i have that set up on my ford truck, but it would whistle when you smack it. holley recommended a 1/2 spacer, 4 hole type, and it cured it instantly as well as ran way better. that said i did want a single plane, but only found 1 for the vortec style straight bolts. and it was the tallest. blueprint has a dual plane thats only 4.59 inch in hight and comes with all hardware and gaskets for the carb or tbi and manifold for 200 less than the gm set up. this is starting to come together. only thing really holding me back now is i cant find the serial number on my water pump to know which to buy. seems hidden some where. always wanted cold air for this thing too, but it never had the stock air cleaner with the seal for the hood cowl. It has the electric baffle but thats it. currently has a new drop with k&n filter, but sucking hot engine air as its open. SO, as far as the clearance goes, Im kind of not too worried anymore because Im deciding to fabricate an air filter to fit what ever I buy for a motor, and seals to the hood so it draws threw the cowl as its designed. This blueprint equivelant to the gm is pricing out the same, so looks like the right choice since it has nicer vortec aluminum heads and higher hp and torque. Summit is actually working with me and I might get the entire package with all the parts to swap for under the 10k I want. Everyone is throwing hate at the vortec heads but all I can find is great reviews on them. supposedly they flow better than most. the zz series is no better from what I see and everything else is a serious expensive upgrade. Also, the after market support for this motor is huge. Think the blueprint is the one to go with. glad some one made me look again. comes with a dyno sheet too, so you know its good.

 

Hmmmm, interesting. Summit just contacting me to update me with the correct specs on the blueprint motor. They said it has Vortec style heads made by blueprint, but they are dual drilled so it will accept the vortec intake, or the original stock 350 intake. Ive never heard of that before, but what a great idea. Might still get the vortec intake depending which flows better upon research. Guessing the Vortec style, but we will see. How crazy is that though. Blueprint guys sure are smart

 

I have researched this a bit and actually there is still some low end gains with going with a dual plane (This is why GM used dual plane intakes with TBI setups vs single planes) Its not as much difference as it would be with a carb but still there. Also if you use a dual plane with the center cutout you dont really need the spacer. Thats the approach I'm going with on my TBI upgrade since the drop base air cleaner will not work with it so I have to lose my 1" spacer. Aces the manufacturer of my TBI setup recommended the dual plane for my application but YMMV. The throttlebody on my aces killshot is actually recessed so it will work on a flat DP intake without the cutout as well and still get proper signals.

 

They might be the same chinese castings I have and AFR sell as the enforcer series. They are drilled for both types of intakes if they provide pics see if they look like these, https://www.ebay.com/itm/35163322920...3ABFBMgr_Qwchk

Many companies are putting their own name on them and selling as their own.

EDIT I just took a look and I believe im right. These are the same castings as the ebay ones I linked above. The poplular head porting guy Eric W has mentioned bluprint uses these. he has done lots of testing and comparisions on them as well.
https://blueprintengines.com/collect...sembled-h8002k They might possibly be buying them pre machined and loaded from AFR only with the blueprint branding. AFR uses better quality valve guides and 8mm valves and such than most others are selling them with. I bought mine bare and loaded myself for $750 total cost.. not sure what your options are in Canada but It doesnt hurt to know this information going in to know what your getting and what your paying for.

Ive been running mine for 2 years and they are decent heads especially for the low cost. im running a standard DP high rise intake myself with them.

 

Blueprint said they make them. but to be honest, I dont care. Im on a 10k budget, and this is a serious upgrade any way you look at it. The gm crate is the iron heads so for same price the blueprint is a much better choice. could be mexican heads for all I care. hahaha. These cars arent race cars. I bought it for a cruiser and want a nice drive. buying a huge hp big cam super motor is not for me. Figure these heads would last a life time over stock ones considering Ill be touring at highway speeds like the cars designed. It will never see the strip, or do a burn out for that matter. Just spent 18k on a deadly paint job, did interior myself, and just found a tired cylinder doing a tune up on the old motor. Actually cost the same to replace the old motor as to upgrade to this motor. Not to mention it will run smoother on the highway and get better mileage, and its actually 130hp more than stock and about 60ft torque more. Thanks for the info though, sure the experts get it. I just wasnt expecting to put an engine in yet, 10k is all I got for now. retired on a budget. lol

 

OP - Keep in mind that crate engine HP and torque ratings are gross figures while engines installed in cars since 1972 are rated in net HP and torque. The difference is not insignificant.

