What can I do with this 350

[Canuck]

Hey Guys,
I have a 350 in my vette but its not original. I have figured out though engine codes and the block casting number that the engine is from 1974 and it came out of a Chevelle, or Impala. I need to take the oil pan off it to see if its got 2 bolt or 4 bolt mains.
What I want to know is can I beef this engine up?

I was thinking of a Edelbrock 600 cfm carb with intake manifold with RPM range from 1500 - 5500.
Also a performance camshaft.

All this will cost me about 1200 bucks.

What I need help with is this going to give me some muscle? The engine I think is 195 horeses. How much more will I get with these extras?
Is it worth it or should I try to pick up a L-48 engine which is what the car came with originally. It's gonna be pricey though

Help Please,

Canuck

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Last I looked the L-48 replacement was under $2000. It gave about 250 HP at the crank, which is not much more than the 195 at the wheels that you are talking about.

 

[Copdogcorvettes]

There is not much different between the motors. Anything that you would do to one would be same to the other. The four bolt mains are nice to have, but unless you are going to go for high RPM or high compression it is just icing on the cake. Spend your money on good oil pumps, heads and exhuast.

Just my personal thoughts.

Gary

 

[Robin7TFour]

HELLO, i agree with GARY (tip of the hat) he is on the correct path. if you want good streetable power. add the edelbrock performance kit. carb, intake ,and camshaft.
it will be an easy driver with some good get-up-and-go!
right now i am trying to de-tune a teenager's idea of power. everything was too big. i wish he would have done some reading first.

ROBIN

 

[Mike Carter]

Every 350 is buildable, depending on what you want to spend. I think you are on right track, 2 grand in the motor you have will make a nice ride. Just as an idea look at the chevy performance stuff.

Mike

 

[Glensgages]

300 HP (crank) with a hydraulic cam, intake, carb, and open headers is fairly easy for almost ANY 350 CID.
The 'correct' L-48 isn't much better as a build-platform than your current short-block.

 

[Roy]

Try adding one upgrade at a time, starting with the easy and least expensive upgrades.

I have found that the intake manifold is the easiest and most reliable upgrade. The Edelbrock Performer is a nice unit that you can find for $125 retail or $85-$90 on E-Bay. I have a nice one posted for sale that I used for about 500 miles before I replaced the entire engine with a crate motor. About a two hour job to replace the original and you are sure to get instant gratification - plus the aluminum looks great. For anyone on this list, I'll sell it for $80 INCLUDING shipping to the lower 48.

A performance cam will help, but it is more of a hassle to replace.

If you are concerned about your carb after installing an Edelbrock intake manifold, just rebuild the thing. Carb kit is around $25.

It doesn't sound like you need to replace the engine, but if you decide to do so, the 330 HP GM crate engine for $3,300 is hard to beat - complete from top of air cleaner to bottom of oil pan.

 

[macx]

Streetable 400 hp 350 engine

check these combo's out, and read
especially the 5th part of the build of the 350 goodwrench crate motor - about the same bottom end and pistons

Basically, stock low 8cr shortblock 2 bolt engine, upgraded Vortec heads, RPM type intake, headers, Comp Cams XE 268 flat tappet hydr, or XE262 will actually
make better low/mid range torque and about as much power, 1.6 rockers. They used the 268, but note their comment about the 262. Also can use thinner head gaskets to up cr into lo 9's.
Using used intake & carb such as off ebay, you can by quite reasonably.

http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/goodwrench/GM Goodwrench 350 test part 1.htm
http://ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos2.html

 

[billyvette]

what to do with that motor

4 bolt main has potential for good hp.

if you have the green get a crate motor, they are great
and have a warranty

 

[Tom Bryant]

Welcome to the CAC

Canuck,

If you have a sound engine why not install a performance cam, intake and carb and have the distributor calibrated. You will see a lot of improvement from that. Also consider a good set of headers and free flowing exhaust at the same time. If you still need more go with some good aftermarket heads like the Performer RPM or GM Fast Burn. An alternative would be to buy the Vortec heads and matching intake from the start. Cheaper too than the aluminum heads.

If you are looking to do a warm over on a basic 350 like the one you have or a L48 here is the thread on what I'm doing. I'm a little slow but it is coming along. Pistons are going in tomorrow. Some of the attachments were lost during the blackout but I can reload anythig that's missing if you need to see it.


Low budget 350 build

Tom