The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop your thoughts?

Hello, I was wondering what your thoughts were as to what year of small block 350cu.in would be to build on. I currently have the one that was in a 72 c10 but know that it isn't the original,it is a two bolt main bearing. I was wondering if the later vortec would be a better way to go and give me the most power , I want a daily driver and something half deccently eccenomical. I have thought of going the crate option but what would be cheaper. What have most of you done?
John

John
The engine you have would be just fine for a daily driver,
if your not racing there is realy no need for
4bolt main
also if you go with later vortech you are going to need computer and related wiring for EFI

If you rebuilt your moter with 9.1 compression
mild cam HEI distributer and a good qatrajet carb throw in some sort of overdrive transmishion
and with a littel fine tuning 15mpg shouldent be hard to acheive

So you want an economical daily driver that makes the most power. To really answer your question you might quantify your power requirements and your economy targets.

And think about how much you are actually going to drive it.

I have three V-8 powered vehicles and the fastest of them is also the most economical. Its the one with the most sophisticated electronic fuel injection and generally it is my daily driver. It's also the last one I'd choose to pull a trailer.

On the days I need the power to pull a trailer the one that works best is also my least economical.

If you are only going to drive a few thousand miles a year, like I do my trailer puller, the power it makes is far more important than how much or little fuel it requires.

I'm saying all this because I think to best answer your question you need to understand what kind of power you need so you can balance the cost of building a motor to make that power against the cost of driving the finished vehicle.

My TPI Corvette is without question the fastest and also most economical in my stable. My big block pickup is a pig at the gas pump but the clear winner for trailer pulling power. I could spend money to improve the mileage of my truck, but at a few thousand miles a year how long would it take for that investment to make sense?

Unless you can o-haul your engine with a minor engine kit & valve job you can,t build one cheaper then the basic Goodwrench crate engine. I have them in both my pickups. The 70 stepside with 700-4r gets 16-18 mph. & drives great. The 58 has a T-5 o-drive but I havn,t driven it enough at a time to tell the mileage.

There is nothing wrong with using a 2 bolt main block. The 4 bolts are stronger but unless your doing a lot of heavy pulling or some racing the 2 bolt will stand up fine. The earlier blocks like your 72' have some advantages in older trucks. First they have a mechanical full pump, and already have most of your mounts. They do have the old 2 peice rear main seal, there are kits to change these out if you want. The 2 piece mains can be changed without pulling the transmission though. For heads you might want to up grade to a set of 90's era vortek, they breathe better and make more power with lower compression pistions(9 to 1 or so). There are aftermarket intake manifolds that work with these heads,Edelbrock and Holley both offer good products. A Holley street advenger Carb makes power right from the box and is trouble free. A good mid range hydraulic cam and lifters will help, remember torque moves your truck. Spend a little more and have the rotating mass balanced, it free's up power and increases engine life. Don't short yourself on ignition, a DUI distributor can make a lot of power and extend you fuel mileage and plug life. If you do the major assembly your self and work with a good machine shop you can keep your costs down. I have built a few for around $1500.00, thats with me having the block and heads and shopping around for parts. Good Luck.

Thanks for your replies,I guess that I should have been clearer when I stated that it was to be a daily driver,daily in summer is more likely. I'm not needing a race powered engine either and I wouldn't be hauling a trailer neither, soft lugauge will likely be it other than my heavy ***. I'm not sure just how much power I really need but enough grunt to have some fun, you know,just to make you feel good. I never drove the truck to know what type power it had, it apparantly is a rebuild with about 30 thousnd miles on it but needs a new gasket kit for sure because it is evident that oil leaks from every where, it did however idle very smooth. I was however told by the previous owner it was a pig on gas as for mile/gal he didn't know,he thought it was because of the carb.,it's a Holly 4bbl of what size I have know idea. So thanks again for your input and some day hope to see some of you at a truck/car show depending where ever.

John