350 rebuild
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Joined: Apr 2002
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From: rices landing Pa.
350 rebuild
I have the body ready for paint, the frame and suspension done, now any ideas on the engine I do not want anything real wild, a good cruiser with about 280 hp. right now I guess it is about 180 hp ,a 1978 auto
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Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Stronghurst Il
Re: 350 rebuild (john V. zemba)
If you wanted to modify your car a little, i could sell you the Engine and transmission that I have in my garage. Its GENII LT1 383 Stroker, with a T-56 6-speed. (around 750HP on the juice) I would like 9500 for the entire setup, it has EVERYTHING you would need to have it run. Other than that, you could spend about 1200 and have a good running 350 with the carb setup (depending on how much of the work you do yourself).
Abby Normal
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Press "2" for English
Re: 350 rebuild (john V. zemba)
john, you don't mention the mileage. i'll assume it's high since your talking about body off and paint and stuff.
i could be wrong here but i think that 280 is probably going to be on the verge of reasonable if your looking to maintain normal drivability and idle qualities. the reason is the cam that would be required with a standard stroke/rod combination to support that kind of power is somewhere in the 270-285* range.
if your planning on doing a full out engine rebuild, then i think you can reasonably expect to acheive 250hp without a loss of quality. you might get lucky though and get that 280hp mark.
my recommendations (please keep in mind, i do not build engines for a living, i have built a few but i don't pay the mortgage that way):
1) if the engine is 100k+, give it a .030 over bore.
2) make sure the block and heads are true, if not, have them decked/milled.
3) get new pistons that will put you in the 9.2-9.5:1 compression range. (there is a reason this step is after #2)
4) if you have the infamous 882 'smogger' heads, which is very likely considering the vintage, take them off, walk down to the nearest creak/river/lake and heave them as hard as possible. then get a decent set of heads, preferrably 1.94in/1.5ex.
5) get a new cam. i like comp cams and i think something like their 'xtreme energy' 268 or 274 cam would be about as roudy as you might like to go for the aforementioned qualities.
6) if you can, loose the factory 2-1-2 exhaust and go true dual. if you can't, find some decent AIR headers and put the biggest 'Y' pipe into and out of the biggest cat you can fit under there.
7) make sure that your ignition is up to par. that means more than just OEM coil and wires.
8) also make sure that the cooling system is as good as you can get it. more power=more heat
so that's my $.02. what's everybody else have to say?
i could be wrong here but i think that 280 is probably going to be on the verge of reasonable if your looking to maintain normal drivability and idle qualities. the reason is the cam that would be required with a standard stroke/rod combination to support that kind of power is somewhere in the 270-285* range.
if your planning on doing a full out engine rebuild, then i think you can reasonably expect to acheive 250hp without a loss of quality. you might get lucky though and get that 280hp mark.
my recommendations (please keep in mind, i do not build engines for a living, i have built a few but i don't pay the mortgage that way):
1) if the engine is 100k+, give it a .030 over bore.
2) make sure the block and heads are true, if not, have them decked/milled.
3) get new pistons that will put you in the 9.2-9.5:1 compression range. (there is a reason this step is after #2)
4) if you have the infamous 882 'smogger' heads, which is very likely considering the vintage, take them off, walk down to the nearest creak/river/lake and heave them as hard as possible. then get a decent set of heads, preferrably 1.94in/1.5ex.
5) get a new cam. i like comp cams and i think something like their 'xtreme energy' 268 or 274 cam would be about as roudy as you might like to go for the aforementioned qualities.
6) if you can, loose the factory 2-1-2 exhaust and go true dual. if you can't, find some decent AIR headers and put the biggest 'Y' pipe into and out of the biggest cat you can fit under there.
7) make sure that your ignition is up to par. that means more than just OEM coil and wires.
8) also make sure that the cooling system is as good as you can get it. more power=more heat
so that's my $.02. what's everybody else have to say?
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Instructor
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 163
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From: rices landing Pa.
Re: 350 rebuild (clutchdust)
I had the car new(well 10,000) when I picked it up;there is 39000 on it now. This started out to be change carpet, shocks, fix a crack here and there. My brother (71fun) started to rebuild his so I could not let him get ahead.
