Hi
I recently pulled a 350 from a 77 Caprice Station Wagon at my grandfather’s farm. The car has been sitting since the mid 80s but according to my father and uncles the engine ran and drove fine when it was sat. The reason my family sat a perfectly running car was because the car was given to them by a wealthy women up the road who was sick of the other problems with the car. The car had broken door handles and the interior was garbage. After further asking, I found out that the car had a relatively new engine in it because the old one was blown and she had a new one put in. the block is blue which could mean nothing but a pretty good mechanic told me that these blocks were good and generally were not put in by gm (he could be wrong so don’t take my word for it). After pulling the engine I turned the crank with a tire arm and a pipe for leverage to check for compression, it had compression.

I plan on rebuilding this engine for performance, so I’m not going to just throw in some new oil and springs and run it. I plan on pretty much buying everything new that I can (maybe not the heads $$$$). Currently I have taken everything off down to the heads and block.
Originally I wanted to stroke it to a 383 but I took off the oil pan and it’s only a 2 bolt. Now I know many people have different opinions about stroking a 2 bolt but I don’t want my post to turn into a 2 bolts aren’t strong enough argument. I look at it like this, I can still build a pretty decent 350 and since I’m only a college student and can’t afford to put money into an engine that might blow in a year or two. I plan on dropping this engine in my 92 firebird which is going to be a street/strip car, mostly street for I might just take it to the track for qaurter mile times. I want to build this engine best for stoplight to stoplight street racing (low to mid power) and would be willing to compromise power for high speed racing. I look at it this way: an unsafe start ticket is nothing to worry about compared to a 150 in a 65 ticket.

Now that I got the background and planning info out of the way here’s where I could use some tips. I know from researching and reading some info on engine rebuilding but I don’t have any 1st hand experience like many of you gear heads on this site have. I do have an uncle that is a very decent mechanic and has rebuilt engines many times but he lacks new technology info and the initiative to build a fast car. he’s kind of one of those old gurus that puts down everything saying things like "your car is fine the way it is" and complaining how much work everything is. But I bet if he looked back at when he was young he be doing the same thing as me. he admitted he’d help me rebuild the engine and use his garage but when it comes to taking the right path and choosing the right parts I would like better advise otherwise the engine would be a late 70s 350 with stock parts.

My first question is about magnafluxing. Since the engine reportedly ran and had compression should I spend the money to magnaflux the block?

Now I know there may be cylinder ware and a machinist may recommend boring to a certain point, but say the cylinders are pretty good. What should I have the engine bored to? I was thinking 30 over but maybe I could go 40. Someone told me never to go like 50 or more over unless you plan blowing your motor in a year but I think he was only talking about off-road drag cars. Remember it’s a 2 bolt.

Since it’s a 2 bolt. Maybe I can strengthen up the main by having splayed caps installed. Does anyone know if machine shops do this? Price? Would it be worth it?

Now I know prices can be cheaper and more comfortable knowing parts will fit by buying a rebuild kit but if I can spend a little more money to get the best performance possible by buying parts separately than I will. Now money is a problem but I’m a very good saver and would rather get the best performance I can while I have the engine on a stand and not in the car. I don’t want to think back in a couple years saying I wish I went with these pistons or cam...ECT. Can anyone recommend any rebuild kits; I don’t care about emission testing since in NY, inspections are easy and I have many friends, so if the kit is meant for strip only and puts out more power so be it(its not like California here). Also if anyone has gone thru this b4 and recommends buying parts separately then let me know.

Not sure what I should do with the heads. I know I can port and polish them but it would be a little tougher since they’re iron heads or I could spend a grand for good heads. What do u guys recommend and how much more power can I get by buying new heads rather than to port and polishing them.

Next thing is cam. Many builders recommend choosing your bottom end parts and heads first. Which sounds like a good idea. But after looking around at cams I became confused about their specs. I’m not sure which cams are better for low to mid power because of their specs say for instance a cam offers 1200 - 4200 rpms 260 duration .427 lift and 110 lobe separation. Now correct me if I’m wrong but the confusing part is that when you’re at a stand still and you accelerate your not shifting till the power band so you need your power at higher rpms. I know I may sound stupid but I’ve been trying to understand cams for awhile and I’m still a bit confused. I slightly understand the other specs but I’m still not sure what the better range of numbers is for duration, lift and lobe separation to get the best low to mid end power. So if someone could give me number ranges for these specs to get the best low to mid power that would be great.

Now I could be wrong but I think intake and carb are pretty easy. Just choose the intake and carb that offer the best cfm air intake and consider clearance.

I’m sure somebody out there has put and older style carbed 350 in a thirdgen firebird so can anybody offer advise on the oil pan and headers for clearance issues? I don’t think there’s any difference of third gens but mine is a 92 if there is.

I know I’m going to have to get new motor mounts but that’s pretty simple.

It’s kind of early to think about transmission and rear-end but many say it’s good to have your drive train planned out in order to get the best of what u want from your car. In my situation I want a car that can get from 0-60 fast. My firebird is an automatic but as we all know there is already a hole above the tranny because the auto shifter is on the floor. Is the hole in the right location and big enough to put a manual tranny in? Many have told me it’s a pain to put a clutch and tranny lines in but would it be worth it?

I know the higher the gear ratio the faster off the line the car will be but I don’t want to be only able to go 60mph and I don’t want the wheels to spin only at the touch of the gas for that would cause me to loose races.

For the power the motor will have a stock tranny and rear-end would obviously be a bad idea. So can anyone let me know if it’s worth it to rebuild a tranny and rear-end with stronger aftermarket parts or buy an aftermarket tranny and rear-end? What are the better quality aftermarket transmissions and rear ends out there?

I m sorry about the extremely long thread but I tried to explain everything so the people who may try to help me can actually offer answers instead of more questions because the author of the thread wasn’t specific enough.

Thanks,
Tim

 

Please don't post the same thing (and in this case, a very long thing) on multiple forums.