I plan on getting my engine rebuilt over the next few months and need some help with a few items. The engine still runs, but is tires, so I hopefully only need a rebuild of the current parts with some additional bolt ons. I'm not looking for super duper power, anywhere from 350-400hp out of my stock 76 l48 engine would be good. Can some of the engine experts guide me in the right direction for, firstly what my engine is (2 bolt or 4 bolt main), I assume it's a short block, and what type of bolt on parts to purchase (ie. what to look for with intake manifold, carb, etc.) as far as making sure I purchase the correct parts. I hope I've explained this correctly. Many thanks.

 

2 bolt which is fine. Short block means assembled block w/o heads, etc.
Your sig. does not show trans. which is need for cam. Converter stall if auto. (stock) & gears (stock).

 

Give Eddie 96 an IM..he just rebuilt his 1970 C3's 350...He could give you an idea of what you are in store for...

As for the Horsepower you want, Anything is possible with enough money.
Take into consideration a few factors before getting the Horsepower

1) is the car going to be an everyday driver? Wild cams and huge horsepower do NOT make good everyday drivers. Reliability goes way down with the combo....Constantly breaking stuff

2) Do you have a Local Engine Machine shop? If so, talk to the guys there. They will guide you along the road to Horsepower. They can also give you leads where to buy the parts needed. Check the forum for parts, local vette owners will also have some of the parts you may need.

3) It will take more than an intake, carb, and some pistons. The IMPORTANT KEY here is to get the right Combo the first time. Mismatched heads with the wrong intake and too much carb are going to make your life miserable. Friend of mine just built a 350 small block for an S-10 . He did NOT match the parts. Stock intake, 750 carb, 7.5 to 1 pistons, and 10.5 to 1 cam shaft...
Combo sucks...Truck barely idles much less run worth a !@#
Combo is VITAL...

 

As usual, Ganey is right. Post what trans, rear end gear and than your questions can be answered correctly. Plan on buying pistons and a cam to start, heads and intake after that. Also tell us what you plan on using the car for so you will get the most out of your money. There is more to going fast than just HP. Setting up the motor for the right torque range is just as important. Compression ratio and type of gas (octane) you want to use makes a big difference.
Good luck

 

Hi Dukvet76
I am a long way from expert but based on the help from the guys on this forum I have learned alot and decided on this plan. I have a stock 77 and plan to do the same thing as you. I am installing a Comp XE262H-10 cam and matching springs and lifters from www.summitracing.com I will probably add a performer manifold also. When the engine is out of the car I am going to replace all of the pumps and rebuild the carb and detail the engine and bay. My engine only has 83k miles on it so I am not sure I need a complete rebuild. If you have a Q jet carb read the papers by Lars at www.corvettefaq.com/. Later changes may include removing the clutch and fan and installing a electric fan, changing to true dual exhaust, and possibly changing to MSD ignition. Keep us updated :D

 

Well Bud, don't take offense, the first question a man has to answer is "how deep do I plan to get into this project?" I have built several engines for friends and business associates in my years and it's a sincere question.

Some folks just want to drive they're car and enjoy it, some want to become carnal with it. The decision is yours. If you like to drive and tinker occasionally, your best $ and time element option will be a crate engine (manufactured mild or wild) with a warranty.

If you want to get carnal with your motor and make a nice project out of it. You have to go to school mentally first and be prepared to read a lot and hopefully you will love the experience. Then after you feel good about what you have learned about your engine. Start the big task. Locate the "good" machine shops in your area. Ones that will let you snoop around and watch what they are doing. You'll have to follow they're shop rules and stay out of the way. Some of the smaller shops will do this for you because they want your business, and they know you are going to spend some money with them. Most of the absolute bargain shops have to do the volume and they don't want you getting in the way. I never go for the cheapest price. You get what you pay for, especially in machine shops.

