Hey guys... the motor i have in my 75 right now sat for 10 years... and was NEVER started... it took me 2 weeks just to get it started. It runs now... but i don't wanna take the chance of doing everything else and havin to swap the motor out after painting and taking the body off and such... Here are the motor specs although i don't have all the stampings:
The are camel hump heads... i think the 62CC ones with no accessory bolts
1.6 rollers...
a fairley agressive cam although i don't know the specs
single plane holly intake
New 650 holley double pumper
holley red fuel pump
it has a 4 speed super t10
and i think 373 gearing in the rear

to make a long story short the guy i got it from... if you have read my other posts... really did a number on me... lied pretty much about everything... and i pretty much took it hook line and sinker..
i just did the entire braking system... so now my attention goes to the motor...

anyway... if you wanted a nice cruiser... that had power to romp around every now and again... what would would put in there... a crate motor??? 350...383... or would you biuld your own ape to scald... i am all ears guys...

Thanks in advance...
John

 

i built a 388 for mine. no short cuts, all the best parts. around 475 to 500 hrs. and its not enough. the high lasted about 3/4 months, and now it seems slow. the point is, build towards what you want the car to do. a well built 350 is no slug on the street, but its getting harder everyday to beat the imports, and 400 horse is common now adays.

 

i was thinking about a nice round 400 number... i figured this would keep it basicly streetable without a highly agressive cam that would leave me bouncing at an idle....

 

I am considering the same thing at the moment. It depends on exactly what you want to do with the car. If its just for cruising and having some fun on the street, I'd say build a nice 327 or 350 with a mild cam, decent compression, do all the bolt ons.. and make sure you spend some time choosing the heads and having them properly machined. If you're looking to take it to the track and cruise with it, you can build a little more radical 350 or a 383. And if your looking for raw torque, you can go with a Big Block. I was considering the LS1 or the LT1 for the fuel injection system. Seems the best idea for a straight up cruiser. You can work it like any other engine and then tweek the hell out of the PCM to get it to do exactly what you want when you want. In any event, keep in mind corvettes are LIGHT! You could put a 6 cylinder into it and it would move faster then some other cars. Theirs alot to consider,... please give more information about the car. EX. Gear ratio, Trans, tire size, and fuel rating expectancy.

Dan

 

dan
i will check the tire sizing when i get home... and i am an occasional track guy... just like to see what my car can do...
the gearing is 373s and the trans is a super t10 i thought i put them in the original post... and i would only expect to run premium gas...

thanks for the quick responses

 

Very true. But somehow the imports just don't perform the same way the American cars do. Last time I went to the track was for Imports V.S. American Muscle. For all the talk out on the street, the imports weren't running the times I would have expected for the work that was put into the car. The cars you see on TV are one thing, but if your goal is to be top dog out on the street, a well built 350 can get you 400-450 horsepower and that will knock your socks off with a set of 3.73's and a T56 or 700R4. IM also in the process of building a Chevelle, which may be put on hold because I just bought a Corvette. (sounds like the life huh,... both are dogs at the moment; and the vette I only bought because it was practically given to me.) The Velle started out with a 396/350 and I never lost on the street, not even to an 87 Vette. Now I want to step it up for the TRACK a little bit. So I'm in the process of building a 454 with a roller cam, 781 oval port heads, 3.73's on a 28 in tire, and its all forged. The heads are going to be completely worked/ported/polished, and re-sculpted by one of the best Machinists in my local area to FLOW. That aside, its supposed to put out 650+ horspower on 93 octane gas, and I am going to run a 200 shot of nitrous on top of that. Is that the fastest motor out there, Nope,... is it going to be a hell of a good time??,,.... hell ya. And lets not forget this is all streetable power, not like those Imports ... Glass Jaws!

Dan

 

damnnnn.... sounds like you got quit a handful... i pretty much think i am gunna go with a 350 bored 30 over and go from there... don't know the arrangment i wanna go with yet.. but i want to aim about 400-450 streetable goodness hahaha... any other input would be appreciated

thanks guys

 

Hey,

Sounds like a good idea,... Love the 350 and its very streetable/reliable. I can give you a decent set of parts,... similar to the parts used in my BBC.

Everyone on the forum can critique. Most of this stuff I researched for months before I bought:

If your looking for low RPM Torque go with a nice set of high flowing factory oval port heads, if you want your rpm range up high, go with rectangular ports. Send them out and get them done up nice at a good machine shop.

Manley 1 piece valves
Harland Sharp and Scorpion make Excellent and Affordable Roller Rockers. If you have money to spend go with shaft mounted rocker arms. I don't personally have that much money but you may. Most of the 800+ horsepower drag chevelles -- the owners I talked to were running Comp Cams pro Mags. I like the price of harland sharp personally and what you get for the money

Speed Pro makes an excellent piston. I used a set of Hypers, although you could always go forged. Hypers don't expand as much as forged so their easier to fit to your engine if i remember correctly. They also are a hell of alot better for higher rpms, although they do not hold up against detonation as well. (Someone please check me on this I want to make sure I have it all right)

Eagle makes excellent cranks, although I personally had one made for my application. I would have gone with Eagle though

If you are going for higher RPM's go with the torker II, if you are going for low torque and rpms from 1500-6000 go for the RPM Airgap, all by Edelbrock.

I hate Holley Carbs but I went with one only because of their tunability. If you want to get really retro and really tunable, take some time and study up on QuadraJet Carbs. From what I hear you can tune the hell out of them and their cheap right now.

I am running a points distributor, but I ran an HEI and also a Unilite with the optic eye. The unilite's are really nice when you get them to work properly, although I've had the best success (easiness that is) with HEI.

Edelbrock and Stewart Make good water pumps, and electric fans will cut down on drag and NOISE which drives me nuts!

CR Ratio is good to 10:1 with 93 octane and maybe at times a off the shelf fuel addative. If you keep it lower then 10:1 it leaves room for a blower later or turbos!

This is what I learned when building my engine. Don't rely on it as Bible truth, I may be off in some areas or things may be different from what you would put into a SBC.

But Im sure these guys in this forum will correct me and help you as much as you need.

Hope this helps,
Dan

 

hmmm... all good things to think about.. thanks for the insight danspeed goodluck with your toys haha

i had a chevelle... 1970 it was a 4 door but it ran like a scalded ape i tell you that... too bad my brain shutoff for a period of time and i sold it... IDIOT!

 

you don't need to spend a fortune to build 400 horses, you can use all stock parts less the cam, valve train and pistons.

 

well the thing is... the motor i have now... 10 years ago was a fresh rebiuld.. he threw a rod in the original motor and biult this one... i was told it is a pretty decent biuld. by someone other than the guy that sold it to me. He put about 500 miles on the fresh motor, then blew out the clutch... installed a brand new clutch and shater shield and went back to school parked it and never drove it again... 10 YEARS it sat. I marveled the pistons and followed everyones instructions for "awakening" this car, and got it to the point that i can drive it... don't know the power it has yet... because i haven't really been able to get on it because i was too affraid to loose that alternator belt. But with all the work i am going to be doing to the vette... i don't want to chance the fact that the main bearings have been spun, or i bent a valve somewhere or the rings arent seated correctly because it wasn't broken in correctly

i have seen this happen, it happened to my father's boat which he bought "balanced and blueprinted" ps the guy never winterized it cracked a riser and hydrolocked the motor bending 3 valves... and drove it like that

i appreciate all your thoughts as i am still learning all this

John