Hello Everyone
Back again
I have made a decision not to rebuild my original engine for now and keep it aside for little while.
Found this potential replacement candidate and would like your opinion http://www.fastcoauto.com/engine_a.htm
What do you think?
Anyone knows this company?

 

Sounds like a rebuilt 350 small block bored .030 over. $ 3800 is a good price. Would wait and see if anyone on CF has used this engine from them.

 

How about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts....c0.m245.l1308

 

Just bought a 1980 and went the zz4 crate motor route from summit at $3799.00 they matched the price I pulled off the net.
Very happy so far. L48 vs zz4 no contest.

 

Posts some good numbers and is easily upgraded in cam capacity.

 

Paul, heard of T and L engines? They seem to have a decent reputation in these forums.

383 stroker, 420hp: $3588
Not turn-key but all you'd need is a carb and distributor. Cost may work out slightly higher, but you get a lot more hp and torque.

 

 

Amen to that. I went with a ZZ4 for my 74 and it's been great. A rock solid motor that just drops in and performs. It's not the fastest but it's quick. Well worth the money. Good luck.

 

I think you also need to change the to a short water pump on the ZZ4. I have had on my '70 for 3 years and love it.

 

Found this engine for a reasonable price of £1500.00 already in the UK.
What do I need to do to bring it to 300HP and 350 ft/ Torque?
What I am thinking of is to change the cam to something fruitier, change the pistons to bump the compression to?9.5:1 and reuse parts from my L48.
What do you think?

CHEVY 350 V8 (LONG BLOCK ) ENGINE 5.7L (Part No. GM-10067353)

BRAND NEW IN CRATE

This universal Chevy 350 is a long block (short motor and cylinder heads) for use with most GM applications from 1970 thru 1985. Great as a small block replacement or V8 retrofit into any application.

Performance - will produce up to 260 bhp and 350 foot pounds of torque with a four-barrel carburetor and headers.

SPECIFICATIONS:

(4) bolt main block with a (2) piece rear main seal.
Cast iron crank.
LT/LT4 powdered metal connecting rods.
Cast pistons (dished).
Hydraulic flat tappet cam (.383" intake/.401" exhaust) and a 112 degree lobe separation.
Cast iron cylinder heads with a 76 cc combustion chamber. (Non vortec design).
8:5:1 compression ratio.
Left or right hand dipstick.
(4) quart oil pan.
Timing tabs for a 6 3/4" or an 8" balancer.

 

Paul, that looks like the same basic Goodwrench engine that I've got.

That's about the price I paid for mine six years ago.

 

Hello Ben
Why do not You just call me at home silly sausage?

Yes this 260/hp engine is GM Goodwrench long block sold for about $1500.
I could buy 290HP/350 GM Goodwrench long block for about $1900, however the only difference as far as I can see is a camshaft with a more aggressive grind.450’’/.460’’ lift and .222*/.222*duration at .050’’

I Can buy a cam with this lobe for about $120 and put it in to my 260HP engine and achieve ?290HP and still be left with about $300 to buy a set of pistons to bump my compression to about 9.5:1 and get around 300HP
Am I right?????

 

What's your budget and how do you want to use the engine?

IMHO, the GMPP stuff is really, REALLY hard to beat price/performance. If you've got a GMPP dealer and you're not in a huge hurry, order from them...no shipping!

Correct that the only difference between the 260 and 290 GMPP engines is the cam. It's generally false economy to swap parts around in the crates - just step up to the next level of crate. The 350 HO and above are worth looking at.

 

This is only going to be a street/ show vette.

The 350HP engine uses vortec heads and cost $2659 + new vortec intake and so on...
the 260 HP + Cam would be around $1600 this seem a good value for money and I can still re-use all of my existing parts from my L48.

This is what I found about these engines

Affordable engines from a name you can trust. GM Performance 10067353
These are excellent entry-level performance engines for older cars, trucks, and street rods. All of the parts in these engines are brand new. These GM Performance Parts Goodwrench 5.7L/350 c.i.d. engines have approximately 8.5:1 compression with 250 hp at 4,300 rpm and 350 ft.-lbs. of torque at 3,600 rpm. These crate engines have a 4.00 in. bore and a 3.47 in. stroke with 4-bolt mains and 2-piece rear main seals. Camshaft specifications are .383 in. intake lift and .401 in. exhaust lift. The open duration is 194 degrees intake and 202 degrees exhaust at .050 in. with a 112 degree lobe separation. The cylinder heads are cast iron with 1.94 in. intake valves and 1.50 in. exhaust valves, 76cc combustion chambers, and 7-bolt style exhaust flanges. These engines include painted valve covers, oil pans, and timing covers. They are drilled for both left hand and right hand dipsticks.
350/290 HP Tech Specs
http://www.gmperformanceparts.com/En...P&sku=12499529

 

Important information that you want to reuse all the other bits from your L48 - definitely rules out any Vortec heads (unfortunately)

By changing the cam, you immediately void the warranty on the engine - your call if that's worth $300.

The head is the same for the 260/290 (P/N 93438649) so it should be a no-trouble swap.

Lots of other options to consider if you're looking at piston swaps, etc. Maybe just a 383 build-up from a bare, roller-cam block.

 

Warranty on 290 HP is 12 months or 12000mls. It is very unlikely that something will go drastically wrong within first 12 months.
It is only the little things which may let go, so for the cost of sipping to and from US it will be far cheaper to repair it myself

I am considering buying this engine from Summit and ship it to the UK.
So the warranty will be no use to me.

I would like to rebuild my original engine myself. However before I let loose on my engine I would like to have a practice run on a replacement engine.
Because of the lack of small blocks in the UK, USED, OLD long blocks go for about £500!!!!and more.
I still need a machine shop to check block and heads for cracks, heads may need skimming..... by the time I am done with simple checks and basic rebuild parts I am about £2000!!!!!
This is where the GM 260HP makes sense.
If I can buy this engine for $1500 by the time it is in the UK it will be about £1200.
This is a BRAND NEW block, heads, crank, rods...........
It dos not need any machining or crack testing.
I have a Brand new long block fully assembled a solid base platform for ‘little’ money to learn about engine building.
Does this make sense?

 

I'm not questioning your approach at all Just making sure you're aware of some of the implications.

When the crates fail (in my experience, usually due to lack of pre-oiling before initial startup) they usually go within the first thousand miles...but if the warranty isn't applicable then it doesn't matter

Since you're going to do a cam swap, you may want to consider aftermarket vs. the 290HP cam...depending on if you're running stock exhaust manifolds. Note that replacement engine (260) HP is measured using stock manifolds, the GMPP engines (290) are measured using headers...so the numbers alone don't tell the whole story.

It's a good plan given all of the aspects of what you're looking for

 

I absolutely 100% agree with this.
No matter what crate engine I buy 290/350/450HP....if I am not careful within first few running in miles and engine goes bang due to oiling, overheating issues no warranty out there would cover me.

The plan is to bump the compression to about 9.5:1, put a cam in and reuse my 1980 14014432 aluminium intake manifold with Rochester Q-jet, use my Headman headers with my 2.5’’ straight through dual H-pipe exhaust and tune the ignition to be all in by ?3000RPM.

To me it looks like I can get pass 300HP with a brand new crate engine for less than GM 350/290HP.
What do you think?