye of my father. When the harmonic balancer broke on the Pontiac 400 (In my old second gen) It dropped large pieces of mettle into my oil pan. It took me two weeks, with my fathers help, to re-assemble the engine. I also will say that I could have done a MUCH better job (Loosing bolts, not making sure everything was tight, ect. The final result leaked horribly and was all around not as good.)

Since then I have been getting better. I recently swapped out a 10 bolt open differential to a 9 bolt posi in one evening without loosing anything, and it went together VERY nicely. I give myself an A- only because I havnt managed to restore my parking brake yet. As you can see, Im still a not-so-experienced mechanic.

Now, my 305 is SLOW. Let me say that once more. SLOW. It makes me mad how slow this car is compared to the 79 Trans Am I had before. I want to put a stroker 383 in, but the cash flow isnt great. Im still in high school with a part time job as a waiter at pizza hut. Even still, they dont give me many hours.

Now, my original plan was to go to a local machinist. He offered me a good deal, but he still has to pay his men (Obviously). The block I have obtained is a mid 70's truck block with a four bolt main, but its REALLY rusty, and none of the moving parts will move. I figured this wouldn't be a problem if it goes to a machinist, but now I am wondering if I could stroke it myself.

The big question, CAN I DO IT MYSELF?

Lets say I get a block that ISNT this bad. Just take my word for it, this thing was seized, then thrown out into the junk yard, where it sat on the ground for a LONG time. It needs to get all blasted out, then the cylinders need honed.

I have no idea what goes into balancing a rotating assembly. I have no idea how to create clearance on an old block. I dont even know how to get the old pistons and crank and cam out.

Now, my total budget is $1500 for the 383 short block. I am thinking low budget everything except for some CHEAP forged pistons. Use my 305's heads and a q-jet at first, then step up to some better heads and a Holly.

This is all VERY scary to me.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Theres lots of things you can do yourself as long as you have the tools.

Machinework isnt one of them. You'll have to have them clean the block as they need to bore it, hone it, and deck it, and possibly align hone it. You'll probably need to get them to balance your rotating assembly, but you can do some of it yourself if you have a scale. But balancing the counterweights on the crank requires some pretty fancy equipment.

You'll need new pistons. If it's super rusty Im not sure if you can reuse the crank or rods, not sure that you would want to....

It's not a cheap endeavor.

STEEL

What about buying a kit off e-bay that is already balanced?

EX: E-bay

At that point just have him blast the block, then install this kit, with a set of heads I will be good to go?

grumpyvette

STEEL?
where are you located?

step 1 BUY AND READ THRU THESE 5 books,
BEFORE you buy a single part,
it will save you thousands of dollars and weeks of work, if you don,t have an excellent grasp of all the basic concepts youll make expensive mistakes

http://www.themotorbookstore.com/resmchstvi.html

JOHN LINGENFELTER on modifying small-block chevy engines
http://www.amazon.com/John-Lingenfel...6720184&sr=8-1

HOW TO BUILD MAX PERFORMANCE CHEVY SMALL BLOCKS ON A BUDGET by DAVID VIZARD

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Performa...6720274&sr=1-1


SMOKEY YUNICK,S POWER SECRETS

http://www.amazon.com/Smokey-Yunicks...6720390&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

btw
http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/131229/

onfire

Steel,

I have to agree with grumpyvette the how to book with the dvd (http://www.themotorbookstore.com/resmchstvi.html ) is a great resource since it shows you as well as read it. For me I'm a visual person so if I can see it happening while they explain that is optimal for me.

You are already at a great site for automotive information with regards to engine building so do a and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for.

Make sure the block gets magnafluxed to make sure that there are no hair line fractures. So machining is key. A solid platform is important in making power.

In terms of getting the bottom end parts, it is definitely attainable with a budget of 1500 dollars. Just get a kit like that one off of ebay. Eagle is a good quality brand.

Just have the machine shop balance the whole rotating assembly and just take your time installing it.


Rabi C.

STEEL

well, its now in the works. Just got my reserve money from the Army, and I am taking the block to get cleaned up and the cylinders checked tomorrow.

I can do this