Help me decide! 350 Motor build..

[one320fc]

Ok so little back story I got a free 95 Z71 from my dad problem is its got 263K miles. Even with that many miles and some rust spots I have to repair, I would still take this truck over most. My favorite body style hands down! So any way on to my questions. I want to build a motor for this truck for a few different reasons 1. I have never built a V8 before 2. the truck needs a fresh motor with a bit more pep. This is pure weekend toy might see a mud puddle or two but will prob see the dump more then it sees mud. I have read almost everything on this site about engine mods swaps and build and I just cant decide which direction to go. I only have about 5500 for a total investment paint, body work, tires, lift, and mechanical.

My current thought process is I found a 97 vortec long block and 4l60E for 500 bucks. Rebuild the motor purchase the vortec TBI manifold perform ultimate TBI mods have injectors cleaned and do some sort of exhaust work. Would this setup make good use of a cam and tune? I'm not looking for anything over 250ish 300 would be sweet but I have read the short falls of the TBI and stock cam.

Or do I just rebuild the non vortec and preform the same mods?

And to any one who questions my budget I should mention I am doing all the work my self - any machine shop work.
Thanks in advance!

 

[K15 Blazer]

if you want to keep the truck stock to pass emissions but at the same time increase the HP and toque, heres what I am going to do with my 1993 350 (5.7L)

buy a long block 1996 vortec V8. it has a roller cam with better pistons and heads, at least a 50 HP increase right out of the box
then port and polish the heads to perfectly match the intake & exhaust gaskets. make that motor breath easy and turn effortlessly
install beefy aluminum roller rocker arms under the valve covers to cut friction and open valves for again, easy breathing.
install shorty headers (again making sure they fit the exhaust ports & gaskets perfectly) so it can dump its exhaust in the higher RPM easier.

all this will gain significant HP, and torque and be under 2,000 if you do it all yourself.

 

[TylerZ281500]

if you want to keep the truck stock to pass emissions but at the same time increase the HP and toque, heres what I am going to do with my 1993 350 (5.7L)

buy a long block 1996 vortec V8. it has a roller cam with better pistons and heads, at least a 50 HP increase right out of the box
then port and polish the heads to perfectly match the intake & exhaust gaskets. make that motor breath easy and turn effortlessly
install beefy aluminum roller rocker arms under the valve covers to cut friction and open valves for again, easy breathing.
install shorty headers (again making sure they fit the exhaust ports & gaskets perfectly) so it can dump its exhaust in the higher RPM easier.

all this will gain significant HP, and torque and be under 2,000 if you do it all yourself.

if i can build a tbi 383 for 2600 im damn sure your plan should be well under 1200

 

[one320fc]

I'm not worried about the emissions not required here. I just can't decide I also kinda like the idea also of converting it to a carb setup. My first idea requires the gm vortec tbi intake but for roughly 70ish more I can purchase a decent intake Holley 600 FPR and tps kit.. 383 stroller would be pretty cool my buddy built one for a S10 got it down to 7.20s at the local 1/8th track.. Any if these motor options have better performance for the buck?

 

[TylerZ281500]

carb your looking at a 500+ controller for an auto trans(4l60e) or doing the makeshift one posted on here by fast ornage. jegs and summit have carb intakes for alot cheaper than a tbi converted one, and an adapter plate can be both easily made or cheaply bought online.

you can get a stroker kit for around 700 bucks or you can shop around know what your looking for and piece it all together with new and used for cheaper. if you dont know what all your doing then id just buy a kit, get you stuff machined, balanced etc.

if your looking for just a nice 350 rebuilt then id just pick up useable 350 and either rebeairng and ring it or go all out and machinne it rebalance and redo the whole thing.

firs tthough i think you need to decide your use for the motor, then decide what would be better carb, tbi , or something else? your engine has to be built around the purpose of the truck, theres tons of these threads were people jump to wanting more power or something only to find out their combo only focused on the engine not the trans and then they run into issues, then when all the bugs are worked out they are pissed because they cant tow anything or their combo doesnt work for the use of the vehicle.

 

[skylark]

A vortec 350 is box stock at 255hp. A nice mild cam, long tubes, tbi mods, tune and electric fans will go a long way... Keep the injection, let the carbs stay on the crap rusting in the junkyard.

 

[TylerZ281500]

A vortec 350 is box stock at 255hp. A nice mild cam, long tubes, tbi mods, tune and electric fans will go a long way... Keep the injection, let the carbs stay on the crap rusting in the junkyard.

to a point of a built motor your better off with a carb sometimes then sticking with tbi. most people cant tune carbs so everyone says oh hey thats a waste but they are just as good as anything else you can put on a small block. electric fans on mine yielded close to no difference other than my engine cooled alot nice and wamed up alot faster.

 

[K15 Blazer]

if you go with a 383 though, you may need to do a lot of other upgrades to handle the extra torque, HP, and higher red line..... the torque converter, transmission, T-case, axles, computer/wiring harness etc etc.....
just depends on how you build it and drive it... you can run a 383 tuned and timed WAY down to run happily on 87 pump gas and have a fun beefy block for towing and playing off-road.... or you could go to the brink of its performance ability and break stuff as soon as you even look at it....

the joys of "hot rodding" =)

 

[one320fc]

Ok well I'm a few steps in I bought the Vortec 350 and 4l60e for 500 bucks!! Not a bad deal I think considering cheapest set of vortec heads I found local were 300! so I am going to take it apart and have the block and heads checked by the local machine shop I will be out another 200 bucks..
So I think I got a little ahead of my self with thinking of all these different things I could do with this motor when what I'm looking for isnt much more then what the stock Vortec 350 is rated at. So I think based upon what you guys are saying rebuild the vortec I can clean up the heads port match my self purchase the GMPP Vortec TBI intake, rebuild my TBI with mods and run a decent exhaust.. Only thing left at this point is do I need a tune at this point? and if im going to tune might as well run a better cam profile I would assume? Thanks to everyone for the helpful tips and ideas... I have been working on cars for about 15 years now and this is my first truck and first V8 build so I'm exited to learn some new things and have some fun!!

 

[TylerZ281500]

cam, heads, intake on a tbi would benefit from a tune, it may run alright without but tll run so much better with. i wouldnt worry about the gmpp tbi intake, run a carbd one from jegs or summit for 130 bucks and use an adapter. headers you can snatch of ebay and they are stainless so they wont rust out. heads and intake itd port match and polish if you want to get really involved.

youll be out more than 200 getting the block and heads checked becauseto rebuild it youll need to get new bearings rings gaskets and so forth. its not a bad plan but just not as cheap. snatching the 4l60e if its useable was a good plan because you can always sell it to recoup some of your costs.