Rebuilding 350- how does this set up sound?

[fastazhell]

Gonna be rebuilding my engine here really soon and this is what I am looking for: I want something that has good power and torque and also good street manners. The ability to pull my jet ski's and also load the bed up with my camping stuff and hit the highway. Would be nice to pull up next to some rice rockets and surprise them with my old truck as well.

What i have pick out is this:

Eagle 350 cast crank
Eagle SIR rods
Keith Black .030 hyper pistons
GMPP Vortec heads
Edlebrock RPM for vortec heads
1.5 RR's
Comp Cams XE268H cam
Operating Range: 1600-5800 RPM
Duration Advertised: 268° Intake / 280° Exhaust
Duration @ .050'' Lift: 224° Intake / 230° Exhaust
Valve Lift w/1.5 Rockers: .477'' Intake / .480'' Exhaust
Lobe Separation Angle: 110°

Holley 670 Street Avenger carb
Rebuilt TH 350

Hoping all this should combine to make around 350 hp/ 350 tq- any ideas or suggestions. Open to all criticisms good and bad, wanna make sure I have everything working well together for the most reliable and dependable powertrain.

thanks,
russ

[Myself]

Sounds good, but you don't need to spend the money for aftermarket crank and rods at that power level. Just go with stock reconditioned. 350 hp and 350 tq should be no problem.

[cdowns]

i'm not sure you can go that much lift on stock vortec heads???

[Billla]

Looks like a great combo for about 325 HP at the flywheel.

Note that the stock Vortecs are lift-limited to .475, so the XE268 is more cam than you can use without purchasing upgraded heads. The XE isn't a great street grind, nor is the RPM a great street manifold - but if you have deeper gears that will ensure you're in the right RPM range, then it all works together.

I'm not a big fan of cast Eagle cranks - every one so far for me has been undersize/taper right out of the box. If you're buying a new crank...why not a 383?

For rods, it's generally cheaper to buy new rods than to recon the old ones.

If you're doing the rebuild yourself, remember that the KB pistons require a much wider ring gap on the top ring than other hypereutectic pistons.

[crazy longhorn]

I have an XE 268 in my 383 (specs in my signature).....its not a pulling cam, unless you have a lot of gear to back it No mistakes, the bastard runs like stink from about 2500-5700......my guess is that cam would be a bunch more "roughty" in a 355. I run an Edelbrock RPM top, heads, intake & carb.....for pullin, I would leave the heads, go shorter intake, & milder cam, & probably a smaller carb in hopes of a little fuel mileage. crazyL

[fastazhell]

forgive me for my ignorance on this... I can build a SBF that will perform all day long so chevy engines and their likes and dislikes are new to me. I have entertained the idea of a 383, but (ignorance starts now) my buddy has a 94 Z28 and we built the 383 for his LT-1 and lots of notching and clearancing had to be done on the block and on the rods themselves. Thats not what I want to get into. Not sure if it is different on a older 350 block or not. As are most people, I am on a limited budget and want to get the best budget minded set up but also not cheap out either. I appreciate all the input and would love to hear more and also what kind of set ups everyone has!!

thanks,
russ

[Sweet72]

With the pistons and cylinder heads you have chosen, what static compression ratio are you looking at? Have you been to the KB silvolite website? They have a calculator that will help you tremendously in choosing the right cam based on bore, pistons, rod length, head gasket, stroke& combustion chamber volume. You can plug in any cam spec and see what your dynamic compression ratio will be, and make a decision from there. What is your rear end ratio?

[Billla]

SCAT I-beam rods - at about $275/set - are pre-clearanced for stroker applications. The machine shop will clearance your block for about $200.

You're smart to be on a budget, and you're absolutely right to keep it a simple 355 if things are tight - it's the "little things" that will just kill you. Email me at billla@warbird.org and I'll send you the XL spread with a full cost breakdown for a very similar build I did.

My only suggestion would be a milder - non XE (roller profile) - cam.

[fastazhell]

currently the ratio is a 3.73, but i am going to overhaul the rear its leaking and will change gear accordingly.

Compression ratio i am looking at is approx 9.5:1 on a 64 cc head.

[slammed1]

I would go open chamber 882 heads reconditioned with .500 springs and a .480 lift .280 duration cam with 1.5 intake rockers/1.6 exhaust rockers,flat top pistons stock re-con crank and rods with edelbrock intake. That combo is powerful enough to do what you want and dont break the bank. Use the money you saved for a towing/street convertor and maybe a set of decent gears.

