I'm rebuilding a motor, i need some tips :]

[asIANism]

So, From What I Know, I Have a 5.6L 350 V8 Sb.It came from a 1986 caprice cop car? And Going To Rebuild It. I Need Bang For My Buck. Due To The Recession And What Not, I Would Love To Pump 400 Horses, But I Dont Think Its Gonna Happen, I Know Its Expensive, But Whats The Least Expensive Way Of Rebuilding It? Right Now Its 200hp.:confused: So Yea.Am I Wrong Somewhere? Please Correct Me. No Destructive Criticism Is Required.Thanks :smile:

[gcountach]

Dunno if it was a typo on your part or not, but... 350's are 5.7L's.

I don't know anything about rebuilding engines, sorry... I do know it's a good idea to replace the exhaust manifold and air intake. Those will give you HP boost without raising the octane which means you get more power while still pump good ole 87.

[Kevman]

I've mostly dealt with Fords.. But there's a few easy build sheets to follow on edelbrock.com or something like that.. like 350 with 350 horse.. Ours actually turned out good..

But when doing this, I consider it really good when you can get the same amount of horsepower, as you do cubic inches.. Just remember, whatever power you put into that engine, you have to beef up your trans and rear end just as much. So don't go too crazy.

[zeus01]

sb Chevy.BEST motors on earth.


First what I would do is tear it all apart.Check the lash "or wear" on the main bearings hopefully its a 4 bolt main.They sell charts to help figure this out.If you cant find a chart or issues readin it.Just replace the mains its a small price if your gonna do a BUILD.

After that send the heads out to be blasted and resealed.You can have a decent 3 way valve job for cheap.OR you can go to Autozone and get a valve spring compressor and do the seals yourself.You will still make decent HP without the valve job.

Get a full gasket set.u'll find one for around 100.

NOW what I would install.

Victor Jr. intake.
MSD distributor.
Comp Cams - Cam and rockers.THEY SELL KITS.
Get yourself a decent carb around 650cfm

That should wake it up.Your trying to stick to pumpgas? is this gonna be for racing or a dd?

Christian

[Bassmasteraj]

get the heads done by somebody who knows what there doing. The heads are what will give you compression so you want to make sure they are sealed. Also get good fel pro head gaskets

[asIANism]

Yea It was a typo. thanks "gcountach" for pointing that out. 5.7L.This is a Project Car. Its For a El Camino. Going To Put A Monte Carlo Front End On It. Not For Racing, But I Have Power When I Step On It.So If There Is A Ricer Or Ricerocket zooming by..its like...you know? lol.

[zeus01]

K buy what I suggested.That'll get ya close to pretty much any ricer on 89 octaine BUT.u have to put it to the ground.Do u know what diff ya got in the elco? Pesonally ive run a Drag radial on a grand marquis with 100 shot.Its all about hookin up.

BTW where are you from?

I doubt you wanna put a kit on it but you can spray a 350sbc with a 250 shot,Stock bottom end.

[chevy350god]

sb Chevy.BEST motors on earth.


First what I would do is tear it all apart.Check the lash "or wear" on the main bearings hopefully its a 4 bolt main.They sell charts to help figure this out.If you cant find a chart or issues readin it.Just replace the mains its a small price if your gonna do a BUILD.

After that send the heads out to be blasted and resealed.You can have a decent 3 way valve job for cheap.OR you can go to Autozone and get a valve spring compressor and do the seals yourself.You will still make decent HP without the valve job.

Get a full gasket set.u'll find one for around 100.

NOW what I would install.

Victor Jr. intake.
MSD distributor.
Comp Cams - Cam and rockers.THEY SELL KITS.
Get yourself a decent carb around 650cfm

That should wake it up.Your trying to stick to pumpgas? is this gonna be for racing or a dd?

Christian

What he said. Plus a super charger should get you around 25-50% HP boost depending on cam.

[asIANism]

im from LA CA. Im Gonna Put a 4.73 Rear End As Well. Hmm Alright.My Elco Is Gonna Be Somewhat Based Off The Choo Choo Custom El Camino.Whats A Good SuperCharger? Oh Yea..Cowl Induction Hood.Oh Yea, Can You Put A 69-71 Camaro Front End ON The Elco? The El Co is 87.