The crate engines can be purchased in long or short block condition. Long blocks provide you with the guts of the engine(pistons, crank, rods, cam, oil pump, timing chain and gears) with heads. All fully assembled and good to go with your doing the intake/carb/starter/water pump/distributor/exhaust manaifolds/ install, etc.

Short blocks provide the guts of the engine. You must have your heads reworked at a shop and install and the rest outlined above.

Go to Books-a-Million (or the forum literature store) and look for the book Cheverolet Corvette Restoration Guide by Lindsay Porter (library of Congress ISBN 0-7603-0325-8) . It..is...absolutely...great! I bet I have read a hundred manuals in my years, but I've literally wore out two of these guides reading them and lending them to my buddies (and sons). Makes for great bathroom reading...hahahah! And when you are finished reading them, you can go back and read them again after a year or so.

I hope I have been of some help. You're going to have a ball regardless otherwise you would not be reading this at the forum. :thumbs: :steering:

 

Okay, so I guess I need to give a little clarification here.

1. I had the stock 350 automatic transmission rebuilt last summer. The transmission does have a shift kit installed in it, though I do not know the brand.

2. The rear end is the stock rear end. I have not had any work done to it as of yet except for having the rear differential fluid replaced.

3. The car is running Dynomax headers with straight pipes through to Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers.

4. I purchased the car in the summer of 99. Prior to that, it sat for approximately 12 years. The engine was toyed with prior to those 12 years. It does have a non-stock cam in it and has had some top end work done to it. The carb is original, though the hoses have been toyed with in the past. The alternator, and other items look all original. All I have done in the engine compartment is replace the wires, plugs, cap and rotor, new rad and rad cradle, new water pump, belts, k & n air filter, and some other routine items. I would like to keep my current engine vs. buying a crate motor because it is a numbers matching engine.

I guess I was a little misled in the horsepower, even in reading a couple of my books after leaving the message. I guess where my car is really lacking is in the torque department. I still have no problem running the car full out and strong on the highways and back roads at over 140kms (though a bit scary and short lived), but the take off just sucks. My 6 cyl F150 has more take off torque than my vette does. I don't plan on using it for racing, maybe once or twice a year at the local track. I enjoy it more for the pleasure driving, but I want the throttle to react hard when I hit the gas pedal, especially beside a ricer or a mustwang.

Hopefully this will give you guys a better idea of what I'm trying to accomplish.

 

As you have already said.. and my opinion, too: Torque is what most drivers actually want (sometimes without knowing and mixing it up with horse power). It is that great feeling in your back when you push the pedal and the car reacts immediately to the slightest movement of your foot...

Therefore my recommendation: Go for a moderate stroker 383cui rebuild. It is a 350-smallblock with a 400-crankshaft (shorter pistons and different flywheel and balancer) giving it more stroke (it is like the pedals on the bicycle were longer givin you more power to accelerate). It will greatly increase low-end torque and can be done with reasonable cost. There are stroker-kits available. Buy a good one together with consultation of a reputable machine shop and you can't go wrong.

The low end torque also has the advantage, that you do not have to deal with the one specific V8-weakness: It does not like high rpms unless you pay a lot $$$ on improvements of the valve-train and give it more oil than the stock 5 qts.

Also, you can keep your Q-jet (maybe a normal rebuild and some adjustments an rejetting should be done) and distributor.

A good (and entertaining..) book to read about this is "How to restore and modify your corvette" by Richard Newton (hp books) - it describes the rebuild of a stroker in easy terms and is a good start if you have never read a book about engine building. In any case, reading books about it is always a great thing.

Good luck!

