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Depends on ALOT of factors... what pistons you use and what heads, the choices of which will determine the compression; the choice of cam, which can be anything from less than stock all the way to pure race car; and so on.

Heads aren't "roller" (or not). Jamming 2.02" intake valves into inferior heads is an exercise in futility designed to separate n00bs from their cash... good heads are worth EVERY PENNY, and don't necessarily have to have intake valves that size. The Edlelbrock water pump won't matter to HP.

I'm going to assume this is a purely strip car, since putting that carb on it IMMEDIATELY disqualifies from EVER passing inspection and getting a license to drive it on the street?

The motor could cost anywhere from $1500 for a cheeeeeeep oil-burning leaky smelly gutless constantly overheating 70s smogger replica 10,000 mile lasting POS, up to $4000 or more for one built out of good quality parts with careful attention to detail, that will last you the life of the car. Good heads alone are in the $1200 - $1500 range. A roller cam alone is around $300, assuming you can re-use the factory roller lifters that come with whatever block you get; $800 - 1000 if you have to use "retrofit" lifters, and you have to buy the whole setup from start to finish. Headers and exhaust will run anywhere from $450 or so for the cheeeeeepest thing that nobody goes to jail for fraud because they printed the words "headers" and "exhaust" in the ad and took money for them, to around $1200 for good quality coated stainless ones and a quality cat and cat-back exhaust. (keeping in mind of course, you're in CA so you'll have to retain the cat if you want to license it) Gears with installation will run about $750 or so.

Horsepower to the wheels could be anywhere from 150 or so for the first option, to maybe as much as 400 in the 2nd scenario for anything remotely streetable; potentially more if it never has to hit the street AT ALL. Rest assured however, you will have NO PROBLEM making enough power to destroy your T-5 in a very short time. Like maybe the first time you drive it.

Installation labor for an engine and exhaust might easily run $1500ish, possibly more depending on how different you decide to make it from stock, how much misc alteration of other things has to be done to make whatever you've chosen fit, how much attention to detail you are willing to pay the installer for (for example, will the wiring be just laying randomly on top of stuff here and there, or will it all be neatly loomed up and run safely and in an orderly fashion? details matter) and in what state you consider it "installed" (for example, does that mean the motor just dropped down in there but nothing hooked up? or does it mean fully tuned, all the bugs worked out, ready to put your suitcase in and hop right in and take your significant other on a romantic and pleasurable 3000 mile road trip through scenic mountains and deserts far from help? there's room for ALOT of ambiguity in there). That's something you can do yourself though, and I strongly urge you to do so. Build it, not buy it.

Don't come in here and beat us over the head about "budget". ALL builds are "budget" builds; just, some budgets are bigger than others. If you wanna play, you gotta pay.

 

What heads? What cam? What headers? I would go with a Holley 4777SAE...... more flow, cheaper, and should be real close out of the box:

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...arts/0-4777SAE

I'm not personally a giant fan of the Edelbrock (Carter AFB) carbs for performance applications. They work OK for more or less stock applications. The 4777 can support a solid 400 HP and they are usually real close out of the box.

A bunch of random Edelbrock (not that impressed with their parts in general - there are typically better and cheaper alternatives such as the Holley carb I mentioned above - cheaper, flows more, likely better quality, and closer tuned out of the box) parts slapped on with no real regard to how well they pair together? Probably about 250 to 275 at the wheels. Definitely not as much as you expect, and WAY more than enough to aggressively annihilate the T5. It will be fun for a coupla days till the T5 lets go or the 10 bolt shreds.

And after throwing away your perfectly good TBI that's serviceable to far more power than this engine will make...... welcome to not passing emissions in CA anymore.

All in all - quite the plan I would say. Destroy a lot of parts with a lot less power than you think you will make, ruin the car's electrical system hacking it into a carb, and it's chances of ever being smogged again. Quite the accomplishment in one hack job. Excellent.

When will people learn? Aren't we eventually going to get away from billy bob and his cousin skillet that rip off every fuel injection system they see to throw on a carb and make a giant mess for the next guy to clean up or part out?

Incidentally - Sofa is right on as well. I have 400 HP on 1.95 intake valves. It's called Vortec heads. Valve sizing is one tiny metric of cylinder head flow that means NOTHING on it's own.

GD

 

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Find someone that *actually* knows what they are doing and isn't going to just throw a carb on it. Did you know that installing a big block throttle body on the TBI will allow it to flow 670 CFM? That's more CFM than the Edelbrock 14064 and even more than the Holley 4777. Besides the fact that your existing TBI has plenty of flow for this engine you are planning to build anyway. The stock TBI can flow 470 CFM, and CFM almost directly translates 1:1 to rear wheel HP. So the factory throttle body injection is capable of over 500 HP of airflow. Possibly upgrade the injectors and burn a chip - done. Without even buying a carb or carb manifold. Or making the car a total bastard by swapping it to a carb.

Your friend that's been "doing it for 30 years" needs to retire to a museum somewhere. He doesn't know $hit about fuel injection and that's going to only be a detriment to you and your wallet and the end results.

GD

 

Let's give your friend the benefit of the doubt and say he's not going to build a slug. Even a poorly executed hot rod 350 SBC is going to make 1 HP/CID. And I'll discount your need to pass any emissions. All of that said, going from a 305 to a 350 is going to be palpable difference. A hot rodded 350 even more so. The change in rear gear is also going to very noticeable.
As for price... that depends. Get a more specific list from your friend.
So to answer this question...
I'll venture a guess and say very much so. (Unless your buddy really shitz the bed here).

 

Then why would you be asking here?

 

IDK man - what's a 350 with the complete catalog of E-Brock (yo) parts make?

I'm skeptical on 350 HP.

