My dad rebuilt his L82 using the Performer RPM cam, intake, and carb. In a sense, I guess you can say it is similar, but he spent lots and i mean lots of time modding the heads and blueprinting the engine. It is by far, one of the healthiest 355's I've ever encountered. I know that this engine still runs strong past 7000 and I do not think you'll be disappointed what so ever.

I am not sure that the Performer RPM cam that he has in his engine is the same that the are making today. In the early 90's, the package was claimed to produce more HP than they are today.

I would follow 63makos advice... I'd putting a 383 forged rotating assembly, bump the compression around 10 - 10.5:1, go with the hyd. roller and their e-tec heads and intake. Based on their current ratings, I would think that it should make around 480 HP or more...

 

I'm pretty lucky I have a father who is interested in cars as much as I am - he has helped me a lot financially with this body off restoration. I'll repay him someday though!

 

Well if he has helped you financially and is willing to help build the motor sounds like the think to do is take him up on it. You will both have pride, a sense of accomplishment and an irreplaceable father, son bonding experiance in the end.

 

I wouldn't mind rebuilding the engine with him, in fact I sort of want to, but if it is going to cost more money rebuilding it to the perfomance I want (400 hp and around 400 torque) than it is to buy a new one, I'll buy a new one...i'm not sure.

 

It's not going to cost more; it's just going to be more work. If you do it yourself, just make sure you have the right tools and have done all your research ahead of time. If you buy the right parts the first time it's a lot cheaper. Ask me how I know.

 

Most GM dealers have crate motors in stock. I bought mine from the local guy and he sold it at "Jegs" advertised price. If you buy from your local guy, you have a much better chance with any warranty issues. I had a rear main leak, they fixed it and also gave me a rental free while they did it.

 

would this drop right in a 82? or would alot of modding be neccesary?

 

I wish. That's what I told myself when I started.

 

You ain't gonna build a good one for that. Their numbers are always low. Believe me I'm a long time subscriber, and half the time it's sort of like "Well, we used a forged stroker crank we had laying around the shop which helped bring the cost down". Maybe you can put one together for 2 grand, but I don't know how much faith I'd put in it. Just my .02

 

What do you think of the fact that these suckers are manufactured down in Mexico now,, if that isn't a slap in the face, i don't know what is. Probably brought into the country in a Mexican registered/driven truck, on the Mexican highway, right thruogh the middle of the heartland. Damn shame, if you ask me. for those who think republicans are out to protect american jobs, think again, and the Demos aren't much better,, it's the whole congress selling us out, both parties. That's what's wrong.

 

However, a crate engine is not the correct answer. The small block crate engines are only built to tolerate the advertised HP ratings to a certain point. I can almost assure you that once a crate engine is installed, you'll want more power. Power almost seems to be never enough.

Yes, it will run you about the same to rebuild the engine you have as it would to buy a crate engine, but that crate engine is no better than an L48. Both engines aren't designed to turn any more than 6000 RPM's and produce more than 500 HP. When it comes time to rebuild that crate engine and add more HP, you are still going to have junk for internals and will have to buy forged rods and pistons (GM crates come with forged cranks- although I don't think they are near as strong as the 4340). I recommend you to go buy a complete forged rotating assembly, have the 4 bolt splayed caps installed, and then you can really add some HP to your build. When it comes time to rebuild, it will be a lot cheaper because the expense has already been made. If you would have bought the crate engine and wanted more HP, you would have had to go buy what you should have bought in the first place. So, what is cheaper in the long run?

Also, if you did the rebuild and bought a forged rotating assembly, it would cost the same to build a 350 as it would to build a 383 or a 396. That to me, would be a huge incentive to rebuild the engine...