Found a local person on craigs list to buy a 350 block 3970010 "1986" and heads 354434 "1978'" for 130$

Would this be a great starter to do a build up, suggestions are welcome.
Gonna check it out tommarow hopefully bring it home. Was planning on working up the 305, but i think for this price it would be worth doing.
Im not sure if its a 2 bolt or a 4 bolt.
I heard that 4 bolts are the prefered blocks but is there any problems if it was a 2 bolt ? Thanks much!

 

a 010 block is not from 1986. A 1986 block would have 5.0L or 5.7L written at the back, and the casting number would be on the other side.

Regardless, the block is a good block, and pretty much the only way to go for a performance build.

Depending on what youre building it could or could not be a good starting point.

Personally, i would recommend you leave the block and heads alone, and peice together a kit from short block. I hear of many failures after engine builds because of inexperienced people putting stuff together for high performance and not getting it right. Usually all the failures occur because of not getting clearances right on the bottom end during build.

So back to my point, if youre looking to just build a stock motor, and get experience with build, its a good starting point. Just make sure the block has been checked for cracks. At $130 though, shouldnt really matter.

However, if you want a performance build. It will cost you atleast $5k. No way around it.... So start with a short block, where the rotating assembly has been installed, and then choose heads, cam and intake combo and youre ready to fly. Summit can probably sell you these parts in any "performance flavour" you could dream of in a small block chev configuration.

Based purely on getting the most bang for your buck, the latter option is better, and will be less of a headache. If you buy this block, you can figure a minimum of $800 to get it machined and cleaned up, and roughly $2000 for any kind of performance porting on the heads. After youre done that, you can finally spend some money on performance parts, and another $500 or so in assembling it. It adds up read quick.... At the end though, youre still not as powerful as if you bought modern aftermarket technology.

 

When buying a used block, get a guarantee, then the instant you get it, take it to the machine shop and have it checked for cracks and to be sure it's not already 0.060" overbored. Also that the main caps match the block. If all of that checks okay, the block is worth no more than $150. If it's freshly bored, still get it checked for bore dia., cracks and mains, and if the machine work is good, it might be worth up to $250.
Better to let the heads go.

 

The heads are for a 305 figured I would have to find a better set


How do i tell if the caps match the block?

 

Unless you have a dial bore gauge, you can't. Sorry.

 

I should pick up a bore gauge to check the bore on the block or should i go with a internal dial indicator ?

 

Some other considerations in choosing a block:

Dipstick location. If located on driver's side the stock exhaust manifolds can not be used and a new oil pan will be required.

1 or 2 piece RMS. Your existing engine has a 1 pc rear main seal (88 right?). Downgrading to a 2 pc block will require a new flywheel-not real expensive though.

Roller lifter or flat tappet block. Roller would be much preferred, imo, for a build these days. More efficient and less likely to fail. An '88 would be a roller motor and those valve train parts could be swapped over. Going back in time to flat tappet would require new lifters/rods. (of course a roller cam will be more expensive than a flat tappet so it may be a wash).

Just a few thoughts.

 

Really? I didnt have any issues.... The dipstick doesnt want to point straight up cuz of the "curved part on the handle". So i just twisted it in place to point at an angle. But i didnt have to mess with the oil pain. No issues.



Same engine with headers....


Also, a flat tappet or roller wont show you too many significant gains below a really large power number. Lots of high horse flat tappet engines out there. Mine is doing well so far.

 

Pictured is an oil pan for driver's side dipstick. Notice the kickout for the dipstick location. Not sure how you modified your original pan that had this kickout on the pass side to fit a driver's side dipstick? And yes, the dipstick itself could be bent and massaged to fit around the manifolds. Done that myself back when. Roller vs. Flat tappet is a matter of preference. Both have their advantages. I prefer roller when I have a choice.

 

im not retrofitting mismatching blocks and pans. Its a 1975 engine with teh original oil pan, always been on the driver's side.