 

Yes, they are dyno tested out of the car. So an automatic would lose a healthy percentage to the wheels, a manual like mine, not so much. The manual is 1 to 1 in 4th gear so losses are next to nothing. Also, the stock 350/350 also only had 260hp, and 350 ft torque at 5200rpm. The blueprint has 390hp and 410 Torque. Its gonna be a huge gain over the stock motor. Gonna have to drive with the brakes on to get it down to stock spec, lol.

 

blueprint does not "make heads" they do not have a foundry. They assemble things. and contract others to make things for them. my TH400 is 1 to one in drive but it still robs a large percentage of power from the rear wheels.

 

Both gross and net horsepower are measured at the flywheel. A 1973 L82 was rated at 250 horsepower NET while they were closer to 320 GROSS.


Keep in mind the gross horsepower ratings on the crate engine were done on a dyno with long tube headers, and optimized fuel, timing, and water temperature. Do you have the same things in your car to mimic that?

 

its the torque converter not the transmission. A manual has next to no losses threw the transmission and rear end. Automatics are 15 percent loss on average. the loss is in the hydraulic to mechanical transfer. A manual has no hydraulic losses. pretty basic

 

Dont see were your chart says 320 gross on a manual. IT would have closer to 310hp net if that were the case, manuals hardly lose anything to the wheels. Also, thats on 91 octane with smog control. the dyno testing is done with 87 octane as its rated to run on, its done with 600cfm carb and electronic ignition and long tube. I have all that except my carb is 650cfm or my 800cfm fitech or holley sniper system, stainless wrapped long tube headers and flowmaster exhaust, 87 is canadas lowest octane, I run 91 now on the stock motor 94 is available at the pump . I figure I'm ok to match there dyno set up, or top it. The fuel injection should offer up some noticable gains as well. Pretty basic. Stock motor couldnt touch this motor, not even close. Stock motor is no were near as robust as the new, it would blow up under the conditions a new roller motor can handle.

 

Well, Summit worked with me and I got the entire package plus extras for 7700 canadian plus shipping and taxes, so well under the 10k. Got everything. Water pump, gaskets, arp black oxide pump bolts, arp flex plate bolts, dual 11 and 10.5 flywheel, roller pilot bearing, chrome 140 amp alternator in case I go with efi system, edelbrock intake bolts and gaskets with carb bolts too, and harmonic balancer for this motor with bolt kit, and of course the motor. What a great deal. I love summit, thanks guys for all the help.

 

Glad to hear it. Don’t forget to post before and after pictures.

 

Sure, ya I will . Your all gonna wonder why Im changing when you see the old. It appears mint, could eat off it its so clean in there. Runs great too. But I noticed #4 plug kept carboning up and miss firing. Id clean it and it would be good for a few months, then again. Lots of carbon too, the ground side would be invisible, just a blob of carbon. SO 4 was low on compression Im guessing, cause it runs great until it carbons up. Other 7 are mint. So looked great, was near death. hahaha

 

Curious,
what does Motor Freight want from you on your end of the shipping process?

Several semi truck companies will not come in your driveway. Some require you to have a forklift ready, pronto.
Others will only deliver to a loading dock.

One time I arranged to meet a shipper at a remote location. SBC short-block on a pallet was slid from one truck bed to another.