[zeus01]

U wanna go BLOWER.......or Supercharger.If you wanna go BLOWER Wiend 871 BUT now your not talkin "Daily Driver".Your gonna have to have a forged bottom end and run atleast 93 to get the right boom with all that air.There will ALSO be a very large price tag.


Supercharger. Its a bit cheaper.I would go with NOTHING less than Procharger.The numbers and the garentee they put down is unbeatable.Your lookin at 3-5k for a mid to high grade supercharger.But thats a KIT so it will come with the pipeing and clamps.You can still run a lower number octaine............This is what I would suggest.Power adder wise.


Truth with enough fabrication you can put a VW's front end on a mack truck. But why would you wanna do that? YUK

[mike71]

Supercharger is a BLOWER. You have different flavors though roots (871) and centrifugal (pro charger).

If this is the first motor your striping and putting back together I would just keep it simple run N/A and no juice till your totally board with it.

I re did a 350 to a 383 for my 71 and loved it now that i have learned a little were are gunna try some boost =-)>~

[gcountach]

Think what Zeus is trying to say is that there is no 69-72 camaro (is that what you even meant? You're crossing 2 generations there) front end that'll bolt onto an 87 elcal without some major custom fabrication on your end. If you want to change the look of the el camino, you would have a better chance if you got a car in the same era (and preferably shared quite a few parts/body lines like S-10's to Sonoma's, Camaro's to Firebird's, etc.). Looking at a few pics, I've noticed that the 87 El Camino SS looks a lot like a Monte Carlo SS in the front. Perhaps noses could be swapped on them with little work, but I haven't done any research to confirm it.

On that topic, I changed my front end from an 82-90 style S-10/15 (which you can see on my avatar) to a 91-93 one-piece thing. While on the surface the difference appears just to be as simple as taking off the old one and putting on the new one, the reality was there's more to it. 91-93 headlights are slightly moved from the position of the 82-90 style and required either a.) a crappy bracket to relocate them, b.)cutting into the new grille and making the end result look like crap, or c.) completely removing the old radiator core support (which means taking off everything attached to it: battery tray, radiator, fan shrouds, headlights, wiring, and a fender to get it out). I went with C, considering a deer went through my grille and it had to come out anyway. Now I have to buy some new screws and brackets to mount the grille properly because they mount the new grille differently than the old one so I can't reuse all the old mounts. So... how bad do you really hate that front end? :)

[mike71]

Man I love cars. Every time you touch one thing it opens twenty more doors. =o)

I lifted my K5 that ended in a 383 which led to a bent drive shaft, rolled leaf springs .. yadda yadda.. lol

On the plus side the El Camino is a great car to start working on parts are readily available and such.

[zeus01]

Mike I understand they are both pretty close to the same AND YES.They are both considered "Blowers".I was making it simpler for him,trying to explaine whats more practical.

G - What I ment is you can put anything on anything just depends on how much work and money you wanna invest.In order to put a camaro front end on a elco your gonna be changing ALOT more than just core supports and headlights.

As far as Monte and elco.They will slap together in a day with some fab of a few brackets.My buddy lives in IOWA and has a 85 elco.he had a issue with his brakes and drove through the back of his garage.His buddy had a 87 monte.He bought the front end for pennies and installed it in a day.

[421HO]

My recommendation to you is go to your local Barnes and Noble, or visit Amazon.com and look for books on building small block Chevy engines. I am a Pontiac guy, so I only have one book, but there are a number of books on the small block Chevy that should give you some ideas for where you can go with this project. I recommend research first then build, this way you have an idea of what you can expect cost and performance wise when you are finished.

[SCRambler]

Do not get a Victor Jr intake. For street you need a dual plane intake like the Edelbrock performer

[jrflickster]

ive had two huge posts get lost because the site asks me to register again. am i doing something wrong? ill try again when i get back from lunch.........

[jrflickster]

see now that little one work sorry im not trying to spam ill give you a good reply in about 45 .

