hey everyone, i have 85 t/a with a 305 tpi and just found out i've got a cracked head, water in the oil, so it looks like it time for a 350. my buddy gave me a 79 camaro 350 .30 over block with a good set of pink rods. so i've got a good start there, but what heads, pistons, and cam would be best to use? i'm basically looking for 300-350 horse using the stock tpi set up with the 870 ecm i already have on the car. it has the 700r4 that was just rebuilt with a b & m transkit and stock 3.27 posi rear. as far as pistons je, keith black, or?? cams i have no clue, and my 305 heads are trash. so should i go with double humps or l98 or??? being on disability puts me on a pretty tight budget i cant afford any real nice hi-pref heads, but i dont want junk either, so if it takes me 6 months or a year then it will just have to. any budget bulid up suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

Plain HP isn't the answer, what do you plan to do, show, street/ track, or is it just the numbers? The best mods will cost you money no matter how much hp/torque you get out of it. Start with how much you intend to spend, and that will determine how much hp/dollar you're going to get.

You really need to plan it out even if you don't mod it out all at once. Once you're finished it's a given that you'll want to change something, so try to get as close as possible on the first go-around at least on the internals.

I've spent close to $7K over 3 years on my 88' IROC 388/6.4L TPI and I haven't even touched the suspension, and I need a paint job as well. There's alot of little expenses that we don't consider as part of the cost, but it adds up in the end.

Compare the stock hp of your 85' for which is was designed to the max hp you're going to make, can it handle that?

 

i plan to just drive it on street, maybe a pass or two at our local 1/8 mile but not any real heavy racing or anything. i just figured 300 or so hp wouldn't be to hard to get out of a 350 without breaking the bank. i just want a little bit of kick when i go to look for it. my 305 wasn't that bad for me, but my buddy said it wouldn't cost really any more to just build his old block than to rebuild the 305. so i figured i might as well get the 350 block and rods from him since its already .30 over and the machine work is done already. he is a mechanic at a local gm dealership and we are going to do the build together, probally more him than me, but i would like to learn about whats going in it and how it works. he said he could get gm parts with his discount, but it would still be pretty expensive, so i'm figuring around 2000 or so not including the beer.. lol he said to find some alum vette heads because they would be better than the double humps, but i thought they were made for 87 and up motors and this is a 79 block, so i guess i need to check back with him on that, but as for the cam and pistons???? i'm pretty dumb on that subject, he showed me a comp computer cam online possibly a 282?? not sure there, but he said i would have to find some one to burn a custom chip, and upgrade injectors, and some kind of stall unit like a 2500 i could be way off on that it was a couple of weeks ago when we talked about it and that was over a few beers. i was just wondering what some people here are running or have done by trial and error, because i can't afford to not get it right the 1st go around. thanks for any input and please excuse my lack of knowlege on the subject, but i'm trying to learn what might be best for my situation and from searches and reading some of the posts on here it seems like one peson or another has done about all there is to do on 350s so a bit more input from different prespectives to decide from couldn't hurt or maybe it will confuse the hell out of me but i would like to see what everyone has to say before i lock down where i'm going to go with it.

 

My build for street cruising and a few runs at the track from time to time:

• 350 World Products 4-bolt main non-roller race block, blueprinted and balanced, 0.60 over - zero deck.
• Milodon 7 quart Chevy SB stroker low profile oil pan
• Scat SFI approved 168 tooth Flex-plate
• Chevy Mini Starter
• Scat 9000 series 3-3/4" crank
• Scat ICR600 Con Rods
• Comp Cams Grind CS XE262H-14
• Proform Alum 1.5" Roller Rockers with Poly locks
• SRP forged alum 4.060” x 1.125” dished -16cc
• GMPP Fast Burn 62cc Alum Vortec Heads - int/exh Ported, polished only chambers and exhaust ports
• SDPC High-Flow TPI Chevy Vortec base-plate step ported to match heads (not polished)
• Stock polished Runners
• Stock ported/polished Plenum
• Stock TB bored to 52mm/TPIS Air Foil/screens deleted
• Cloyes Double Roller Timing Chain & Gear Assembly
• Edelbrock 2-piece Aluminum Timing Cover
• Walbro High Performance 255lph EFI fuel Pump
• Barry Grant 10" inline fuel filter
• Holley Alum Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator
• Accel 30 lb/hr injectors
• Edelbrock Chevy Victor High-Flow Alum water pump
• Stock HEI distributor
• Crane 8.5mm Firewires
• Crane Cams FireBall HI-6s ignition system w/XL92 external Coil
• SLP Headers 1-3/4” single cat w/A.I.R.
• Cold air Mod/stock airbox/K&N filters
• MAT relocated to airbox.
• 170 T-stat
• Romulator using 1989 ARAP EPROM Bin. Tuned with TunerCat via LapTop
• Bolts are ARP

 

good *** that set up sounds pretty bad ***, thats wat out of my leauge, but sounds like a fun beast to drive. have you dynoed that puppy yet? i'm looking for a much milder set up. i might just look for a nice used l98 and be done with it, but i've got a free block so thats kind of why i wanted to build it.

 

For what you want, all stock bottom end with arp rod bolts or new PM rods from GM.
If you can find a set of fresh al vette heads, then that might be the cheapest route.
If you want a little more HP, vortec heads are a better deal. Your buddy might be able to get them in the low $400 range. Note: fully rebuilt stockers can cost that much or more. Then you need to get springs to match your cam. The hot cam springs fit IIRC.
But, you'll need to buy a SDPC vortec base or sell all your stuff and get a Ramjet intake. Not to much more $$ after selling the LR stuff. You'd need to buy injectors and a TB off e-bay to save some $$ too. Somebodies 24lb cast offs or some LS1's regardless of intake. Or a lot of tuning for the stock 19's to work.
If you stick to a 206 @ .050 intake with 112-114, a stock 350 vette chip will work ok. But if you step the heads & cam up a little, then 350hp is pretty easy. GM sells a 9.x-1 330 hp vortec motor so a 215-218 cam should get you 350hp.
Try a Compcams XE262. I think they have those lobes with a 112 lsa, for a 4x4 or boat or something. A custom cam is $50 or $75 dollars more, but your almost guaranteed to get a cam with zero problems. The shelf cams are ground in bulk by another company. So the QC is no where near the same.
After you decide on heads, then match the cam and pistons for CR. Usually 9.5 - 10.0 are good numbers for AL small cam motors or iron vortecs. Federal mogul/speedpro Hypereutectic pistons are plenty for this amount of power. KB's are best used with zero gap piston rings which are over $200. Just plain old file fit speedpro molys are all you need. A stock HD truck timing chain is more suited to your build also and costs $20 I think.

The bigger the cam, the more benefit to a custom chip....

 

Thanks Z69, I'll probally stick with a set of al vette heads if I can find some cheap enough and if they will bolt up to the older block i have, and go with port polish the heads and intake to match, so i can stick with the tpi unit i already have. love to do vortec lt1, or something like that, but just too much $$$ for what i use the car for. i just want to stick to the basics, because if the car gets totaled or something on down the road ins isnt going to give a crap about how much i've got tied up in a motor. if it was a toy instead of my daily driver, which hopefully i can get to that point some time soon, i'll definately look in to getting a much better set of heads and tpi set up like lt1 or something. thanks everybody for your input!