Hey guys! You thirdgen'ers always seem to come up with helpful things to say, so here goes. Just bought a complete 350 out of a truck for $100, and now its sitting in my garage, partly disassembled. Dont worry, im still representing thirdgens because my cars 305 is still chugging along.

So my goals are: 400 hp, over 400 torque.
My questions are:
-Being a one piece rms engine out of an 89 truck, will a t56 still bolt to this?
-Is stroking a good choice? I want lots of torque, and a nice flat torque curve. Stroking to 383 or 388 seems like fun, but I dont know much other than you need an oversize crank. Input here?
-Are vortec heads the way to go? it seems this way, unless there is a better option that is the same price or cheaper.

Lastly, im looking to have lots of fun with this build. This is the engine I will be sticking with, the truck 350. Any wild ideas are welcome, as well as level headed reasonable advice. Im happy to get any input on this. Thanks guys!!

 

whats your budget? lol. bore it out, cam it, headers, if your going all out...go all out

 

I would like to keep the budget around 1,000 for the bottom end, I know the heads are going to be a little more. I definitely need new heads since the ones i have now are the feared "swirl ports".
What do you mean by all out? I was really just looking for any interesting ideas or brand recomendations for rebuilds. Any good kits out there for stroking?

 

What car will this be in? What induction system?

 

It will be going into my 87' Iroc, and i would like run a carburetor! I have a TPI setup now, and it doesnt run very well and i can tune a carb a whole lot better than this dang TPI setup.

 

well depending on your budget id say go all out. but look into storking kits. thats probably our best bet

 

If you just want this to be a street engine with decent amount of torque and HP, you can get a nice eagle stroke kit for a 383 setup on you engine. Get a nice hydraulic flat tappet cam and some world products sportmans II head. These head are iron, but helps with the amount of torque you are looking for very easily and these head are really reasonably priced. I just sold a set of these heads for $600. New I believe they are around $800 or $900. They come with 2.02x1.60 valves and pretty much you can run these right out of the box, an yes the t56 will bolt to this motor just may need another flywheel or the existing one enlarged on the center hole that it goes over the rear of the crank (Like I said, maybe. It also may just be a perfect fit already).

This setup I am suggesting for you, will only run you around $2000-$2500 total. That is including machine work, parts and assembly. Power range will have you in the 400+hp and really close to the 400+torque range and very streetable with anywhere around 5800 to 6300 rpm range, depending on the cam you decide on. This is just a suggestion and an idea I might do when I pick up either an 88 Formula or T/A and will have a 5 spd trans.

I had an 88 T-tops TA i converted to a 5spd with a little 305 that i built up a little with some 601 heads with larger int vales install, an Eddie performer intake with a 600 dp carb. 1 5/8 shorty headers. Thing had a nice little kick to it, but the rear right quarter panel started to rust and didn't have time to work on it. so I just sold it and kick my self in the butt every time I think about it.

 

Thanks mcbchild! I'll definitely look into those sportsman heads, that sounds like exactly what im looking for. I've seen the eagle stroker kit and it looked pretty good as well. What are the advantages to a flat tapet cam?

 

And that looks like a great car as well, nothing beats a 5 speed I'm also running those 1 5/8 shorty headers, huge difference over stock

 

Where can I find a complete 5 speed?

 

not related, but to help you out 5 speeds such as the t-5 can be found stock in many 80's gm cars or online. Check ebay or craigslist!

 

84chvyz28: Thanks, The main advantage of flat tappet is that they cost alot less and can make just as much power especially on a street motor. But if your engine already has a roller setup in it form the factory, you can just find a decent hydraulic roller cam also for a decent price.

RacerXaX: You can usually find a complete 5 spd setup on this site and can sometimes get lucky like I did by finding someone on here that is selling the complete car with 5 speed trans, clutch pedals, hydraulic, flywheel and all other pieces , but just has a blown motor or the floor boards are completely shot to heck. I think I paid like $300 for the complete car and towed it home and just started stripping the car and using the 5 speed setup. took the flywheel to the machine shop and had them check it for cracks/straightness and cut the flywheel all for about $50. Then just bought and new and better clutch.

 

The main advantage of a roller cam is they don't need break in procedure
A roller cam will make more power than a flat tappet cam because it has faster ramp on the cam lobe;
so valve is open longer/ faster even though total duration is the same on both and you can run higher lift
on roller cams ( even for street use)

http://www.lunatipower.com/Tech/Cams...tOrRoller.aspx

You can swap roller lifters ( $130 a set ) to any new or used roller cam so cheap initial cost of flat tappet cam doesn't look so good when you need new lifters everytime you swap a cam

 

And the whole special oil zddp thing. I think flat tappets have had their day.

 

I was just saying that if his motor is not a roller block from the factory, it would cost him nearly $500 or $600 for a roller set up with lifters, springs, cam and cam button and a bronze gear for his dizzy that has to have a gear on it for a roller cam. Where is could just use a flat tappet setup that would cost him at the tops maybe $250 with cam, lifters and springs, but the sportsman's head with the flat tappet springs on them would be around $800 or could find a used set on here or ebay which could still save him a couple hundred bucks. So $1500 for his rotating assembly, balanced. block machine work and short black assembled, with $800 for WP Sportmans heads and $200-$250 flat tappet cam and lifters (If he has a non roller block) puts him at where he wants to be for power for what $2500. And I have never seen roller lifters that cheap for $130 if his block is not a factory roller block. As far as the oil, can simply use the regular motor oil with the EOS additive.

Remember, he is on a budget and does not need to spend crazy money for a street motor. That is all I was saying. Also, I still use a custom isky solid flat tappet cam and can run in the 10s on motor alone and I shift anywhere from 6800 to 7000 rpms and have not had any issues since I installed the setup over 4 years ago. Granted though mine is not a dd, but I can drive it on the street, but mostly built for the track and I put maybe around 2500 miles per year on it. He would not be pushing the motor daily, just maybe every once in a while when the itch hits him. So a good flat tappet setup can last for years in a street motor.

Now if his block is a factory roller, then yes he can get some LS roller lifters for about $130 and then get the heads with the roller springs installed and a nice hydraulic roller cam and that could run him around $400 total with cam, springs and lifters. What I said was just a suggestion as I stated. Ultimately it would be his choice and only he would know what he has and what he can afford. I could have also told him that he could find decent 383 short blocks already assembled for around $1500 even on this site and just slap some World products heads and get his valve train setup and still be under $3000 total. All depends on what he wants and what he has to spend. I was just saying that he could do it for less than $2500 even if he did not have a roller block.

And also for a street motor, using a roller cam over flat tappet, he would not see much difference anyway for a street motor where he would maybe miss about 10hp on the street. It is not a high revving motor nor running constantly at over 6000 rpm for any type of extended period of time. I mean he he not running over 6000 rpm for more than 30 seconds all the time, so like I said you really don't see much difference on the street between the two.

 

You can do what you want out of a 350 you don't need to stroke it.

 

Ok, so given this information I think im going to stick with a hydraulic flat tappet cam. Lunati has a couple different kinds im looking into, maybe the voodoo series? Looks like that would go nicely with what i want to do. Im also pretty sure this block is not set up for a roller cam.

Thats actually what i was thinking, i might just leave it a 350 and do a nice cam with a good set of heads. And of course top it off with a nice intake and carb