GD

 

A full catalog of Edelbrock parts? Stan Weiss' website lists the the wheeziest Edelbrock head at about 230 CFM. Based on just that, you can expect to make 460 HP (not unlike a Vortec). That's the old measuring stick of 2 HP per available CFM of port flow. So even screwing it up royally and losing 100 HP of potential is still going to realize 350+ HP.
An RPM Air Gap intake.
One of their generally despised (but still tune-able ) carbs.
Somewhere in their big book of parts must be a reasonable cam?
Let's say that the shortblock is not a complete pile of junk. Even 9:1 could get the job done.
Does that sound unreasonable? Seems to me like it could get the job done. Not that I have any love or hate for Edelbrock. I find their carbs somewhat clumsy but then again I've been working with Holleys for parts of 4 decades. I had a set of their RPM Performer heads too which I foolishly sold. Not that they were anything special but certainly on par (in certain aspects ) to the Vortecs. Plus they were aluminium. That alone would have been a better choice for the edgy iron headed engines I've had.
All in all, I'd say 350 isn't unrealistic.

 

Sweet - so definitely far in excess of what it will take to utterly shred the T5 and 10 bolt. Perfect. I still wonder what people are thinking...... and yeah I share your sentiment on the e-brock carbs. I have one on my mom's 56 Buick Roadmaster..... 322 Nailhead. It's a single speed Dynaflow. The edelbrock works for that combo. I don't like them for performance applications though. Just don't like how they drive.

GD

 

I'm trying to answer his question. What the OP does with his engine is up to him.
This is coming from a guy that was part of a 502 crate engine swap behind the factory T10 (86 TA). It wasn't soon after that a TKO went in. I'd love to have that car again!
56 Nailhead Buick! Tell me, does it run on one wire, maybe two, and one fuel line?

 

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Sadly no. It originally had a Carter carb that was setup with a pedal start feature. IE: you turn on the ignition, and depress the gas, which through the magic of electricity and astonishingly complex carb vacuum switches, and generator interconnects, runs the starter till the engine starts and then drops out the starter circuit once it catches. So it's a bit more complex with regards it's charging system, etc. Also, being a 56, it's got a ballast resistor and the associated coil power running through the starter auxiliary contacts. And of course the beast has power everything so there's all that crap. Windows, seat, antenna, and even Frigidaire Air Conditioning. A whole lot of 70 year old foolishness.

GD

 

All that and a 350 swap for $2500?!? I'll be amazed if it even runs at that price. That's well below what quality parts cost. Consider that the carb, manifold, and decent cam are EASILY over $1000. So he's telling you that all this work, PLUS a 350, cylinder head work, reseal, whatever else AND labor is only going to be another $1500? Get outta town! Not gonna happen fella. Or the guy works for peanuts which I find.... unlikely in your area. Or it's a PILE of used crap that he has laying around and is going to pawn off on ya.

GD

 

hmm

 

1. No thought put into the build. Just a pile of the same Edelbrock crap that every red-neck puts on his truck. It gets old. And it's soooooo overdone.

2. The usual red-neck answer to all things electronic - rip it off and throw on a carb. No time put into understanding or appreciating the capabilities of the fuel injection GM endowed the car with. No care spent on troubleshooting..... Oh and a healthy side of F*ck the environment to boot.

3, Posted purely for the affirmation of the board. A combination of "look at me!" and "aint I cool.. right?" and "I'm totally doing this right even though I don't have the first clue what I'm doing... right?" post..... gets really old.

4. Not actually doing anything yourself. So really not contributing to the forum. Not asking a technical question. Not offering valuable technical information. Not even willing to listen to suggestions that it might be the wrong choice....

So yeah. You asked.

FYI - that's the wrong water pump. Your friend give you that part number did he? I see he's not familiar with serpentine belt systems.... seems odd that in 30 years of experience he hasn't figured out which direction the water pump rotates.

You really ought to rethink your whole plan. Not just the plan, but also the "free" help. Likely gettin what you're paying for. Which, as Sofa likes to point out, is ALWAYS the case.

GD

 

I'm just curious about how you expect to pass your state's draconian smog check, OP. Additionally, the mods you plan to have done will make your car very difficult to sell; I recommend that you reconsider.

 

^I agree with ironwill. Granted I don't live in California, they have extremely strict emissions. There is no way you will pass a smog check with a carb and a cam with healthy overlap. We're not living in the 70s anymore either. Fuel injection has came a long way. I don't want to be rude given your choices. I'm 19 and anything I've done to my car has costed me way more money than initially planned out. My cam swap alone was around $1000 when you consider all of the gaskets, screw in studs, water pump, valve springs, injectors and basic wear and tear replacement stuff. My T56 swap alone was about $3800 with a rebuild and all new parts (clutch,flywheel, interior pieces etc). My 3.73 swap was about $1000 as well when you considering replacing 30 year old shocks, bushings, and bearings. Like the others tried mentioning before, you pay to play. What has my work accomplished me you may ask? A non-hacked up 89 Trans Am with 57k miles. I think it's plenty fun for the time being while I'm in college. 305 with TPI cammed, T56, gears, and it manages 20MPG easy. This is all running off a barely modified 5 speed tune. Please keep in mind this is with me doing all of the work with the help of my dad. If you don't go LS like a lot of other people (which also costs just as much or more than a hopped up SBC), I highly suggest you keep the stock tbi, upgrade to the BBC tbi, or throw on an aftermarket TPI like the stealth ram, mini ram, first, or super ram. You will make plenty of power and will be able to pass the California smog checks. Just imo.

 

To further answer your question though, you will notice a difference. 350s have more cubes and make more power than a 305 with the same amount of effort. Going from a real high gear like 2.73s to 3.73s (in my case) made a huge difference in the fun factor of the car.

 

The OP has left the building...