I'm building my first engine to swap into my first car, a 1984 Camaro sport coupe. I decided to do this because I'm taking an engine rebuilding class as part of my college degree and figured I might as well walk away with a decent amount of power. I picked up a used Vortec 350 to rebuild. I would like to get atleast 400 HP/TQ for under 4500$. For the most part, I have all the parts picked out and my plans made but I figured I'd run my ideas past the forum for a few more opinions as I still have a few questions. This car is my first and only car and will be my daily driver for a good many years.

Block will be clearanced and bored .030 over.

Rotating assembly; I'm going with an eagle rotating assembly, and due to my budget am leaning towards one with cast crank and Hypereutectic pistons for about 960$. I don't see myself using nitrous or forced induction on this engine, in fact I don't think it will see the strip, at least not in the near future. My and hunger for speed could change as soon as I taste the new power, who knows. Am I going to be ok with a cast rotating assembly for my application? Looks like the cast assembly is rated for 500 HP.

The cast;
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/es...make/chevrolet

The forged;
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/es...make/chevrolet

Valve train; Can I reuse the stock 350 rocker arms? If I shouldn't, would you guys recommend full roller rockers? If thats overkill for my application then ill just get some less expensive but reliable lifters. I'll just use stock ratio rockers. Do I need special pushrods for roller lifters or can I reuse the 350's? I plan on using the Vortec 350 heads with some polishing and possibly minor porting.(I heard too much porting hurts Vortec heads) Should I replace the stock lifters? What are some reliable lifters that wont break the bank? I could just use the ones that came with the 350. Do I need different springs if I get roller rockers? I'm eyeing a comp cams Thumpr cam or Xtreme energy series.

I'm going to use an Edlebrock performer RPM air-gap intake manifold, hooker 2460 headers into hooker y pipe, and Magnaflow cat-back. I'm not 100% set on a specific cat yet, but I know I want Magnaflow. Multiple people have recommended a spun metal cat.

As for compression ratio, I'd like somewhere around 9.8:1 but with a 64cc chamber and 18cc heads I think it will be a little less. I could always use a thinner head gasket.

I don't have the money now but I will be rebuilding and upgrading my transmission next year to handle the power.

Thanks guys!

 

A cast rotating assembly is fine in a street car. Spend a little money on rockers if you can afford it. They don't have to be full roller, but roller-tip is nice. Stock pushrods may work, but measure to see the length you need and get new ones. Choose springs to match the cam. Get a real cam instead of a Thumpr.

 

Now that I thought about it, I didn't do much research into the Thumpr cam. From what I've just researched they seem to be more for sound than power. Thanks for pointing this out. I've got some more cam research to do. I'll probably call Comp cams at one point and ask their opinion. However I did like the looks of an Xtreme energy series cam.

 

Lunati has Harold's most recent revisions for cams (Harold Brookshire designed a large chunk of the major lobe designs with domestic cars... including the XE line from Comp).

On a side note: I have a brand new XE274 (hydraulic flat tappet) that I never put any miles on. Cam was broken in and pulled out for a solid instead. If that's up your alley I've got it for sale.


I always recommend a custom cam if money allows.

 

Cast would be good for what you want. Thats almost the same rotating assembly that i am running. I heard bad things about the Thumpr cams... I used an xtreme energy in my motor. I wouldn't limit your choices to just Comp though. What do you want the behavior of the engine to be like? Where do you want the power band?
Maybe try their cam quest software and see what that suggests for you.

 

I would like the power band on the low/medium rpm side-which is where it will be mostly as it will be a daily driver. I don't want too radical of an idle for vacuum accessory sake but at least a little bit of a noticeable idle lope.

@DeltaElite121 my engine is a hydraulic roller, thanks for the offer though.

 

You're going to put a carb on this right?
For the XE cams these pop out:
http://www.compperformancegroupstore...Code=RLERCAMXE
http://www.compperformancegroupstore...Code=RLERCAMXE
If you're making this an every day DD, then milage has to be of some concern.

I'd look into simialr Lunati cams too

 

Yes it will be carbed.

I like that XR264HR, I was looking at the XR270HR as well.

I'll check out Lunati.

 

When picking out a cam you have to be extremely honest with yourself. What do you really want from the car? How are you going to use it? What are your goals? I think it's a good rule of thumb that its better to have too small of a cam than too big .

 

I really like the looks of the XR276HR. With 64cc chambers and 18cc dished pistons I'll be at about 9.5:1 compression. Is this stable for 92 octane pump gas?