 

In my opinion for the money spent verses the power gained,a 350 that pulls 320hp and 400+ lbs of torque can be had fairly inexpensivly.Simple short duration cam,dual plane intake,headers. Once you raise the bar,say375-400hp you'll need better heads,stronger internals,maybe a single plane intake.If you go stroker,you can build a milder combination,and still gain big in the power department, but up goes the price.Also due to the increase in airflow requirements,you may find the torque monster running out of steam on the top. Now you need better heads,and more money.This cycle will continue to escalate when you look for more power. To give you an idea I've spent close to $5000. building the 406 you see in my sig,and I turned the wrenches myself. No professional mechanics fees here. This sounds like a pile of money,but it's a hobby of mine and was worth every penny to me. :steering:

 

Well, I'm guessing this is a semi-daily driver, and you probably don't go over 5,000 rpm too often. I'n not sure how much you would like to spend either. So if money isn't too big of an issue, a 383 stroker kit will give you very good low end power. I plan on buying mine from a place called Custom Design Performance in Connecticut, go to their website and check out their 383 "econo kit", it should be perfect for what you want. It is a complete bottom end with 10.25:1 hypereutectic pistons, scat crank, eagle rods, etc. and goes for a very reasonable price at $899. Now on to the top end of the motor. For a cam I would recommend the Comp Cams 256XE or the 262XE. The 256XE is for 1,000-5,200 rpm and the 262XE is for 1,300-5,600 rpm, so pick the one that suits your driving better. For an intake manifold, I would recommend the Edelbrock Performer (non-EGR version if you don't have to pass emmisions), it's powerband is idle-5,500 rpm, perfect for either cam and you can get one for an aftermarket carb or the stock Q-jet. Now onto the heads. The best heads are AFR's (air flow research). They are kind of expensive because they're aluminum, but with heads, you get what you pay for. I would recommend the AFR 190's with the 1.52 roller rockers, they are for idle to 5,000 rpm, again perfect for the rest of the setup. They come fully assembled and will run you about $1,800 with the roller rockers. Have the Q-jet rebuilt and tweaked for performance, and either get a new distributor form MSD or another similar company, or get something like the Pertronix HEI tune up kit and have the distributor recurved. You already have the exhaust taken care of, so really all's that left is for you to enjoy it. Good luck with your build up :cheers:

PS, I can provide the part numbers for these parts if you would like.


[Modified by Ryan77, 2:09 PM 1/1/2003]

 

I can see where all of you are coming from. I guess my major reason for the rebuild is that I think the engine is just tired. My real loss is around the take offs, and I want to clean things up that bubba got to under the hood. Just a nice, long lasting, strong engine. I really don't want to put all new parts on, especially the heads, because they match the car, but I was hoping for an inital investment of around $2000 P&L to get me at least started. I would be able to deal with the bolt-ons later. I may be way off base on the cost but this is one area I'm in the dark on.

 

If your real loss is on take off, then you will have have to do some head work to create more low end torque. Either the new heads with smaller combustion chambers and better flow, or having the original iron heads shaved for more compression, installing higher flowing valves, and having them ported and polished. This will be more cost effective for you, as I think having that work done should only cost about $600-$800, instead of the $1,800 AFR's. With having the numbers matching iron heads reworked, have the carb rebuilt, the "econo" stroker kit, the Edlebrock intake, the HEI tune up kit, and the other small parts and labor, the total price should be a little less than $3,000, it's hard to build a good performing engine for $2,000 when you have to start with a L-48 (I have the L-48 too). This combo that I just listed should give you 300-350 horsepower, and 350+ ft/lbs of torque once it is tuned correctly.

 

The secret to low-end torque is fuel/air mixture velocity, in and out of the combustion chamber. This is mainly the intake and cylinder heads. "Small" intake ports are better at this. If you want the most bang for the buck, I would go with World Product S/R Torque heads (Iron).

Bored the cylinders+0.010, get new pistons and rings. Get pistons that will give you 9.0:1 compression ratio. Edelbrock Performer intake. Keep your carb and headers.

Speaking of which, what size headers do you have? 1-5/8 is typical for a 300-350 HP 350 cubic inch chevy.

If you want to upgrade to Aluminum heads, AFR 180 are nice but little on the $ size. Maybe L98 heads or Edelbrock Performer Heads.

