I moved my original '75 small block back to my garage and want to rebuild it as a project. We all know that the power of the original '75 was overwhelming but I'm willing to get rid of all the parts and replace them to build it up. I'd like to get as much bang for the buck but don't want to spend too much since I really don't have any ideas what to do with the engine, I just want a new project. So, if you were rebuilding, what would you use?

 

How much $$ are you talkin here? 63Mako's buddy has a 548 700+hp for sale for $10gs. Or you can toss together a decent SB for $3k. Speed costs money, how fast can you afford to go?

 

100%

 

The intent is not so much to build up with as much HP as possible but more to rebuild the engine for the hobby of it. I don't want to spend a ton on it (as in nowhere near the 10K and under 3K would be preferred) and would prefer just to rebuild it for fun with as much bang for the buck with bang taking the backseat to buck.

 

I'm just starting my rebuild of my L-82 motor. I'm looking for a modest 300HP at the wheels. So I'll be going with the Dart Iron Eagle 64cc heads, either the Performer RPM or Airgap manifold, and probably the XE268H comp cam. I'll also be using our stock Q-jet, tuned by Lars. I haven't ran these specs on a desktop dyno or anything yet, so I can't tell you what I might get out of that combo.

I'll be keeping my bottom end stock. If you have an L-48, you might wanna get new pistons. I'm sticking with my flat tops, and my stock rods and crank. I have 3.70's in the rear, and a 4 speed.

After the machine shop cleans up the motor and rebuilds the bottom end, I'm looking at around $2500-3000 for the whole rebuild.

 

Thank you. That sounds like a great little build project.

 

Much as I hate factory heads I would keep them, your intake ,Q-jet.
Spend $1200.00/$1500.00 on the shortblock. That money would be spent on a stroker 383 rotating kit from scat or eagle, an
inexpensive summit cam/lifters, machine work. If your heads are
in bad enough shape to need a lot of work and parts don't mess with
them, you may have to just go good heads cam rought, with
less money spent on the short block. Stroker rought would give
very good torque, the inexpensive cam more HP and best
seat of the pants power for the amount of money spent.
If you have some more money add in the dart heads,
a complete set are up to around $875.00 now. the aluminum IK180
brodix complete is around $1050.00.

 

I like the idea of Dart Iron Eagle heads.. but disagree on the cam..

If you build the engine yourself and have a reasonably priced machine shop to do the machine work, you should be able to make close to 500 HP for under $3k, especially if you already have the block..

You are looking at about $4k - $5k if you want a fully forged bottom end and aluminum heads..


Here's what I'd build with a $4k budget:

350 4-bolt block
Dart Iron Eagle Heads with 215cc or 230 cc intake runners (depending on how much power you want) and 64 cc chambers
Eagle 4340 forged crankshaft
Eagle I-beam rods (or Eagle H-beam rods if you want to go with nitrous)
SpeedPro Pistons (forged or hypereutectic - depending on budget)
Clevite 77 bearings
Summit flat tapped solid cam (it is a myth that those require too much adjustment. If you use stud girdles (about $40) you'll only have to adjust the lash about once a year.. I would go with about 235 - 250 degrees .050 duration (depending on heads and compression, that's good for close to 500 HP)
FelPro head gaskets
.080 wall thickness push rods (you can find inexpensive push rods i.e. Howard Cams pushrods) for about $40 - $50 for the set.
I'd highly recommend White Performance (Ebay seller skipwhite) roller rockers and stud girdles. Those are very inexpensive and very nice quality pieces.
get a nice double roller timing set (not too expensive)
high volume oil pump (preferably Melling)
Moroso 7 qt drag oil pan
Romac balancer (lighter than others and a very nice piece)

If you'd choose 230 cc intake runners and about 250 degrees .050 duration and about .550 lift (that's about as much as you want to have with a flat tapped cam), you could make as much as 500 HP with a $3k - $4k budget.

Another option for heads would be RHS Iron heads.. They are even cheaper than the Iron Eagle heads and actually flow more..