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Your tired Chevy small-block's in dire need of a refresh or replacement--but in today's economy, coming up with the dough to remain in the hot rod game can be tough. Recognizing the economic squeeze and belt-tightening that make up today's reality, we at HOT ROD rolled up our collective sleeves to deliver an affordable Chevy 350 that makes nearly 400 hp for about $2,600. We shelled out the cash only in areas important for making power--cylinder heads, intake, exhaust, carburetor, camshaft, and valvetrain--holding back everywhere else with econo, stock replacement-style parts while trusting the small Chevy's legendary foolproof rotating assembly and oil system would pull through and carry the day.
As assembled by HOT ROD associate Ed Taylor at McMillan's Speed and Fabrication, our Cheap 350 won't win any beauty contests, but it should tide you over until good times are here again. We assume you have a worn-out engine to trade in for a remanufactured assembly after removing reusable parts like the oil pan, front cover, water pump, distributor, oil pump driveshaft, and common fasteners. If starting from scratch with no prior engine, a stock-replacement Mr. Goodwrench engine could be a better alternative (see sidebar on page 95).
Short-Block
The foundation of Cheap 350 is an econo, stock-replacement short-block. For $520, Southern California rebuilder Coast Engine Supply sold us a '71 to '85 two-piece rear main seal 350 with a cast crank, stock rods, and dished four-eyebrow cast pistons. Cores for this vintage small-block are starting to get a little scarce but at least in California are still less expensive than the later one-piece seal motors.
Stock replacement short-blocks are built and sold by thousands of independent local rebuilders and auto parts stores nationwide. We got our assembly from Omar Carrillo's Coast Engine Supply in Canoga Park, California. If you don't have an old engine to exchange, Coast will charge you a $200 core fee.
Heads
We didn't buy a complete long-block because old-school factory heads suck--and the cylinder heads are one of the primary determinants of an engine's power potential. Instead, we sprung for a set of a mid-'90s GM Vortec heads, the best-flowing small-block castings ever installed by GM on the assembly line. The General grinds a very sophisticated multiangle valve job on these production heads' seats. I'll go out on a limb here and say it's important to buy these heads new; most rebuilders can't replicate the General's trick valve job.
You can now buy GM components directly through its very user-friendly Web portal, which defaults to the closest dealer based on the Zip code you input. However, the best price may not be from your neighborhood dealer: One outfit, GM Parts Direct, sells a pair of fully assembled Vortec heads for just over $600. Note that these heads require late-style center-bolt valve covers; used sets go for about $50/pair in Southern California, including the filler cap and retention bolts.
Cam And Valvetrain
As good as the Vortec heads are for a production-based head, they still poop out at around 350 hp. Anything more requires crutching the heads with a custom cam. Limited oval-track stock car guys usually are restricted to production heads, so we took a leaf from their playbook, selecting an economical yet effective Comp Cams limited oval-track, hydraulic flat-tappet, dual-profile bumpstick. Grind 286AH-8 is designed to develop a broad torque curve on quarter- to three-eighths-mile tracks. It has lots of lift for the duration and, as a full-competition cam, was ground straight up with a 108-degree lobe-separation angle. We installed it 4 degrees advanced (see spec chart on page 91).
Only page 1, see full article here: http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/e...ild/index.html
Full parts list on page 4 of the link along with dyno sheets and camshaft specs.
