Thread: bone stock 350 upgrade questions

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i recently purchased a 1986 c10 scottsdale with a 350. i am wondering if there is a cam that i can put in on the stock valve train just to pep it up a bit. i am also gonna put a intake. it already had a 650 cfm carb. can anyone reccomend a sam i should use. hopefully it will be a lil more peppy and sound a lil better at idle

Originally Posted by unklslam41

i recently purchased a 1986 c10 scottsdale with a 350. i am wondering if there is a cam that i can put in on the stock valve train just to pep it up a bit. i am also gonna put a intake. it already had a 650 cfm carb. can anyone reccomend a sam i should use. hopefully it will be a lil more peppy and sound a lil better at idle

You're about to make the same bonehead mistake that all of us have made in our long history of learning how to do this stuff. The camshaft is the next to the last purchase you make on a vehicle, right after the torque converter.

First thing you do is bring up the rear with suspension, gears, wheels and tires. If you really want to make a difference, change gears first. Go up about half a point (example 3.50 to 4.00).

The cam that's in the motor from the factory is the one that will work best in an otherwise stock motor, that's why it's in there. Any other cam you install will only move the power range up in the rpm scale and make the bottom end power mushier.

As far as looking for that race motor sound of a choppy cam, you will need way more static compression ratio to make that work, so it means a complete teardown and rebuild to support the cam timing.

I don't expect you to believe me. I expect you to go ahead and install a long cam and then hate the truck. Most all of us had to learn the hard way.

will i benefit anything from a intake manifold. i have 3.73 gears headers and carb already.

For a street driver or street/strip driver, a tall, dual-plane intake such as an Edelbrock RPM or Weiand Stealth will add about 10% power (25 to 40 horsepower, depending on your build) over the stocker intake or the low-rise Performer intake (2101/2701), particularly if used with long-tube headers. I'm hoping you used long-tube headers and not those fosdick shorties that are worthless for making power. All they're good for is to lighten your wallet.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Edelbrock/350/7101/10002/-1
http://www.jegs.com/i/Weiand/925/8150/10002/-1
Use a minimum 14 X 3 air filter, 14 X 4 is even better if it will fit....
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/50004/10002/-1

Right after the collectors, add an H pipe or an X pipe. This will balance out the pulses between the left and right banks of the motor, add a little power and make the motor sound sweeter.
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...ion/index.html

Pay close attention to the spark plugs and learn to read them. The motor may go a little lean with the higher intake, headers and being able to breathe better. If you used an Edelbrock carb, use this Owner's Manual to tune with....
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_...ers_manual.pdf

definatley used long tube headers and edelbrock 650 carb. i dont plan on building a racecar just something a little better that stock. have true duals, and carb with a 14x3 air cleaner now.

Originally Posted by unklslam41

definatley used long tube headers and edelbrock 650 carb. i dont plan on building a racecar just something a little better that stock. have true duals, and carb with a 14x3 air cleaner now.

Great, install the tall intake and then the H or X pipe and you're done on the outside of the motor. Further gains will require disassembly.

+1 on the cam comment. I've seen way too many cars with aftermarket cams and stock heads on...And they do NOT perform like you'd think. Leave the stocker in until you know what the entire combination will be. The cam is the brain of then engine, if you will. It should be picked last.

Just a suggestion....

Before you do anything to the engine, might want to determine what condition it's in...How many miles on it? Does it use any oil? Any leaks? Then it would be a good idea to do either a compression check or (better yet) a leak down check...

The key words to me are "recently purchased".... Do you know the history of the truck? Is it the original engine or did somebody drop in a 305 when the original died...Seen any number of 305's passed off as 350's to an unsuspecting buyer! Might want to get the casting numbers off the block and heads and make sure of what you have, first...

also what can i do to help on cold weather starting. whenits really cold out she is hell to stay runnning for a few minutes. once warm its fine. motor is in great shape. 28k on motor

I don't know whether it's bad kharma or what, but I have never had an electric choke that worked the way it was supposed to and I guess I was never smart enough to make it work properly.

Every carbureted vehicle I have owned for the past 40 years or so has had a manual choke on it. If it didn't have one when I bought the vehicle, it had one shortly after.

Universal choke cables and brackets are available at most any auto parts store. Just remove the electric gizmos and install the cable onto the choke lever. You can usually find a hole in the firewall to run the cable back to the dash. If not, half a minute with a drill motor will fix it. Be careful and check to see if there is a heater core or some other valuable item that you are about to drill through. A couple of times, I have gotten real fancy and installed a microswitch operated by the choke arm that lights a yellow or red light that I mount on the dash somewhere to remind me that the choke is applied. If you want to get real fancy, you can rig in a flasher that flashes the light while the choke is on, but that gets a little tiresome. The 12v microswitch, light and flasher are available either at the auto parts store or Radio Shack.

The part I like best about a manual choke is that it's up to you. You can have no choke, a little choke, more choke or max choke any time you want it, unlike an electric choke that only works on whether the actuating coil is warm or cold.

One last thought about your quest for a livelier truck. I forgot to mention that an aftermarket torque converter would be a nice addition. Anything up to about 2500 stall will be very streetable and you will really notice a difference in accelleration. Even the first stage 2000 stall converter will increase your grin factor. Fuel mileage will suffer and you'll want to install a good quality transmission cooler in front of the radiator, but you'll like the results.

will i see a noticeable difference from adding a intake