The previous mentioned Crane Cam is a good combo. Also, look at the Comp. cams website. They have dyno sheets with their cams. Engines are 355 with S/R heads and Edelbrock performer.

If you want to do it right, get your hands on John Lingenfelter on Modifying Small-Block Chevy Engines It is all about high torque street engines.

My 2-cents.

Summary, new gaskets, new bearings, new rings & pistons, cam kit (w/ lifters), Complete S/R Torque heads.

 

Should I get all the parts new or can I pick up used ones (intake, etc). What should I look for when purchasing these items?

 

Maybe I am missing something but if what you want is more lowend torque than ypu should look into changing out your rear end gears. I am willing to bet you have 3.08's or some other highway gear.

 

Rob, as a former Windsorite I know that there used to be lots of good performance/machine shops around. Sadly, I can't remember any of the names of the shops that I used to use. I'll bet if you ask around and talk to a few of them, that you might be able to get some leads on good parts. There used to be a lot of hot cars in the area (but that was 25 years ago) but I'm not sure what it's like now.

What's the closest drag strip nowadays? We used to go to Windsor Dragway (or whatever it was called) until it closed down. I hung around at Detroit a lot, but it wasn't in the best part of town and eventually we stopped going.

 

I plan on asking around at some of the local machine shops on Thursday and Friday. As far as local drag strip, the closest one now if I'm not mistaken is Grand Bend.

 

Whatever you decide to do, normal rebuild or stroker, talk to the company that shall deliver your cam. The cam is the brain of the engine and any other setup should be matched to it. If you tell them what kind of engine characteristics you want, they will recommend a cam and give you all other parameters that result in optimum power gain: Compression-ratio (most importantly... then you can decide wether you rebuild the old heads, which is no big deal...), valve train components, carb-size and even jetting, intake, exhaust system, headers etc.

The good thing with stroker is, that you just need a few more new parts than with a normal rebuild. Possibly you can keep you heads and manifold - they just need to be ported. See you do not have to go for the ultimate stroker - but even an average stroker will give you a lot more off-the-pants-torque than your recent 350.

The additional things that come with a stroker (compared to a normal 350 rebuild) is machining the block for the larger crank (just a few notches at the bottom of the block), the different flywheel and different harmonic ballancer and different crank of course. New pistons and rods you will have to buy anyways.

All other machinge work is the same. You do not need other heads if you keep your CR under 9,5:1. Have the old ones rebuild with new valves and guides, srew-in rocker studs and have them ported to the manifold. Choose a Edelbrock-Performer or Holley Contender and keep your Q-jet. Its small primaries are best choice for low-end torque and crisp throttle response.

But again: Ask the cam supplier for all parameters!

 

Yes, you could do that. Performer 2101 or Weiand Action+ for Q-J. Cam is no problem either, sounds like you would like Comp Cams XE256.

 

You can buy used. Ebay is the place to look. Find the price at Summit.com and jegs.com. I wouldn't pay more the 1/2 price with shipping included. I would only consider the Performer intake and/or the heads. There is a risk. There are plenty of good used parts that will work just as well. There are just a many not so good parts. Stripped bolt holes, warped surfaces. Parts that have been machined or ported by and amateurs.

This is what I would consider for a min. "freshening" of an engine:

- All new gasket
- All new bearings (main, cam, etc.)
- New piston & rings
- Block machining.
- New timing chain (old timing chains can strength).
- New filters & hoses & plug wires.

If you have a good machine shop local, I am sure they can port & polish the heads with a 3-angle value job.

Lingenfelter's book has a good chapter on both iron & aluminum heads.

Here are some posts from SIGNGUY. He just redid his 350. Some great reading. He started with used heads and ended up getting S/R Torque heads. The ones with the '*' have his engine kit.


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=383279
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=385367
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=388047
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=388721
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=389651
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=391181
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=392024
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=395623
*http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=401108
*http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=407032
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=420229