well i finally got my engine for my car. its a 350 bored .030 over with flat tops. its a flat tappet motor, 4 bolt mains and a 010 block. im wanting to paint it tommarow if weather allows. whats the best paint to use and how do i prep the block for the paint so it lasts. i got one of those brushes for a drill to clean the old paint off and everything so please give me some pointers if u dont mind.

 

Not too hard or anything, really....

Mask off the inside of it with tape and newspaper or the like. Do the wire brush thing to get off loose scaly rust and paint. Use POR-15 or similar "rust converter" primer. Top that off with the engine enamel, or even regular body paint, of your choice. Paint your brass freeze plugs with clear-coat, like for wheels, before you put them in, to keep them nice and shiny brass looking. Maybe hit em with another shot after you knock em in. For that matter, clearing over the engine with wheel clear, might be a good idea too; especially if you decide on a metallic color.

 

yea about the freeze plugs i got a set of new ones. are they hard to put in and how do i do it? could i just use a socket and beat them in wtih a hammer?thanks for your help so far. im deciding between chevy orange or like a lime green maybe just black but most likely chevy orange.

 

may want to put some weather stripping adhesive around the outside of the out the plugs.......as for paint, just make sure everything is clean (no oil) spray with some high heat engine enamel, just dont get any over spray on the internals.........ps, a black engine runs hotter than a orange one

 

alright thanks. i was leaning towards orange anyways cause i painted my engine bay black. but im wondering what size push rods i need also and are head studs just as good as a head bolt set?

 

im not sure of the specific length, but stock ones will work fine, unless you want something a lil longer to trick your engine into thinking it has a bigger cam than it really does.............head studs are believed better by some ppl

 

well i dont have push rods, rockers, or head bolts so thats why i was wondering. i turn 18 sunday and got a job lined up at jiffy lube hopefully so il have to save some money. i got a set of heads i think the number on them is like 883 or something but i want to find a cheap set of vortecs and a decent cam. just a matter of saving money and may 7 i have to go to court for wreckless driving endarngerment so money will be goin towards that ticket.but thanks for the help

 

get everything like you want it before you go installing stuff, my car was a roller when i bought it, i was gonna go with 305 and a 700 r4, by the time i drove it for the first time it was a 355 th350 mix. ive pulled and reinstalled engines at least 5 times before i got it like i wanted.....save up money (after you sort out your legal affairs) and fix it with the best parts you can afford, that way you dont say "man i wished id bought that when i had the chance"

vortecs with a comp cam and roller rockers work well together. hint hint

 

Longer pushrods will not "tricK" an engine into thinking it has a bigger cam. Pushrods are simply a relay device. The lifter transfers the cams rotational movement into vertical movement. The pushrods simply transfer this movement to the rocker arm. How do you know the stock ones are ok? Did you go to his house and measure them?

You can mock it up with the stockers and look at the contact at the tip of valve. If its not right you need to get a push rod length checker. You need the right pushrods.

As far as head studs. Most of the time they are a bigger pain than anything. Especially for a lo po street machine.

 

says the guy with a more than likely stock 305 in his car

 

Thats funny. I do have a stock lo3 right now, scored a smokin deal on it. Thats a nice insult too, btw. However, it still doenst change the fact that you just gave out poor advice to someone. If you dont know, dont give it out. He must check for geometry. You cant say across the internet those pushrods are fine. Also, dont knock someone you dont know, there is a chance I may know a little more than you.

 

possible.....and i apoligize for the earlier comment, you caught me on a bad day when i said push rods would give the affect of a bigger cam however,larger ratio rocker arms will, thats what i was thinking of. as far as the geometry of the push rods.......what difference does it make? since you may know so much more than me please shed some light on that for me............the only reason you would need different length push rods is if you are running rocker arms that call for a longer rod................

they dont make smokin deals on 305s.......if you payed anything for it , the only thing smokin is you from getting your rear burnt

 

Not true. Some heads have a thicker deck surface. That requires them. Or if the heads and block were milled. To be honest, sometimes its a combination of those, along with aftermarket roller rockers, screw in studs, etc, all can change the orientation of the geometry. That doesnt even cover the reasons why. Noise, wear on contact points, also oil timing. A lot of people dont realize that valvetrain geometry affects oil timing to the upper end. I dont mean to sound like a smartass either, but I am a mechanic, I do have lots of certs(ase's) and i was just pointing out the mistatements.