[jrflickster]

im going to make it short and sweet. bore it out .003 that clean up the walls real nice plus it'll leave you .003 that you could do another time if needed or wanted. this will also make your 350 a 355. Hypereutectic Pistons teal seal rings. have your engine man check the connectiong rods and crankshaft if anything needs to be done you can get oversized bearings. i would look into scorpion roller rockers they make self aligning ones so you dont have get different studs or plates. i run scorpions and they are bad ass cheap and great quality. Next have the engine guy give your block a bath.lol oh yes also something to consider before you do anything is make sure your 350 in a 4 bolt main not a 2. if it is a 2 it doesnt really matter i just look at it as if im going through all this might as well get the better and no one can argue the 4 bolt main isnt better.Performer intake is a god choice and no need to spend more then 200 on headers unless they have special coats screw the special flow blah blah 400 dollar
headers. and my opinion on cam is get the most lift without needing a stall convertor unless you plan on getting one. then go wild got to love the big cam sound hydro cams are just fine no real need to get a roller unless you get alittle extra cash and you want to rev the crap out of it. 650cfm carb will be just fine. oh yes and might has well get a double roller timing chain. high flow oil pump windage tray is always a good idea. i cant think of what i missed but feel free to ask and ill do my best to help im no expert but i got the sb chevy down pretty dang good for a hobbiest.

[zeus01]

Dont punch it.Its extra work and for a guy who is building his first motor on a budget it isnt really practical.A stock bottom end 350 will do fine.As I stated before make sure the mains dont have alot of lash.If the walls of the block are smooth just have it honed.

As far as double roller if your gonna do that why dont you just gear drive it? its 10000000 times more reliable than a chain of ANY SORT.

[jrflickster]

i agree with the chain to gear but single and double hardly have a price difference so if your not going gear might aswell go double. noisey gear is definitly my favorite though.

[jrflickster]

personal opinion stock chevy hei distributor should be fine. they're great stock if you need a new one then might has well get a msd.

[zeus01]

Stock Dist is fine.I have never seen a GM dist give a problem.............Well I had a 87 olds delta 88 Custom crusier.SOMEHOW the rotor got bent.I still to this day have no frickin idea how it got bent but even bent the thing STILL ran.

[SgtDoxey75]

First things first I would tear down the motor to a short block and start from there and put new pistons, rings, bearings, and crankshaft in it. My personal fav is eagle then put an edelbrock top end on it and go with roller lifters and rockers on for less friction and that will give you more hp and I would also go with a synthetic motor oil it bonds better with the engine parts.

[cargasm]

Nice to see another elcamino fan i drive a 71. Go to http://elcaminocentral.com/ they have all the info you could ever need on these cars.. or trucks..
I cant help you out much with the engine but i was looking for an elcamino like yours before i got the 71 and was going to put a iroc camaro looking front end, ground effects, and rear bumper on it from here: http://www.laureneng.com/1290071.html they have a bunch of body kits including the monte carlo style that came on the choo choo customs. Check it out

[MagicOPromotion]

Hi,if ur face is always red,what should u do? Like put on powder?








Knows this is lame,just need some help cause my face is always red.

[ROKKET]

mmmm i seem to have a set of dart 202 heads for a SB chevy ,,,,never even installed the valves brand new heads but have had them since 1989

[Wicked Chicken]

Go get that book from the bookstore or check out a few Hot Rod types of magazines. The input from the subject matter experts attempting to help you is way off the mark and misleading. Stick with the best post I have seen in this thread and buy the book. Oh and by the way, your mains cannot be replaced with something else.....aftermarket maincaps are available and a machine shop can drill the extra main bolt holes. Now your engine is a 2 bolt main 350 5.7 Chevrolet.

Most certainly bore it .030 over not .003 cause that is 3 thousandths.....the engine most likely has more wear than that caused by the piston rings unless it is brand new and no one rebuild a brand new engine.

