The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Small block Chevy questions

Gentlemen,

OK. I've been a member here for a very long time (5 years and counting) and know this isn't taboo for the 'bolt. But I have some very general questions about the SB Chevy, specifically the most common older small block - the 350.

For a carbureted pre-1985 street vehicle, which way would you guys go for the best combination of mild performance and reliability? Buy a "GM Goodwrench" long-block? Buy one the many "Ebay special" crate engines? Find a local builder?

I've actually been favoring a couple of the Goodwrench long blocks - one producing 290 HP and another 330 HP (with recommended performance accessories). For the buck they actually aren't a bad deal at all.

The Ebay deals are tempting because they are a few hundred dollars less for supposedly the same performance. But instead of posting real numbers from a dyno the HP specs seemed to be "guesstimated", or just grabbed out of thin air. The customer feedback is good, though many have given positive feedback before they've had time to fire up the block (which seems a bit hasty to me).

What do you guys think?

Ftyler,

I have to tell you right up front, I am an automotive machinist and generaly I tell people to have a good shop do an engine for them, BUT the engines from GM are hard to beat for the price. I would advise you to make sure that they are new engines and not remanufactured (I think GM sells both). I wouldn't touch the engines from e-bay, some may be really good but you can only look at a picture and guess. If you go the machine shop route, go to some events or the drag strip and ask who guys like in your area. Go talk to the shop foreman and look at the shop if you can. The good places won't be the cheepest but they will be there if you have questions or if you need somthing in the future.
Hope this helps.

Sean

Fred,
I've installed a few crate engines and feel that's the way to go. Shop around (especially to the bigger dealerships) for the best price. Stay down in the 300h.p. or less range so you don't get the newer Vortec style engine. It costs a bunch to adapt that engine to the older applications. You won't have to buy the priciest fuel for them either. They should come with a 3 year warranty also.
Scott

What is it about the Vortec head that you have to do to get it to work with older applications?

You need an intake that has the bolt pattern that is specfic to these heads, late model guided rocker arms, center bolt valve covers, the valve guides need to be machined down to clear over about .450 lift, valve springs to match the cam you use, and I like to drill a 1/8" hole in the thermostat because the vortec heads bolck the bypass passage in the block.

Sean

The Vortec comes with a 1 piece rear main which requires a high dollar flex plate, a special intake manifold if you're running a carb and the last one I installed didn't come with a harmonic balancer. I think the water pump was unique too, not for sure though. It was a good engine, just raised the cost up too much in my opinion. I put it in a mid 70's Vette, so I had a bad attitude to begin with on that job, LOL
Scott

I put the basic Goodwrench 350 engine in everything I do. You can,t beat it for the price & reliability. It,s rated at 260 hp. They are peppy & idle smooth. They recently came out with the 290 version. Reading the specks the only difference I see is a little more cam. It might work good with a manual trans. but I would stay with the 260 with an automatic.

Like Wrenchbender, I have put a bunch of the reg 260hp 350s in stuff, mostly pickups & bread trucks. Good price, in stock at our local dealer, haven't had a problem with any of them. I have one in my 64 burb. Yeah, they are made in Mexico, but beats China by a long shot. Brian

This is hard to read but I remember this build and find it to be intreaging.

Check out the power curve on this one pretty cheap HP.
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/350%20chevy%20engine.html

Hey 64fleetside. I worked mostly on breadtrucks & potato chip trucks back when I was in the business. It was great business. Everybody else was scared of them. The customers didn,t complain about price as long as you did a good job & got them back on the road quickly.

