i bought a 350 TPI engine used from a friend of mine, he said it should be ok to rebuild and put in so i bought it and when i got the heads off the cylinders had oil and coolant in them and upon inspection of the block i found 2 pretty big cracks. since im doing a performance buildup im not going to trust having the block fixed. i want to buy a new short block 350 to build onto but the problem is that i want to keep my TPI setup and since this is my first time building an engine i dont know if i bought a SB chevy shortblock, how i would hook up all the sensors (ex. knock, water temp, etc.) and brackets that are mounted in the block. is there a certain block i can buy with the holes for the sensors and brackets already put in or would i have to have a shop drill and thread the holes for them? any help would be appreciated because i wanted to have this done before the end of summer. thanks

Russ
xxslayahxx@aol.com

 

You should be able to buy any short block made in the last 15 yrs and get all the holes in it you need. You should really talk to your friend about selling you a "jacked up" motor. Anyway. You have a couple of routes to go here. Build a short block or buy it.

350 short blocks are a dime a dozen. 383's cost a bit more. You can get a really good 350 shortblock for the price of a base 383. Try to get a shortblock built by a local shop so that you can get what you want in it(cam, specific pistons, etc.)

Have the heads cleaned and checked. Port them yourself and have a valve job done.

Port match the TPI stuff to the new engine and enjoy.(i have left out alot of details but it should give some idea of how to get started)

JMO, HTHs