I am looking to rebuild my 86 vette motor. It is the 350 and I would like to bring it to about 400 hp if possible but on pump gas. I am looking for a shopping list per say of what I need to do this. Can someone point me in the right direction please.
Go out and look for a 350 with a four bolt main, Good pair of cast 2.02/1.94 heads or a older set of double bumps with the small chamber, 64cc, port matched and exhaust polished,steel crank shaft, forged pistons,10:1,Hi Rise, Intake, 650 plus cfm carburetor bigger the better, with that you will be close depending on the cam shaft you use.
set of procomp aluminum heads - will be almost cheaper, and definitely better than anything rebuilt, and will flow more
edelbrock thumper cam or similar, any decent aluminum intake with a 650 carb
hypereutectic piston in a 9:1 for pump gas,
four bolt is nice but not necessary at this hp level
any 1 5/8 header will do
vortec heads will support 400 hp but need screw in studs and springs that will work with a higher lift cam. and a vortec specific intake as the bolt pattern is different. summit has blue print 195 aluminum heads for 900 a pair, i'm considering those for a street 350.
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This is actually a pretty big question. it really depends on two things: usage and budget.
What will you be using it for? Daily driver with some power? Drag car? Road race car? What gas are you willing to buy for it? How important are good street manners? Fuel injected or carburated? Automatic or Manual trans? Are you willing to change the rest of the car to match the motor? (rear gear, fuel system, computer, clutch/converter,etc) Are you doing the re/re? Do you want to use your core, which means your car would be down while the engine is built, or just build another engine and do the swap?
And how much do you have to spend in total?
Being that the motor is listed as being from an 86 Vette, there is actually big differences in the motor depending when it was made. Early 1986 build dates will have cast iron heads, while later build dates will have the aluminum heads. The block should be a four bolt block, and is actually a one year only block - a one piece rear main seal without the provisions for a factory roller cam.
There are many, many ways to make 400hp out of a 350. Some are better than others.
-- Edited by RacerRick on Wednesday 13th of May 2015 03:41:40 PM
Thanks for all the replies so far. So to answer some of your questions. The motor is out of an 86 vette. It will be going into a 53 Ford pick up that has the same vette suspension put into it. For the most part it will be driven and shown. Had a race car but the cost was killing me. Might take it down a drag strip once for fun only. It has the TBI intake right now but I prefer the look of carb's so was thinking of going to an EFI set up that looks like a carb. Trans is a 4 speed auto. Would like the motor to have a bit of a rumble to it. Will run on pump gas octane 91 is fine with me. Was looking on ebay last night and found the motor I would like ready to go for just over $4000.00 including all the chrome goodies I would like to have. This unit is brand new. Only thing being it is carb'd. It is actualy a 383 stroker, brand new. When I start looking at all the parts I need I am over that much and it is not ready to go. Wonder if I could sell the motor I have for a reasonable dollar.
Here is a cheap way to make power, go to the auto wreckers find a LS-3 out of a junker and grab all the components,
play with it, that what all the kids are doing now, making 400 hp by adding a intake and a carb.
You can sell anything, you just need the right person to buy it.
LS3, LQ4, etc, would all be easy. You actually have to do a cam/headers to get 400 hp, but you get way over 400hp. A cam is the best upgrade you can do.
If the ebay shop with the $4K motor was in the US, don't forget to add the 22% for the dollar, and about $500 shipping if it is skidded.
I am selling a 454 that is freshly built that will make a lot more than you are asking for for $4200, just to show if you shop around you can find a much better deal than the ebay combo.
A very simple and inexpensive combo is your vette motor, rebuilt stock bottom end with forged flattop pistons (get something lightweight and have it balanced), with a set of good but inexpensive aftermarket heads like Brodix IK 200's (get the 64cc chambers), a Edelbrock Performer RPM Airgap, headers, and a good cam like the Comp Cams 280AH-8 (make sure you match the valvetrain).
I have built this same combo with the older Iron Eagle 200's and it made 420hp, and the brodix heads are better. The cam will require a stall converter and has a rougher idle but is streetable. You can also use the smaller XE268 but it will drop some power, but be much milder.