 

I bought the “newly redesigned” ZZ383 with the then advertised 450 hp/450 tq @4500 rpm spring of 2014 for $5585 Cdn plus taxes. 2 years later was refunded $920 after the class action lawsuit was won for overstating hp/tq . I love this engine, a nice flat tq curve and unlike my previously built 383 (1/4’s in mind) the hp/tq gains is peaking right about where the previous engine just started to wake up. To your situation - would I spend $12k for this engine today - no. Would other an Ls with factory fuel injection. Used Ls motors in excellent condition are pretty common and with reprogrammed f.i.for significantly less than a crate. I am looking at fuel injection as well now since the move last year by our federal government to force all grades of gas to have ethanol. As others have stated I also use a drop base unit. If you decide to buy a crate I have a Torker(can’t remember if it’s a 1 or 2) low rise intake that you can have just pay the shipping.

 

Freight wants nothing. I have a forklift but it comes in the same box truck as any package. Except its in a box on a pallet with all the rest of the stuff. Driver has the hand dolly thing thats like a fork lift that pumps up by hand, then rolls onto hydraulic tailgate and lowers to ground. Just like any heavy package. BUt hey drop it as close as they can get it, in my case right in front of the garage doors. Shipping was cheap, its the exchange, duty and tax that brought the price up to the same as canada prices. But thats complete with all the parts too, so comparable. whats a **** off is everything is ready to ship, except the intake manifold which is the blueprint matching kit. Blueprint cant provide that until december, so summit is holding all my stuff until it arrives. darn it, no new motor in this year.

 

Im waiting for the matching blueprint manifold, it was only .09 higher than the lowest available. And not sure what everyone talks about, but I balled up a grapefruit size ball of tin foil and put it on top of my air cleaner,(current motor) , and closed the hood. It crushed about an inch, so I had at least 3 inches of space above the Brawler and drop air cleaner now. So Im not worried. THe TBI air cleaner is only about 1.5 inch, so it should have tons of room even with the bigger heads. SHould be fine. LS motors are great, but the stuff needed to put one in is almost as much as the motor itself, and I dont buy wrecker ****. Its brand new with warranty or nothing. Done fixing wrecker crap. This will be a huge upgrade, and still be easy to work on. Keep in mind the 390 hp rating is with a 600cfm carb. A pro tuned tbi will make quite a bit more. And I will get it dyno tuned, they run like crap on the self learn setting.

 

Unfortunate to hear about the engine, at least you’ll have more time to detail the engine bay in the meantime.

Theres a large misconception that fuel injection makes more horsepower than a carburetor. While it does work better for startups and overall drivability, the top end peak horsepower numbers are about the same. If you think about it, it’s only vaporized gasoline mixed with air at a specific ratio moving through your intake manifold. It doesn’t matter if that fuel is supplied by a computer or the vacuum signal of the engine itself. When you get into port injection timing the fuel spray with the opening of the intake valve there’s a little more power and efficiency to be had, but between a carburetor and TBI the carb actually has the advantage of cooling the incoming air as well, making slightly more power.

There’s calculators online, but 600 CFM should be able to adequately feed a 390 horsepower 350, as long as the revs aren’t too high. It would make very little sense for an engine to be sold without a carburetor, yet be tested with one that’s too small.

 

True, but the TBI is 850cfm compared to 600. Car came stock with a 750cfm, even that would be better. My point is the engine is dyno tested with the bare mininum equipment. 87 octane, 600cfm carb, etc. If they used the 750 they would get more, and the TBI more still. That said Ive never been able to match fuel injection with a carburetor. They can peak near the same, but the power curve of the fuel injection would eat the carb. All same, two cars, one carb one injected. The carb would reach the same power but the efi car would be at the finish line already. Its power curve would reach max torque eons before the carb leaned out and equaled it. efi would rip up to max and plateau, the carb would slowly climb until max at max rpm and plateau then. THe cfm alone will build more power. This motor flows way more air than the 600cfm can handle anyway. Who cares anyway. as said, never gonna see the track. I want smooth hwy cruising and traveling as the car is designed for .