[PanelDeland]

Something to consider.If you decide you want to go with that cam or one with a similar lift.You may be able to buy a set of aftermarket heads for about the same money as you can buy modified Vortecs.The Vortecs are a good head for a mild engine but will leave you little to build on if you want more later.
I think the 383 option is probably a good idea for a couple reasons.The extra stroke will give you some torque and the cost is going to be comparable since you are replacing the crank,rods and pistons.It will also "calm" down a cam.i.e. the larger displacement will make the cam seem tamer.
You seem to have the right idea though.An engine is much cheaper to plan on paper than in cast iron.Try some of these changes in a HP/TQ program.

[Billla]

Figure a 383 is going to cost around $450-$600 more than a comperable 355 with clearancing and balancing.

Generally, doing a full head recon with guides is going to be right around the same price as a set of new stock GMPP Vortecs. 882 heads top out at about .400 lift with around 200/140 flow - the Vortecs will flow to .500 lift with around 240/150 flow...and a much better flow curve.

It's generally cheaper to buy a new set than to resize an existing set with ARP rods. A set of Eagle I-beams for pressed pins will go for around $245 with new 3/8" ARP wave locs...I'm interested in any shop that resize 8 rods with new bolts for $30/rod! It's cheap manufacture vs. skilled labor rates :/

IMHO, the 1.6 exhaust rocker thing is a waste - it was originally used many years ago to create a dual-pattern cam when most cams were single pattern and to compenstate for relatively poor exhaust flow. Today you just buy the right cam

[slammed1]

Yes its true you can purchase brand new heads and have them do exactly as you want them to but old re-con heads can still be gotten for a good price and up to 350hp can still be had easily. I guess opinions will vary and Not one persons way is going to be what anothers is going to be so its a matter of opinion and what you can do yourself,what you have to spend,you you have to farm out,and how much power/torque you want to make in a certain price range. Im no rookie to building engines that work and make power,and I can also do them on a budget. After spending tons of money on a set of 461 heads years ago I vowed my next HI PO engine will have Darts or some other aftermarket head due to cost vs performance out of the box. Flat tops and open chamber work great and in 355 configuration with a mild cam,good intake and exhaust will be impressive without emptying your wallet.

Yes 1.6 rockers are an old school way to help out on a cam choice but again not everyone has a cam that can fit all purposes. Again theres many many ways,and I was merely suggesting econo ways to get a job done and have extra money for other truck stuff.
peace

[jim zag]

I build a lot of 383 stroker engines. I would suggest the 9-103750 Scat crank. You want the I beam rods with 3/8 capscrews because they are clearenced to miss the cam lobes. The vortec heads flow a lot of air and are a fast burn head. You will need to have a shop shorten the guides for clearence, you want .060 at max lift. I would suggest a cam with less than 220@ .050 duration. Compression ratio 9.5 to 9.0. This combination will tow very well and put a smile on your face when you put the pedal on the FLOOR. You will LOVE it!

[pumpkin]

For heads you can't beet the price of the patriot heads on e bay that whiteperformance sells. My son just spent $1100 building a set of vortecs to handle a high lift cam. I bought a set of aluminium patriots with 2.05 intakes for $950 dilivered to my door.

[Manic Mechanic]

I'm just going with ported 882 heads, a mild cam, Edelbrock Intake and 600cfm carb. Of course long tubes with about 4 ft. of 2 1/2 inch pipe
The block with just get a .060 overbore and stock internals. Its a cheap, efficient build, that will provide enough power for me. Total cost, ~$600. As far a sthe tranny is concerned, I pending on the cam, I'm going to go with probably a 2200-2400 stall on my TH350, reverse manual vlave body and a shift kit. Still leaving it up on the column though just for the fun of it. Probably some 3.73s in the back. Drivetrain build, roughly another $500. As far as I know, this should work pretty well. I've also looked at getting a rotating assembly to make it a stroker motor, but haven't found a good deal on one yet.

-Eric

[Billla]

Originally Posted by Manic Mechanic

Total cost, ~$600.

Care to break this down? This is ALL the parts/machine work costs?

[Ole Blue 68]

I'd do Vortec heads with a mild Voodoo cam. Big fan of that cam plus it should eliminate lift issues.

[fastazhell]

WOW! thanks for all the replies. looks like i need to sit down and really decide if I want to money up for the 383 or not. Appreciate everyones input and opinions. Im going to get with the machinist once the motor is apart and salvage what parts i can and buy new where i can't and save dollars where possible without building a big boat anchor basically!! I'll let everyone know what I decide here soon.

[Scott68-93-97]

That sounds like a good setup I ran that cam with a 350 loved it, wish I would have had vortec heads though I ran 487x heads that I ported, I ran stock crank and rods with a 4 bolt block never had problems. Your right on the edge with lift and the vortecs but for little money you can machine down the valve guides and run beehive springs to be safe on the cam lift. My motor had great low and mid range torque and plenty of power at high r's also. One thing with that cam is its ground at a 4 degree advance already so do not advance the cam timing if you buy a 4 degree + or - timing sprocket and chain set