Hey y'all. I got a 70 350 .030 over. TRW pistons. Motor hasn't been updated in 20 years. Now I'm looking to get some decent hp out of her for as little money as possible lol. Please tell me how to get about 100 more hp at least for under 2gs please thanks folks

 

Not enough info. What did you do to it 20 years ago, what does it have on it now?

Assuming the TRWs are stock replacement 4 eyebrow units and you already have headers and a good intake then can't go wrong with a nice used set of 87-91 alum L98 or 96+ iron Vortec heads.

 

I bought the car 20 years ago. It lived its life on auto cross and road courses before sitting for 15 years before I bought it, all I knew is they bored the motor. I spun bearings 3 years ago and rebuilt it finding out it had stock replacement trw .030over. Holley 600 carb 4b. Msd oldskool distrib. Rev limiter in distrib. 4 speed m21 373 rear. Car slammed 2" tag says it's a 300hp car so I assume it's pretty much still only right there. But I guess what I really want is to get faster for myself cause I'm sooo use to the car over the years I'm ready to push my drivability so I need more power I'm bored.

 

Car grew up auto crossing and road course racing.. sat for 15 years then I bought it and it sat for 6 years. 2 years later spun the bearings. Learned it was .030 over, trw pistons. Hookers out the sides with newer magna flows side pipe mufflers. 300 hp car on the arm rest. 373 rear 4 spd m21. Lowered 2 1/2" Holley 600 carb old skool msd dist. Rev limiter in dist. Set at 4700 afraid to blow it up again cause it gets super loud at 4300 rpm. Ran a 14.2 2 years ago. Race the car in the country roads alone all the time... looking to go faster for myself Car is fun but I'm bored and wanna go faster.

 

It's heads, cam and intake/carb time. That's where the power is. Get some aftermarket aluminum heads with 64cc or smaller chambers, a decent HR cam and then search for an intake and carb used.

JIM

 

I don't enough to know what to look for Bahhaha I just know I wanna go faster

 

I've been looking at the edlebrock top end kits but I'm Leary

 

Big power and little money cannot be in the same sentence ... Money=Horsepower

 

Obviously slick, Looking for suggestions not dumb statements.

 

LOL..... Good luck with that.



You MAY gain 50-60hp with a Vortec head/RPM intake swap along with a cam and headers. If you hunt around for deals on parts and do the labor yourself, you can probably do that for under $2k.


Most of the time, you are better off just saving up a little more and buying a crate motor.

 

thanks man... yea that's where I've been told to go. I mean Edelbrock offers a 435 hp top end kit for around 2600$. But I can't find really anyone who has used one to know how it worked out for em ya know.

 

Another problem that always remains is, most of the time the true compression of the engine is unknown and/or the true condition of the engine is not as good as they "think" it is. So they spend $2600 for an Edelbrock top end kit, slap it together and the car gains 30hp and they are pissed off. LOL

A flat top/4 valve relief piston 350 with 64cc heads and pistons .030" down in the hole is barely a 9-1 compression ratio...So choose your cam wisely.

You can make some gains but, I'd only invest money in mods if you KNOW the engine is tight...(an accurate leak down test).

And once you gain that 50-60hp, you'll soon realize, its not enough.

Usually best off going with something like this if you are on a budget and want reliable power:
http://blueprintengines.com/index.ph...ase-bp35513ct1

 

motor was tore down and crank was sent out and cleaned up block was sent out also and rebuilt by an old school guy in our corvette club 2 years ago. I'd like to assume it's good but would like to have it gone through again before I add anything. Thanks for info

 

A lot of what is going to determine the answer here is how much you know about what you have now......
You do not know the cam so add $200 to the bill before you even start.......
A complete top end setup will run you about what the Edelbrock costs.
I have used Edelbrock stuff before and it works fine.......in the late 90's that basically is all there was for a complete top end......
Edelbrock was the first to dyno a "power package".
Now granted.....there are better functioning parts out there but not by much.......
Now what intake, carb, distributor are you running? Headers? Exhaust?
All of these play a role.......
Give us as much info as possible and we can give you a better assessment.

Jebby

 

A 350 can certainly be made to run...12's aren't too tricky...but you'll have to back away from that 4700 RPM redline. It's going to be more of a 6000-6500 type deal. If you're not sure about taking it up there now...adding better flowing heads, a cam and induction isn't going to impress you as much as it could. It will pick up...but the good stuff is going to come at higher RPM.

The Edelbrock stuff is good for entry level. I wouldn't use their cam.

You're going to be looking for heads in the 180cc range at the most for what it sounds like you're doing. I've run larger on 350's but I don't mind twisting it up there to use the power.

I'd look at Brodix IK heads maybe, AFR's are pricey but always work. TFS and Dart are other options. I'd avoid the import stuff which is sold under many names. The only way I'd consider them is if they came from a well known porter/builder and they assembled with good parts.

Edelbrock's RPM intake is nice....I'm not a fan of their carbs. Not because they don't work...but mainly just like Holley's design for tuning better....and the Edelbrocks are ugly unless you've got two of them sitting together on top of the motor. You've got 3.73's and a close ratio trans....so it's not going to be killer out of the hole...which can be fixed with a little more aggressive driving.

Either way, if that 600 carb is a vacuum sec one...it needs to go. I'd use a double pumper on this all day long...anywhere from 650-750 cfm. Personally I'd use a Holley street HP so I could still use it in the 383-400" engine I would eventually end up building someday. If you buy the right top end parts you can use them on the 383.

Once you decide on heads...then you go for the cam. If it comes down to buying better heads or spending the money for a Hyd roller cam....I'd go with the heads usually. Sort of depends. The roller will add reliability and power...and could be a better deal for you depending on how much power you want compared to driveability.

JIM

 

I have no problem blasting it up in the rpm range. I autocross a lot and turn it up when I race. She's strong strong out of the hole and on the low end all day. She just looses it after 4000 and just flatlines.

 

parts need to be engineered to work together for the intended purpose. wrong value springs could limit rpm. Make sure to verify what you have works with the cam you have and the intended rpm range.

 

Yes...if it's just not running right...there may be some other issues. But either way....just need to do it right this time and add the correct combination.

If you're happy with it out of the hole as it is....man....can we have some fun when we get you some real power!!

JIM

 

x2 if its falling off at 4k take a look at those springs with high lift cams even HR springs become a maintenance deal
cant tell you how many times that issue has popped up finally learned my lesson on the value of spending $ on good springs and setting them up right. Night and day!! Unless you are losing fuel pressure bet that solves your problem.

 

Yea my dad and bro have been building cars forever and they know I wanna go faster but I'm waiting till I can really do something good. I'll even wait another year or two if I have to to build her correct. I'm just tired of being behind them in the long run. Car is super fun on the low end. Super torquey. Massive smoke burnouts with ease. Always on point never stutters,