crate or build?

grumpyvette

Administrator
Staff member
Droff said:
I've been getting the fire hose treatment from all the threads and links, a lot of information to go over..
I've got a 1970 Monte Carlo with a 350 in it, auto transmission, open rear end with highway gears, 2.73. I have a pretty bad oil leak either from the pan or rear main. My plan was to change the pan gasket first and see if that solves my leak but I'll still need to lift the engine to get the pan off.
With this in mind, rebuilding thoughts started creeping in. I have a friend that has a used crate engine, 350/260HP, that he has in a '74 El Camino with about 28K miles, and might consider selling it to me if I go that route.
I have yet to rebuild an engine and know very little about matching components together so everything functions as efficiently as it can, that's one reason why a crate engine is a thought.
I'm not afraid to rebuild an engine, it just may take a while.
What I'm looking for is a street car, no strip, something that runs strong, will smoke the tires when I want and is fun. Maybe drive to work every now and then or run in town with it. At some point I'd like to run around 3.30 gears when I can find a good rear end.
I have a torn down 350 block in my garage and the 350 in the car, so a few options.
Any suggestions on a path?


http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Performance/809/12499529/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Performance/809/10067353/10002/-1

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Performance/809/12568758/10002/-1

you have lots of options and choices, if the goals cost effective basic transportation, the crate engines a rather good deal, Ive purchased several of these and installed them, for people than were more concerned with having a dependable car to drive than how fast it might be in a street race, and they come with a warranty!!

if you want to build that 350 I can certainly provide the info but the chances are excellent that by the time you pay machine shop labor and buy parts it will be MORE expensive!
but keep in mind you get to spend that EXTRA MONEY WHICH COULD EASILY DOUBLE OR TRIPLE THE COST on better parts and the result is more horse power
a cam will open the valves , and in large part control how far they open and how long and where in the rpm range, but its the heads and intake and headers that have the most effect on air flow rates,
the best cam in the world won,t do much if those components are not well matched to the displacement and compression and drive train gearing.
FUELIE HEADS

fuelieheads.jpg


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DART HEADS
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CHEVY 882 smogger heads

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VORTEC HEADS
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rhs heads
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unless you sit back and think things thru,and make a logical assessment of your skills, budget, and goals, your doomed to spending far too much time and money to get decent results by making many COMMON mistakes, keep in mind your hardly the first guy to want to build a killer combo on a limited budget with out a full understanding of how to correctly match components ... WELL WE ALL..... ALL STARTED THAT WAY, but the smarter guys, in any group learn from other guys mistakes , and try too avoid making as many as they can themselves. .... please under stand I,m trying to help and save you a great deal of time and wasted cash, you need to do some research before throwing cash at the potential engine build problem,I don,t think your getting much of a response for the simple reason the way the question was asked and the suggested parts list displays a good deal of rather obvious lack of understanding of what factors like duration, lift LSA, and basic suitability of a cam design has on how it will effect the car or trucks engine and how gear ratio compression ratio and displacement and converter stall speed all must be matched to the application to build the engine correctly, now I,m sure you can go out and buy a cam, anyone with money can, but youll be very unlikely to select the correct cam for any application without a great deal more research, yeah you can ignore this advise and think I'm F.O.S. here but in the long term youll see I'm right , simply slowing down and doing a week or two of serious research into whats required,and the cost involved and having a realistic assessment of what you can afford to do, and have the skill too accomplish will save you a ton of cash and months of wasted effort.

start by buying these books and watching the video

http://www.themotorbookstore.com/resmchstvi.html
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http://www.amazon.com/David-Vizards...8&qid=1456194032&sr=8-5&keywords=DAVID+VIZARD
HOW TO BUILD MAX PERFORMANCE CHEVY SMALL BLOCKS ON A BUDGET by DAVID VIZARD
.
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JOHN LINGENFELTER on modifying small-block chevy engines
http://www.amazon.com/Lingenfelter-...=1456193940&sr=8-1&keywords=JOHN+LINGENFELTER

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http://www.amazon.com/Smokey-Yunick...2&sr=8-1&keywords=smokey+yunick+power+secrets


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http://www.amazon.com/Chevrolet-Rac...ords=The-Chevrolet-Racing-Engine-Bill-Jenkins

READ THRU THESE LINKS, AND SUB LINKED INFO.....yes it will take some time, but it will save your thousands of dollars and weeks of work and give you a good basic back ground knowledge
http://www.rpmrons.com/Rebuild.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/tech/ ... index.html

http://www.racingheadservice.com/Inform ... 1160755224


http://www.ohiocrank.com/chev_bb_shortb.html

http://www.speedomotive.com/t-faq.aspx

http://www.mre-books.com/sa21/sa21_10.html

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/engine-assembly-check-list.4939/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...eed-to-think-about-in-your-engine-combo.3156/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/tips-on-building-a-383-sbc-stroker.428/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/basic-memory-jogger-on-engine-assembly.4925/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/torque-specs-calculator-links-etc.1222/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/stroker-tips-by-len-emanuelson.1249/

http://www.tristarengines.com/catal...ttm-big-m-block-and-pro-1-cylinder-heads.html

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/should-you-buy-bare-or-assembled-heads.534/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/finding-a-machine-shop.321/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/bare-minimum-tools.11026/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/383-information-overload.11137/
 
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