As for a smokin deal. You decide. I got an 1988 camaro, lo3 t5. 100K on it. Has a new clutch pressure plate and flywheel set, new shocks, struts, wheel bearings, brake rotors and calipers. 3k on new drums wheel cylinders and brake shoes. 3k on u joints. It also has the nice 16 inch wheels on it, like new tires. The interior is literally perfect, save for one tear on D/s seat, that is getting repaired soon. The body is perfect, save for some fading. The car is a smokin deal for the 1500 I paid for it. If you are wondering about how i know the history of the car, Im 3rd owner. I have done all the mainenance on it for both of the other owners for a long time now. It was a smokin deal. My other car, my 87 that I just sold to my dad, was a v6 that i converted to a v8. th350 trans, all the goodies. It was fast and nasty and got 8 mpg. Now I visit it on the weekends with my Daily Driver that gets over 20. I call that a smokin deal.

 

-
oh......i thought you just bought a 305 and threw it in the car, yeah i see your point on the 350 cause im running the same setup in my car and get around 3 gallons to the mile......., but still honestly unless you are running solid lifters it doesnt matter what size push rods in most case a stock push rod will work well.....unless there is an extreme circumstance where you have 150# of presure on the seat of a valve spring........i dont think this guy is building a super late model engine so stock componets will work just fine

 

Its not the strength of the pushrod. That only matters really if you are running guideplates, at least at this level. Its the length of the pushrod that matters. This will affect the contact point of the rocker arm on the valve. This is a critical element of a properly set-up valvetrain. This can all go wrong in a hurry if it isnt right. Far reaching problems can be traced back to it down the road such as broken rockers, broken rocker studs, bent pushrods, etc. It doesnt cost much to do it right, why chance it?

 

thanks for the help so far fellas. ive been callin around junkyards and places. no one has a set of vortecs. i guess il just keep looking. the heads i have now are crappy and im pretty sure there 76cc, is there anyway to have them idk what u would call it. milled down to make the chamber 64cc?

 

Of course not.

That's not how you find them.

First off, NEVER EVER call a junkyard looking for a part. Calling simply doesn't work. One of 2 things will happen: either they will have it sitting there already pulled and waiting, in which case you will pay BIG EXTRA for it; or they won't have it pulled and waiting, in which case they will tell you they don't have it, even though there might be 50 cars sitting out there with one in it.

Instead, GO THERE, and use your own eyeballs. LOOK. They figure, if you're too lazy to come look, they can't be bothered dealing with you, because if they do, you'll be nothing but trouble to them anyway. Sucks, but that's the way it works.

Second, NEVER EVER EVER utter the word "Vortec" in or near a junkyard. Using that word automatically tags you as a hot-rodder; and that GUARANTEES that you will either pay the extra $200 cover charge for the privilege of walking in the door, or they will simply discourage you from even showing up, knowing that you will be NOTHING BUT trouble.

The junkyards DO have Vortec heads, believe that. They come on 1996-2000 Chevy trucks and vans. There's MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of those things on the road. People wreck em and wear em out every day. They belong to construction companies, the phone company, carpet companies, delivery companies, etc. etc. etc. They don't last forever, and those people COULDN'T CARE LESS about "Vortec", all they want is a dependable truck to make them their paycheck; so when their truck is no good any more, they throw it in the trash and buy another. The used-up ones are sitting in the junkyard right this minute.

Here's how you score Vortec heads:

You GO TO the junkyard, walk up to the counter, and tell them you have a 1997 truck or van. You pretend you're a plumber or a farmer or a carpet layer (or maybe you are one... that's cool too), IOW, somebody that MAKES THEIR LIVING with their truck. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES let out the slightest hint that you are merely a hot-rodder, because they are not the least bit interested in dealing with little teenage boys pleasuring themselves by playing with their toys (that's how they regard people like us). You tell them you want a set of heads for it, and either they will hand you some heads, or you go walk around the yard and look at trucks. When you find one, you tell them "I want those right there.... they're just like mine". You DO NOT utter the word "Vortec", you DO NOT talk about casting numbers, you DO NOT in any manner way shape or form give them the slightest hint that you are anything but a working guy with a broke-down truck you're trying to fix. You can look at casting numbers of course, just don't let them see you doing it. If they hand you a set of heads and say these are what you're looking for, check to see if they're Vortecs (casting numbers 906 or 062 .... there ARE NO others, there are no "early Vortecs", no "almost Vortecs", no "as good as Vortecs", no "it doesn't matter all 350 heads are the same", and especially not my all-time fave, "pre-Vortecs") and if they're not, look around at different other things besides the casting number for a minute and tell them they don't look the same as yours, you don't want em, you want ones just like the ones you've got. You can say, "this part here [the chamber] is kind of square, but mine are kind of heart-shaped", or maybe that they're missing a bolt hole somewhere, or such as that; DO NOT point out the casting number, the casting mark on the end beyond just "the end looks different", or anything like that. Keep looking until you find a pair of the right ones. I won't take long, I GUARANTEE: there's just WAY too many of those vehicles out there, for them to be "hard to find".

