What do I have here?

[panhandler62]

I'm trying to figure out exactly what I have so I can plan my future.

Not having a good place to do body work right now I figured I would go ahead and start by hopping up the power plant.

The stamp on the front of the block is K06 26 TJC which, as I understand it, means I have a 1973 vintage 350 (originaly 160hp 4v motor from a C-20/3500) made in Ontario on June 26. The heads are 14102193 which makes them 1986-88 350 EFI heads with 1.94 intake and 1.5001 exhaust valves.

The motor supposedly has about 2500 miles since a complete rebuild. While I can't verify that, it runs perfectly and the old guy I got it from was an old Christian farmer from Virginia, so I tend to believe it.

It has an Edlebrock Performer on it topped with a Q-Jet that I plan to replace with an Edlebrock 1407 carb I have on hand.

My next step is definatly a set of headers but, I don't know if I should go for a bigger cam after that or if different heads are in order.

Any thoughts on this?

Also.. Is there an FAQ that will tell me how much I am getting into to replace the 3 + granny 4sp with a late model 5 speed?

thanks all...

[Dual quad]

Pan, sounds like a solid plan so far. Don't forget that there is much power and response to be had with a proper ignition timing curve. I just put an Eddy RPM air gap, MSD HEI, and a Demon 650 VS on mine. Woke the old girl up big time. IMO, the heads that you presntly have are a bit limiting for performance. Some Dart IE Platinums would be an excellent addition if you have the budget. Also, Lunati has a new Voodoo line of camshafts that you could look in to. A Voodoo 262 is what I'm considering for my truck.

[panhandler62]

Forgot to mention.. it does have a stock GM HEI on it.

[panhandler62]

I waded through the FAQs and couldn't find anything about manual trans swaps. Has anyone put a 5sp in one of these trucks and were there any particular issues involved?

[panhandler62]

I'm keeping my own thread busy.. lol ...

What do you think of these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SBC-c...QQcmdZViewItem

Are they worth taking a shot at and, if so, what would be a reasonable price to shoot for? I figure I need to add about $200 worth of retainers, seals and springs to get them ready to go (I can steal the rockers off my old heads.)

Any thoughts?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Some guys have put the full size truck 5 speed into their trucks. I wanted to do this, but after looking for several months I could not locate one for under $1200. Some guys have put the S-10 5 speed or the camaro 5 speed in their truck, but I don't think either would stand up to the power your going to have. Might want to try to swap in a WS6 six speed. You'd need to figure out how to hook up the hydraulic clutch and all, but I think SHIFTY is currently swapping one into his truck. If I had the cash, that's what I would put in it.

[mplex2000]

Unfortunately, you're not going to be anywhere near 400 at the wheels (where it counts) without major work.

If you want a stick, I would hope that any 5 or 6 speed from a V8 Chevy would hold up to 400, which is not much by today's standards. Also consider that unless you're running quite a suspension out back along with slicks, tire spin will help prevent you from breaking anything.

If you want to hit 400+ I would recommend the following (please don't think I'm being rude or a know it all, but I've built a few motors over the years):

Good set of heads, 2.02/1.60 valves and a good port job (Air Flow Research rocks and they really don't require any hand porting to make this kind of power).

A fairly healthy cam, with a roller helping out quite a bit, especially with tq. Full roller rockers won't hurt either.

A good manifold. You can probably pull 400 on a Performer, but I'd go for the Performer RPM (or air gap, or whatever fancier ones they make now).

A better carb - can't loose with a Holley double pumper, and of course Demon is the way to go if you have the dough. 700-750 CFM ought to do the trick. Make sure you tune the carb on a dyno with a wideband o2 sensor, you might be surprised how much difference there is between an out of the box carb and one that has been tuned.

10.0:1 or better compression. The more the better depending on what kind of gas you want to buy :P

Of course I'm a forced induction fan...nitrous is cool, but turbo is really, really cool (and so is supercharging but they rob power to make power, so I prefer the scavenging turbo myself).

Hope this helps, you really can't go wrong with a Chevy 350. It's the smallblock that pissed off Ford and Chrysler for decades :P

[panhandler62]

Some guys have put the S-10 5 speed or the camaro 5 speed in their truck, but I don't think either would stand up to the power your going to have.

Since I'm hoping to come up with about 400 ponies.. I rather agree.

[panhandler62]

Unfortunately, you're not going to be anywhere near 400 at the wheels (where it counts) without major work.

I agree. I was thinking 400 in "old school" numbers. With the parasictic losses in this platform I figure you would need close to 475 at the flywheel to actually put that much to the ground.

I'm thinking rpm air-gap manifold, a Comp Cams 249-CL12-213-3 (Magnum 292H Hydraulic Flat Tappet Camshaft & Lifter Kit Lift: .501'' Duration: 292° RPM Range: 2500-6500) and a good set of heads. Don't know if I can come up with free cash for a set of Darts, but I think I can find some decent Chevy heads with .02 or .05 intakes to clean up for a decent price.

I'm going to hazzard a guess that the static ratio is about 8 to 1 since this is a 73 block. I think I'll keep it close to that (small chamber heads that may be shaved a little might but that a smidgin.) This lets me run pump gas and doesn't rule out adding forced induction later.

A decent set of headers is a given, of course.

now...

A better carb - can't loose with a Holley double pumper, and of course Demon is the way to go if you have the dough. 700-750 CFM ought to do the trick.

Are you saying you don't like the Edelbrock 1407? It seems purpose built for this sort of application, but I'm all ears here.

[mplex2000]

Wellll, I'm not the biggest carb guy in the world, but - from what I have seen the Carter/Edelbrock carbs are great street carbs. I'm sure somebody out there is making a ton of power with them as well. However, everytime I've swapped out one of these for a double pumper the difference was night and day as far as responsiveness and overall power.

Funny you mention that cam, I used basically the same thing, was a Comp 292 magnum in a Mopar 360 I built about ten years ago...quite the loper. Something to consider with cams is that forced induction doesn't like a lot of overlap, so most big duration cams will make less power with a turbo or supercharger. Of course, you can't plan for everything, and may have to make a cam change later if you decide to go that route.

Even if you have no plans to go FI, you might want a little smaller on the cam (I would anyway). Matter of fact, Comp Cams used to have a really great tech line to get recommendations, I'm sure they still have it. They could probably make a much better recommendation than I could.

For "cheap" heads, probably a set of double humps would do you right...and I happen to have a set with mild porting and 2.02/1.60 valves for sale :P (shameless plug, but I need to get them out of the garage - PM me for details if interested!)

Also, it's hard to calculate HP on the bench, but if you figure 15-20% drivetrain loss, you'll get close (475 bhp - 15% = 403.75 whp) so you should be pretty close with your estimate! I like to be on the safe side and figure 20 so when I go to the dyno I'm happy with the higher numbers lol.

Almost forgot - on your cam and such, with the massive weight of these trucks, the bigger cam and taller powerband might make you hate your bottom end since it will lost much of it's punch, and it takes a lot of tq to get a 5000lb truck into the 5000+ rpm range again and again :P just something to consider. I realized pretty quick that to do what I wanted in this truck, with a small block, I'd need a turbo or two. Can't wait for that action!

[panhandler62]

The cam is a little big, but I am "artisticaly" willing to accept a bit of clutch feathering to get the nice, nasty sound and big mid-range punch.

Everything seems pretty doable, $$$ wise except the heads. (PM coming anyway) I may need to scramble around a bit or wait till Unckle Sam gives me my overage back on those. I'm a bit concerned, obviously, that the late 80s stockers would be a giant bottle neck in the air flow and make the rest of the mods pretty, but pointless.