So....

$2500. He has $1500 for the Edelbrock 2022 plus another $1000

Assuming the bottom end is ok....

Jegs Profiler heads $1000
Retro roller cam and lifter kit from whoever $750
Edelbrock intake $200

That's $1950 so far....

 

Engine rebuild-related pun intended??!

Adam

 

You've gotten some great advice so far.

1. Do leak-down and pressure test -if good proceed to #2; if bad re-evaluate plans for your life and your budget ;-)
2. Do what Jim2527 said: Jegs Profiler Heads, Retro roller cam & Lifter Kit, Intake with 1206 sized ports, and new timing chain and cover to support retro roller (and get that 0.015" FelPro head gasket as mentioned for the extra 1/2 point of CR)
3. Add 1.6 Ratio Roller Rockers to hit at least 0.550" intake valve lift
4. Save the rest of what little $$ you have in your budget for gaskets, bolts, assembly lube and other random incidentals

Alternatively, you could see if Edelbrock has a kit that matches those heads with a retro roller setup.

If you've got headers and true duals and got rid of the OEM cats, you've got a good basis to make some good power (assuming #1 above goes well).

Full disclosure: I'm doing #1-4, so I'm not exactly impartial on this. My build is a bit different as it's a multiport EFI build with a FIRST fuel injection TPI-style long runner intake, though.

Adam

 

I'm glad someone got that!

 

Yeah, the headers and exhaust were on the car when I got it. I don't know what kind of headers they are, but there are no cats and no cross pipes.

 

The min diameter is going to be 1 5/8th which is certainly good to 400hp (those are REALLY rough numbers); more torque, more hp, more MPG; can't go wrong, really.


Adam

 

A lot of great advice and a lot of conflicting advice. I appreciate all of it, but it's very confusing.

 

What do you find conflicting?

 

Or confusing?

Everyone will have an opinion. It comes down to budget and the best use of that money.

I agree with a roller cam these days, so it comes down to pick the heads and have a cam spec to match.

Then it's what to do with the bottom end. Leave it, stroke it or recondition it.

 

My advice is you don't put new heads, cam, intake, carb with headers on a 40 year old short block. Life expectancy is short.

 

Just so many options. Like you said, there's no one answer. Basically, my goal is to just have a solid, reliable street motor. I'm not in a financial position to do anything that isn't in my immediate best interest to do while the block is out. I don't know if that makes sense. The answer I'm looking for here is: "While your block is out, you SHOULD _________________ before you reinstall it and put it back together, because it would be dumb not to."

 

I understand....and agree. But here's the problem, with $2500 nobody here thinks you can recondition the bottom end and do heads, cam, intake.

 

So here is what I would do in your situation. Start doing your own research regarding parts prices, machining costs, and deciding how you ultimately want your car to perform. Make a plan and start compiling the necessary parts and saving your money for machining and any other labor costs. Once you have everything you need to do the rebuild right and to the extent you will be completely satisfied, then pull the motor and start the project. If you can't accomplish everything you want with the money you have then wait until you do. My 73 is a nice looking good running car that I plan to do a body off resto/mod on once I have all my parts and pieces. Until I do, I can drive and enjoy my car even though it's not the way I want it to be. My advise, save your money, make a plan, do your research, do it right and just once.

 

I agree with Jim 2527 yet again.

WHY are you yanking out the engine? If your engine passes the leak-down and compression tests you don't need to re-do the bottom end yet and you therefore don't need to pull the engine or spend all the machine shop $$ on the bottom end and you can allocate the budget to the top-end. You WILL need to pull the radiator to do the cam swap in place, though.


My opinion would be that if the bottom-end is good, just do the top-end now and pull the engine later when the bottom-end needs rebuilt. (You WILL need new pistons then, and new high quality rods are basically the same price as just getting your old rods reconditioned; a Scat 9000 383 stroker kit, rods, and pistons and a new ring pack can be had quite inexpensively.)

With $2,500 you can afford to do either the bottom-end or the top-end well, but not both. If the bottom-end is good then do the top-end now and the bottom end later; if the bottom-end is bad, then do the bottom end now and leave the top end for later. Or just say screw it and get a cheap crate motor but corners WILL be cut.