The best way to build it is as a cheap street engine with your goal in mind of 400 hp. Power is made through the heads, period. The best factory head is the vortec cylinder head and can support the power levels you are looking for. As a few people have hinted at, if there is any machine work to do to the crankshaft and for sure your pistons will have to be replaced if you bore it, buy a complete 383 stroker kit. As a 383 ci engine with vortec heads the other parts you would have to buy to get 400 hp would be a very small camshaft, an Edelbrock Performer RPM and a factory GM Quadrajet 4 barrel carb.

Oh......and use a timing chain........unless you want to use a gear that costs 10 times more than a chain. The chain will guaranteed be one of the last things to go bad in your rebuilt engine. Usually the rings or valve guides will give up first.

[Tomh]

You're looking to build on a budget, and you're looking for 400 HP. I don't think you're going to hit 400 HP cheap. The real question is which is more important, a cheap build, or a 400 HP build for as little as possible?

For either, I'd tear the whole engine down, have the block hot tanked, and magnafluxed to be certain there are no cracks. Have the same shop bore the cylinders .030 over (it's not that expensive, the block will likely need it, and it gives you a few more CI. Remember, there is no replacement for displacement), and replace cam bearings. If the crank needs any work, you'll probably be better off to just invest in a stroker kit, which will come complete with a new crank shaft.

Either recondition your existing connecting rods, or buy reconditioned ones (might be cheaper to just order recons). If the budget is more important than the power, either have your heads reconditioned, or buy a set already done (again, compare prices to see what the best deal is). If that 400 HP goal is important to you, then I would think about aftermarket heads. The Vortec iron heads have great flow for the price, and are probably the cheapest shot you have at realizing your 400 HP goal. You will NOT make 400 HP on your stock heads.

Once you know which heads you are going with, what cylinder bore you're going to have, and whether you're sticking with the stock crank, or stepping up to a stroker kit, you can call the cam company of your choice, and they will help you choose a cam kit to meet your power goals, and driving style. New rings, lifters, and valve springs to match your cam are a must. Go with a double roller timing chain, they're a lot quieter than the gear drive, and plenty less expensive.

Stick with the stock HEI style ignition, though for 400 HP I would have it rebuilt, and tuned for your application.

For street use I'd go with a dual plane manifold, like the Edelbrock performer RPM Air Gap. Keep the carb on the conservative side, perhaps 600 - 650 for a stock rebuild, no more than 750 if you're shooting for 400 HP. The smaller carb will give a better vacuum signal at lower RPM, which means crisper throttle response.


If money is less of an object than the HP, then I would consider a stroker kit. Take that engine out to 383 CI, throw on those vortec heads, and you've got some serious power (383's make tons of torque, great for getting out of the hole).

[Tomh]

Stock Dist is fine.I have never seen a GM dist give a problem.............Well I had a 87 olds delta 88 Custom crusier.SOMEHOW the rotor got bent.I still to this day have no frickin idea how it got bent but even bent the thing STILL ran.

I once put an AC Delco rotor in my '79 Malibu 350. When I saw AC Delco for sale at my local parts / speed shop, I figured that was the good stuff. I swapped it in right in the parking lot at the store, because the rotor that I had was pretty messed up, and was causing the car to misfire. I couldn't believe the difference in power when I started the engine with the new rotor in place, and was very happy. I had my wife with me (then my GF), and we started driving toward my home town. About ten miles from the parts store, the engine started to misfire, backfire, and generally give me trouble. A few more miles down the road, and it was barely running. I couldn't imagine what the problem was. I got it off the road, and into the parking lot of a shopping plaza, got the hood up, and pulled the distributor cap off (always look at the last thing you screwed around with, right!). Imagine my surprise to see that the metal tip of the rotor was pretty well torn off the plastic body! It turns out that they were attached with two little plastic posts which were just melted down onto the metal contact. Well, I guess the machine didn't do a very good job, and the plastic posts broke off, and the metal tip came off. Not only was the rotor screwed up, but it tore the crap out of my brand new distributor cap.

Luckily, I had both the old cap, and the old rotor in the trunk, and was able to swap them on, and drive back to the parts store where they replaced my cap, and I exchanged the rotor for a different brand. It was the weirdest failure I've ever seen of an HEI distributor though!