Getting parts at the junkyard is NOT the same process as getting a set of brake pads at AutoZone or something. Just doesn't work the same way AT ALL. It's a skill and an art that you have to cultivate, if you're not already from their core customer base.

 

Ah... the benefits of being a regular at the one of the last true 'Pick a Part' scrapyards around. Walk through the gate with my toolbox and tell them what I took on the way out. I don't bother them and they give me fair prices.
I will say that these guys are racers though. The really good stuff disappears first.

 

Yeah, I have one right near where I live that's like that; when I go there, they have what I'm looking for about 99% of the time (including about 40 1996-2000 Chevy trucks and vans with the motor still in them), and they KNOW the regulars. They also KNOW the ones that try to rip them off by hiding stuff in their toolboxes, and the ones that DESTROY vehicles to get at some trivial part (like, take a sledgehammer to an interior to get a handful of bulbs out of the dash), and the ones that bust up a complete good front cap to get one parking light or something, and ruin other parts in the process. Those guys aren't STUPID. They know their business and what different things are worth, and to whom, and why. They know exactly what they have, what it looked like before you got there, and what it looks like after you're done with it; and they treat you accordingly. They're just working guys like the rest of us. Learn how their job works and how they get paid, and work WITH that instead of AGAINST it, and they can be a gold mine. **** em off or gain their dislike, and you're hosed.

 

correct me if im wrong, but if you cut 10 thousanths of the heads you would have to cut 10 thousands off the block where the intake sits the the holes would line up.........882s arent BAD heads like everybody thinks they are decent heads and are alright if you use domed pistons with them........ive considered using them in conjuntion with some dished pistons to build a supercharged engine with..........as far as finding vortec heads...check craigslist or the classifieds on here.........i traded for a complete vortec top end with a air gap intake and a 750 carb for a wore out 2 bolt main 350. they aint hard to find ppl who know what they are just tend to over glorify them somtimes

 

Nah, .010" usually isn't enough to need to resurface the intake. It's more for big time machining, deck the block .025" and the heads .020", then maybe.

882's are basically the very worst heads that exist. "Aren't bad" means they will work, the car will do it's job and all, but almost any other set of heads that will physically bolt up will make more HP and be more reliable. So really, I would consider that to mean they *are* bad, just because everything else is better

 

they are better than smogger heads.........and run just as good as 416s, the only great heads like you are talking about are 906s 062s vortecs 041xs and they rest of the 2.02 double hump family..........just buy some world, or brodix heads

 

882s are smogger heads; the single most common casting of them. They are GARBAGE of the worst sort. I've had to pay people to come clean piles of them off my property. As far as I'm concerned, "free" is too high of a price to pay. The only way I would even accept a pair of them, is if you also gave me enough money along with them, to take care of disposing of them.

 

aparently you've never taken a stock truck engine apart, the heads that were on my engine had like 1.74 intakes and 1.50 exhaust..........882s arent great heads by any means, but they are better than alot of things out there

 

There's a lot of truth in that statement.
Unless you have the expertise it takes to really get the best out of old castings when it comes to porting (Not to mention the time. Lots of time)
you are better off with aftermarket pieces with published flow numbers.

 

Its not that the stuff wont line up. You are reducing the length from the camshaft to the rocker arm by milling head and block surfaces, thus causing a difference in pushrod length. 882s arent bad, depending on what you want. I think that basically any other non smog head would be better in just about any situation. The great part about heads is you can open up the chamber on most any head to lower the compression to run a blower or turbo. The problem with 882s is the money invested vs the profit reaped.

 

alright, i thank you guys for all your help so far. i think im going to stick with the crap heads and go ahead and get my rocker and push rods and a intake and distributor just to get the motor running and have somewhere to start then il save for heads. i know that il have to do everything twice again later but thats alright i enjoy workin on engines and i already got all the gaskets so its not that bad. but once again thanks for your help guys.