Adam

 

If I were to do just a top end assuming good ring seal, and up to 350 HP gross when done, the minimum I would do for the bottom end is put in new crank main bearings and con rod bearings. Both can be done with the engine in the car.
The stock pistons are just cast pistons. Practical limit for them is 350 HP. So that is the high side of your goal with stock bottom end components.
Other problem, or at least performance sucking component is the 3.08 rear diff. Changing that is not in your budget. However a higher stall torque converter for a TH350 is. This is assuming you have the stock stuff in the drive train.
Another bump for shifting performance is a shift kit for the TH350.

I put both of these in my 77 before the engine upgrade and both improved the performance "feel" and actual performance to some degree. My stall was 2400 with the stock motor. Put the engine at a higher torque when I stepped on it before the torque converter was fully engaged.
Just top end on these stock motors is hard to get right without having to change bottom end components and not regret rebuilding the entire motor.
At best you might achieve a 9.2CR with about 60cc chamber and .015 felpro head gasket. The stock pistons do not have a piston top design that helps to avoid detonation so maxing at 9.2 is probably a good thing.
Next the DCR needs to suffenciently high for good torque but low enough to avoid detonation. A DCR of 8.0 to 8.5 seems to be a good limit if using aluminum. Maybe 7.7 to 8.0 if cast iron. The higher end would be for better piston top designs, which the stock motor does not have.
Flat tappet is by far cheaper than roller. A roller conversion will cost you $1000 when all said and done.
Take a look at the ISKY cams in the 256 to 264 duration and a 110 to 108 LSA.

Use this DCR calculator to calculate your DCR at your altitude.

https://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/calculator/

Just take some time to look before you leap and be sure it's what you want.

Ready put together kits usually do not consider the drive train and weight of the vehicle. You have to consider that as well if you want to get decent results from your modifications. With the 3.08 and the TH350 good low end torque is desirable vs high RPM HP for street operation.

 

Let's see if I can help answer your question:

If your compression test and leak down tests are good, I would get decent heads, not the edelbrock package along with a decent cam package. You said you are looking for more power for a decent cruiser and since it is an L-48, I would go with vortec heads (58 CC and cheap) and a decent cam package (like the comp cams extreme energy or high energy line) or other heads mentioned like the profiler. These two changes (really 3 with the compression increase) will give you a lot more power. I would forget the stroker idea since I think you can get what you want for relatively small dollars....and some change.

 

I'm pulling the engine to clean up the bay and do some front end work. My bay is a disaster, so I want to get the motor out and degrease, clean, and paint what I can. While the motor is out I figure is the right time to do whatever work I'm going to do.

$2500 is where I'm TRYING to stay. I could spend some more if I had to, but.... y'know.

Considering my factory stock HP was supposed to be somewhere around 185, anywhere up around 300-350 HP would be a huge increase. Honestly, the way I like to drive and the power the car has now is fine with me, so ANY increase is a bonus. I want to modernize a bit, and have her looking good and running strong.

 

You can easily do what you want for $2,500 assuming that the bottom end is decent after the compression check and leakdown test as I suggested earlier^:

1. The profiler aluminum heads-180 CC 64 CC-1 point compression bump from 8.0-8.5:1 to 9.0-9.5:1. L-48 compression was advertised as 8.5:1 but will be actually somewhere less than that number. Cost $1,100. Vortec Iron heads 58 CC heads are less at around $800.

2. Flat tappet cam kit-$350 for the kit. New Pushrods <$50 for a set. Total $400. Comp cams XE262H or Lunati Voodoo-.469/.489 lift

http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...x?csid=85&sb=2

http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1983&gid=287

3. Reuse everything else you have plus new gaskets etc-$200

Total-$1,700

Take the money left over and use for new intake-performer/performer RPM/L-82 aluminum intake, new fuel pump, new oil pump, long tube headers, exhaust etc.

Don't rev the bottom end any higher than 5,000-5,500 RPM and the engine will easily make 325-350 Gross HP..probs more like 375 gross HP.

Read this:

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/1004c...-engine-build/

 

Do you have a part# on those Profiler heads? I don't see any that are 180/64, just 185/64. What makes the Profiler different than others like say, the Edelbrock, BluePrint, or TrickFlow heads? Is it a matter of preference or are they recommended for any particular reason? I appreciate the detailed info very much, thank you.

 

I have AFR 180 64 CC heads but others have personal experience with the profilers being a good value for the money...I don't think you will have any issues with 185 64CC though. Other can chime in on their personal experiences. Honestly anything is better than the stock OEM GM heads....