I'm new to the board ,and I wanted to say hello first of all.I was needing a little advice though.I have a 77 L48,Ibought it about ayear ago and it's been great,But Im wanting more horses.Would a performance rebuid kit the right way to go? I'm really not wanting to spend a fortune on something the budget is tight right now. :flag

 

Look at the Edelbrock performer kits. Resonable prices,cam heads,intake etc. :cheers: :seeya

 

What kind of budget do you have? What kind of kit were you thinking about?

 

:iagree: with page62. If we knew about how much you had to spend and understood where you'd ultimately like to be, then we could help suggest some mods within your current budget that would start you on the road to where you want to be. We would not want to see you waste your money on mods that you'd be throwing away later. :cheers:

 

about $2000.I want it to stay street legal. It's not an everyday ride for me,but more like my weekend car.As is it's in very good shape. the interior is great, paint looks great.Tires & wheels very sharp original with the beauty rings # caps.But under the hood it's just stock engine,no dress-up at all.Just dont fit the rest of the car.It runs fine,but not the power I'm wanting.I want to eventially have it close to show.I'm just trying to improve piece by peice. :flag

 

That's what we all do...piece by piece. Until we're broke... :lol:

How technically inclined are you? How much work do you plan to do yourself? Are you interested more in bolt-on power (like the above-mentioned Edelbrock kit), or do you want to dig deeper into the engine and rebuild it using a complete engine overhaul kit (like the ones on page 114 of the current Summit Racing catalog)?

 

I can do a basic rebuild that about it.What do you suggest? :chevy

 

Go for an engine overhaul kit! You can bolt power on extra power (heads, cam, etc.), but sooner or later the bottom half of the engine is gonna give out. So start out right and rebuild the engine using a performance kit. :yesnod:

Something like this: http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...355kit&x=0&y=0

 

shouldnt I get cam,heads ect. for the top end so they can be installed at the same time? :chevy

 

The summit kit comes with a cam.

 

Not the one page 62 is listing. :confused:

 

Try Northern Auto Parts... I bought a rebuild kit for my 78 L48 and paid $165 for pistons, cam, bearings, gaskets, timing gears and chain, lifters, plugs, oil pump, etc., everything except the crank and rods.

 

There are many, many kits to choose from. I simply picked one that looked appealing. I'd suggest getting several catalogs, including Summit, Jegs, and Northern Auto Parts. And I'm sure there are others I've neglected to list!

 

If your basic long block is sound you could change to Tuned-Port fuel injection for around $2000. That would really wake it up. Has great underhood appeal too.

I have bought several kits fron Northern Auto Parts warehouse and have had great sucess! I also bought 1 from PAW and other than cheap gaskets ( I didn't upgrade) it was a great kit too. I can highly recommend either of them.

 

How does this look???? Chevy 350 69-80
mainbrgs: .040
pistons: .040
rings: .040
rodbrgs: .040
Gaskets: FelPro + $14.92
HighVolume: Oil pump + $8.67
Camshaft: Edelbrock Performer 2102 .420 .442 lift 204 214 duration + $74.18
OilPumpShaft: High Volume Oil pump shaft (must be used with high volume pump) + $5.99 :chevy

 

Cam is a little weak. I would go with a Compcams or Crane about equivalent to a Comp XE268. If you are upgrading heads too, a 272 or maybe more would work too. If you're looking to stay under that budget, World Sportsman II, or Dart Iron Eagles, or Edelbrock PerformerRPM heads are good choices. Something better like AFR or aluminum heads will bust your wallet pretty quick. If you haven't touched it yet, you NEED to upgrade your exhaust. Ganey's infamous post about the topic show huge gains just from trashing the stock 2 into 1 system with cat. If emissions will allow, go duals with no cats and free flowing mufflers. On the other end you'll want at least a Edelbrock Performer intake, the "RPM" or "Airgap" versions will require hood modifications, or a lower air cleaner. I recommend the search function, the archives are full of information. Don't neglect the rest of the drivetrain, tranny, gears, tires, as you will quickly be chasing weak-spot after weak-spot.

:cheers:
Chris

 

I already have dual exhaust,no cats.OK how about this; Chevy 350 (to 1985) STREET PERFORMANCE - HP350K Forged Pistons
INCLUDES

Hasting or Sealed Power Moly Rings

Speed Pro FORGED Pistons

Clevite Rod Brgs

Clevite Main Brgs

Clevite Cam Brgs

Melling or Sealed Power Hi volume Oil Pump

Crane Energizer Camshaft and Lifter Kit

Cloyes TRUE Roller Timing Components

Pioneer Frost Plugs

Felpro Gaskets Power+Plus Manifold Scat 9000 Series Crankshaft :banghead:

 

You can add some go fast goodies to the L48, but my main concern would be the 2bolt main holding together with 300+ hp.

Since your budget is tight, as well as mine is, I'm reinvigorating a 79 Vette by doing the following and staying less that 1k total for a more pleasing ride experience.

Basically I pulled the L48 motor and put it in a corner on a crate. It's a numbers matching motor with less than 100k and still runs great.
I then went onto ebay and found a 010 4bolt cast block, already bored .040 completely disassembled and with almost everything except intake manifold, carb and damper, for $400. It was risky, but I drove 800 mile roundtrip in one day to get this package. :eek:

You can find almost any part you need here on this website, including helpful information unlike anywhere else. Or you can go ebaying to find it. Make sure you do you homework on all parts before you buy them and ask a gazillion questions.
I also found a set of decent 73 vette heads for $100 the set (thanks Nikki), had them cleaned and machined for almost nothing (<$100) with new seals. I seated them my self as well. I plan to do a mild port before I finally install them.

All in all, I've invested less than a thousand bucks thus far, and I'll have a 4bolt rebuilt motor that will produce 350+hp that I'm sure will feel a lot better than the current L48. It's got speed pro pistons, crane .460 lift cam, stock heads mildly ported and decked to 64cc's, edelbrock aluminum intake, holley 650 cfm carb, an HEI distributor i found on ebay for $10 (believe it or not, and it works !),used waterpump (thanks Norm), new double roller timing chain, new fuel pump, new high volumn oil pump, gaskets, basically everything except the flywheel. All for less than half of your budget.

It's taken me roughly 6 months to find everything that I needed but now I'm 2 weeks away from a new motor to cruise Atlanta :cool:

Plus I get to have fun building this motor from nothing !

Just an idea, especially if you want to preserve your original motor for show or resell. :steering:

Good luck !

 

Thanks for the info. hOttrOd.I'm still trying to figure out what way I really want to go :banghead: So many options. :auto:

 

Then you are in good shape. You will be fine w/ 2 bolt block & should be able to reuse stock crank.
For cam, trans. & rear gears needed.