lost in the sauce

[78' chevy cheyenne]

I just got back from afghanistan and bought myself a 78 chevy cheyenne short bed, that will actually be a stepside in about two weeks. My problem is that I am trying to do this hole gen1 gen3 350 mix match thing and am gettin all kinds of turned around. Alot of people say different things so I really need somebody to just break it done dummy style for me.... I pulled some 350 heads off a 98 suburban that i wanna use but i need to know what all I need to do to make this work....I plan on boring the block out 030 over and need to know what rods and cam i need to get and also what intake would be best for it..... would perfer not to break 1200 bucks on this so if anybody has any ideas about how to accomplish this or another way for me to get around 325-350 horse for under 1200 bucks please write it in child mode so i can comprehend what your saying. thanks so much for any input you might have I appreciate it alot.

[andrewmp6]

I think you just need a special intake for the swap the rest of the parts are up to you how you want to build it.

[GASoline71]

The heads off the '98 will be "Vortec" heads. Which are good heads, but if you wanna use a carb, you gotta buy the appropriate intake manifold to match. Edelbrock makes a few different variations of the manifold you need.

I'm assuming you are using the '78 block. So all the standard SBC 350 interanls will be a difect fit, with the exception of factory roller cams, and 1 piece rear main seal cranks. Yours is a 2 piece rear main seal.

$1,200 bucks is gonna be a bare minimum for a complete teardown, cleaning, and rebuuild with new/refurbished parts. Machinework alone is gonna be over 600 dollars if you have the heads redone. Which you need to do. Bolting used, worn out heads on a new bottom end is just gonna be a smoker/oil burner.

Gary

[ol'blu72]

Those are more than likley Vortec heads, if you post the casting number we could tell you for sure. It will bolt right on however you will need a defferent intake, look for a vortec intake. those are great factory heads. you will need the heads worked, Cam of your choosing, I would go comp extreme energy or Lunati Voodoo, just pick the RPM range you want in either of those. You will need new lifters and springs for the cam. If you get one of the bigger cams in those lines (over .480 lift) you will need to modify the heads for the extra lift. 1200 is going to be tight! I would dig into more of that hazardous duty pay.

[BP68]

Have the heads checked, they may only needs some new valve guide seals and slight decking to be sure they are nice and straight. I can say much about the bottom end of things, but I took a 89 suburban tbi 350 and swapped in a mild comp cams camshaft and lifter kit, a set of cast iron vortec heads I had checked at machine shop (just needed valve seals) got a edelbrock vortec pattern intake and 650 thunder series carb. Runs pretty strong. And going by cam specs it is close to the 330 hp gm crate motor gm sells, just no roller cam. I also installed some Scoggin Dickeys z28 valve springs.

[78' chevy cheyenne]

Thanks for all the help you'll gave me. I actually just found a replacement 350 that i can throw into my truck while im rebuilding the original engine so it will give me more time and money to use which is always good. I appreciate everything that you all had to say and will be looking into getting all my parts ordered for this rebuild.