'87 New engine project

[djunkie]

So my engine in my '87 short bed was going through a ton of oil so I decided it was time to go through it. Not gonna be super special as this is a Ca. truck and needs to pass smog (hopefully still will ) so we pulled it and did a full rebuild. With a couple minor upgrades. Sorry for the crappy pics. They're all from my cell phone.

First up is a pic of the truck then of the old engine. Its a 350TBI.

[djunkie]

Engine got bored .40 over. Flat top pistons. Should be around 9.3-1 compression. Mild cam. Balanced rotating assembly and new ARP rod bolts for peace of mind.

[djunkie]

I went back and forth on what I wanted to do with the heads. I didn't have a lot of money for this project so buying aftermarket ones was out of the budget. And I considered Vortecs but I need the EGR to function for smog purposes and I didn't want to deal with that issue. So a local race shop to me whos real familiar with the swirl port heads did some work to them to get a little more power out of them. They cut me a great deal on the porting and valve job so i couldn't pass it up. They've also got upgraded valve springs for the higher lift cam.

[djunkie]

Heads installed and new roller rockers installed and adjusted valves. Also a melling high pressure pump. Standard volume. Running the stock pan so I was afraid of sucking it dry. Plus its just a street daily driver so it'll live at lower rpm's.

[djunkie]

Next up is an Edelbrock TBI intake manifold. I had it bored to match an R.V. Morse bored throttle body. Also installed an injector spacer to allow some more air to get in there. Heres some pics of the old and new throttle bodies so you can get an idea of the size difference.

[djunkie]

And the fully assembled engine ready for reinstall.

[djunkie]

And some pics from today of the engine going back in. I ordered a set of Hedman Ca. legal shorty headers and Y-pipe but they are still a week out on them being shipped so I'm hoping to have it running the first week of January.

[djunkie]

To make the whole package work together I had Harris performance burn me a custom chip. I plan on putting the truck on a chassis dyno after I get a few miles on it to check the tune and make sure we got enough fuel pressure. Also to see what its putting out power wise. Stock I've been told is around 200hp and about 150hp at the rear wheels. I'm hoping for something over 200hp at the rear wheels. I think I should have no problem getting that. Truck has a nice fresh built 700r4 with all the goodies inside it and a posi rear end with 3.73's so it should really be a fun daily driver for me. And hopefully get a little better mileage. If I can keep my foot out of it that is.

[Cole Trickle]

I'm still gonna drag you down the freeway...lol

C10 Cruise - YouTube

[CorKey723]

This sounds exactly like what im doing to my 87. I puller my blazer motor to rebuild and its going in my truck now. 30 over, flat tops, edelbrock intake, mild cam. Im not doing rollers or a bored tb unless I need it once its running. Im also gonna run the Dynamic efi computer instead of a chip. Motor looks nice, now lets see some numbers and videos!

[djunkie]

Originally Posted by Cole Trickle

I'm still gonna drag you down the freeway...lol

C10 Cruise - YouTube

I don't know about that. It runs pretty good.
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[djunkie]

Originally Posted by CorKey723

This sounds exactly like what im doing to my 87. I puller my blazer motor to rebuild and its going in my truck now. 30 over, flat tops, edelbrock intake, mild cam. Im not doing rollers or a bored tb unless I need it once its running. Im also gonna run the Dynamic efi computer instead of a chip. Motor looks nice, now lets see some numbers and videos!

1987 Chevy truck - YouTube

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[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by djunkie

I don't know about that. It runs pretty good.
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No reason for smog consideration

Waiting to install my headers and exhaust. I'm gonna do 3:42's and a posi pretty quick here.

I probably won't yank you until I get a new cam and heads.

[CorKey723]

Sounds good, now I cant wait till I get mine done.

[djunkie]

Originally Posted by Cole Trickle

No reason for smog consideration

Waiting to install my headers and exhaust. I'm gonna do 3:42's and a posi pretty quick here.

I probably won't yank you until I get a new cam and heads.

I'm pretty confident it's gonna pass smog. I can already tell its burning cleaner than the old motor as there's no soot building up on my rear quarter panels like the old motor did and it passed. I'm pretty happy with it all in all. It's makes gobbs of torque. It's a lot of fun stop light to stop light. I can roll out to 10 mph and mash the gas and it'll light up the tires all they way through 2nd gear if I stay in it. It climbs the hills around here a lot better and it does put you in your seat. I can tell though that at the upper rpm's it still runs out of cam and heads. It's definitely better but better heads and a nice roller cam would have helped. I just didn't have the extra $2k it was probably gonna cost for those. Good thing is I'm kind setup for them if I wanted to swap them out as I've got the late style block that's setup for a roller. But at this point I'd probably only be gaining another 50 or so hp so I'm in no hurry to spend that extra money. Gas mileage so far is about the same as the old motor. That should get better as it loosens up and I get over driving it hard. I've got a 1000 miles on it already and I can tell its getting better and better. Probably put it on the dyno in another month or 2. I just wanna make sure I got enough fuel pressure so I don't run this thing lean.
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[Cole Trickle]

Originally Posted by djunkie

I'm pretty confident it's gonna pass smog. I can already tell its burning cleaner than the old motor as there's no soot building up on my rear quarter panels like the old motor did and it passed. I'm pretty happy with it all in all. It's makes gobbs of torque. It's a lot of fun stop light to stop light. I can roll out to 10 mph and mash the gas and it'll light up the tires all they way through 2nd gear if I stay in it. It climbs the hills around here a lot better and it does put you in your seat. I can tell though that at the upper rpm's it still runs out of cam and heads. It's definitely better but better heads and a nice roller cam would have helped. I just didn't have the extra $2k it was probably gonna cost for those. Good thing is I'm kind setup for them if I wanted to swap them out as I've got the late style block that's setup for a roller. But at this point I'd probably only be gaining another 50 or so hp so I'm in no hurry to spend that extra money. Gas mileage so far is about the same as the old motor. That should get better as it loosens up and I get over driving it hard. I've got a 1000 miles on it already and I can tell its getting better and better. Probably put it on the dyno in another month or 2. I just wanna make sure I got enough fuel pressure so I don't run this thing lean.
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Nothing wrong with your set up. You built a nice motor with good parts that will keep you from being bothered.

Thats the whole reason I went as old as I did so when the time comes I can do what I want.

I dont think I will go crazy. I would be happy with 300/320 to the wheels. It already makes 200/300 and the exhaust and headers will probably get me another 15-20hp.

no rush....Biggest thing is I need to get rid of the crappy glass packs. I hate the sound and there restrictive

[djunkie]

Originally Posted by Cole Trickle

Nothing wrong with your set up. You built a nice motor with good parts that will keep you from being bothered.

Thats the whole reason I went as old as I did so when the time comes I can do what I want.

I dont think I will go crazy. I would be happy with 300/320 to the wheels. It already makes 200/300 and the exhaust and headers will probably get me another 15-20hp.

no rush....Biggest thing is I need to get rid of the crappy glass packs. I hate the sound and there restrictive

If I wasn't gonna drive it daily and smog wasn't an issue I would have just bought a motor from Jimmy. He's got a real nice 406 that he pulled out of his Camaro that ran really hard. Although the Schmidt racing 434 that made over 700hp runs just a bit better. I still may swoop it up from him though and save it for if my neighbor ever decides to sell me his '65 Chevelle. Honestly if I had to take a shot in the dark I'd guess I'm making between 200-215hp and over 300torque at he wheels right now. The 3.73's really make it jumP off the line.
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