Wrenchbender, I never minded working on them, compared to the new cars they were fun. No a/c to get in the way, & they were pretty easy to change engines thru the door. Believe it or not(I wouldn't have if'n I wasn't there) we had a 76 1ton step van come in from a heat/A/C place. Regular 350 in it. Guy drove it in. All 4 center rods had broken & ventilated the block & oil pan. Truck still ran as there was enough oil pan left to hold some oil/coolant that hadn't been slung out. It would sit & idle on only 1,2,7 & 8 @maybe 300rpm & actually made little noise, as everything was already cleared out. We put it on the rack & showed everyone in the shop the "see-thru" engine, you could actually see the crank & center rods spinning. I knew then (15+ yrs ago) the small block Chevy was nearly indestructable. Brian

I have installed several crate motors (not all Chevys). I plan on putting a lower hp 350 in my 69 GMC. I think its by far the best way to go if you're not building a high performance truck. It's much easier than finding someone you can trust to build something the right way.

I installed a 350 4 bolt crate engine im my 1986 C20 three years ago then pulled it and replaced it with a 454 I then installed TBI on the 350 and installed it in my 1951 3100 along with a 700R and it is the best way to go. Ive had no problems with it towing my 25 ft. 7500 lb fifthwheel AND now it going to rip up the streets in my 51 !!
GO WITH THE CRATE ENGINE
Just like Bob said "like a rock"

Todd

ftyler! heyas, how ya been?

There was a thread recently about crate 350's over in the Hi-Po shop... you might find it useful:

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=001146

hope all is well with ya...

are you going to the dark side and taking out yer six or do you have some other project lurking about?

-W

Crate gets my vote, ftyler!
Those bargains on Ebay can be nightmares
And I've been burned by local builders twice that spent the money on bottles instead of valves.

If you have a good machine shop locally, i respectfully disagree.

I believe that Vortec refers mostly to the heads, which need a different manifold. However, they do have a little different set up in the cam valley which best allows for roller lifters.

For me, I searched out that engine for my vette (used the old vette 350 in the ’58 after rebuild). Anyway, I wanted the roller lifters and the one piece rear main (no leaking). Chucked the Vortec heads and used a pair of Dart 64cc, .202’s, roller rockers, lumpy cam, etc.. way more than 300 horses (we think 425), and completely street able – I drive it nearly every week day.

Cliff note = In my opinion the bottom line is that whether you like horse power or not, and you just want a dependable, easy to work on and get parts for all around good engine – find yourself a 350 small block as the base and build it to suit your needs…

Engine pics - certainly nothing special, but these too ain't show puppies neither..

The ‘58

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/Avette4me/My%2058/HEI%20conversion/th_HEIdone.jpg[/img]

The vette – dirty, but a daily driver…

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/Avette4me/Vette/th_IM000223.jpg[/img]

Good add ons guys.

Woogeroo - Yep, I'm chunking the 292, if not the truck altogether. I'm shuffling priorities right now and, if the 66 is retained, then I'll either build or buy an SBC and drop it in. It's a matter of both time and money.

I looked at what my options were beyond what I had. The 292 is mildly built, but certainly won't win any races. For any really noticable improvements from a straight six (less nitrous oxide) I was going to either have to go through extensively time consuming mods (turbo, supercharger, high dollar head mods, high dollar pistons, etc.), and the stuff just added up quickly.

I'm no expert, and the biggest cost is in the head. Sissell's gets just under $2G for a fully finished lump port head, and you're just getting started. Doing it yourself is time consuming and, while not exactly rocket science, requires some careful research and advanced skills and tools (neither of which I have). Then you hope you don't cut into a water jacket or crack the head in the process. Farming the work out to the few "experts" who really can do it reliably starts adding up quickly

For about $500-700 more than the cost of a fully dressed straight six lump port head I can get a bolt and go 383 stroker. Besides the money factor, I just don't have the time to dedicate to this stuff like I used to.

Take care.
-ftyler

ftyler - sounds like them little kids need to start helping papa with the wrench turning.




chevytalk.com forums

Location: Main Index » Forum Index » Automotive General » Performance Related

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showforum.php?fid/72/

there are some 'sticky' threads up at the top that you might find good reading.


-W

If you're looking at e-bay engines, get the parts list from the builder and make sure they're not using off-shore parts.