Thread: SBC 350 build

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are you sure you don't mean 2.02 intake valves???? 2.20 will not fit on a 4 in bore

i did mean 2.02. sometimes my fingers work against me. lol

first post fixed

All you younguns want to start at the wrong end of the truck. Do the rear first. 3.73/4.10 gears, good axles, posi or Detroit Locker or Auburn unit, wider wheels and tires, premium shocks.

Putting a fresh top end on a short block that has 170,000 KM on it is not advisable, it'll blow the rings out. Then, you'll have to disassemble the motor and build it right anyway.

Using a flat tappet cam is not advisable. This is such a touchy situation because extreme pressure lubricants that used to be in oils have been taken out because they clogged up catalytic converters and cost the auto manufacturers money on warranty claims. So the auto makers convinced Congress to eliminate the lubricant from motor oils. They got away with it mostly because all of the current motors being built by the makers use roller tappet cams which do not require any extreme pressure lubricant additives in the motor oil. I got so tired of explaining all the monkey motion you have to go through to get a flat tappet cam to live in a motor today that I wrote this long-winded checklist of things that will frag your install....
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ips_and_tricks
You don't have to deal with any of this foolishness with a roller. You just wash the shipping grease off, oil the lifters and cam with off-the-shelf motor oil, install, fire the motor and drive.

Choosing a cam just for the rump-rump is not advisable. Makes you look like a poser.

Building a 350 to haul a heavy truck is not advisable. I would be thinking a 383 made with a 350 block or maybe a 406 made from a 400 block. You need cubic inches and you need torque, not horsepower. Best way in my opinion to build a 383 is to start with a roller block from a '96-'99 Chevy truck or van. These were RPO L31, 5700 Vortec motors, roller cam and one-piece rear seal. You can sometimes re-use the stock roller lifters if you get them with the block and just buy a new roller cam. Much cheaper than doing a retro-fit roller cam on an earlier block.

Using an Air Gap intake in a cold climate is not advisable. Use the standard Edelbrock RPM and make more power and torque than ANY OTHER MANIFOLD.

Using high-buck Brodix heads on a daily driver is not advisable. It would be like hanging a string of pearls on a pig. Spend your money more wisely on a 383 stroker kit or other parts that will make good torque. These iron heads coupled with a good D-cup hypereutectic piston with an 18cc dish on a 383 will make a 9.7:1 motor that will operate well on pump gas with the right camshaft and will rip the rear tires off.
Racing Head Service heads....
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RHS-12410-01/
Keith Black pistons, use with 5.7" rods....
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/UEM-KB135-030/

The stroke radius will be 1.875", the rods will be 5.703" and the piston compression height will be 1.433". These 3 added together make the "stack" that will fit into the block. Your stack will be 9.011". An unmodified 350 block will measure 9.025" on the block deck height (measurement from the centerline of the main bearing bore to the flat part of the block where the heads bolt on). If you deduct 9.011" from 9.025", you find that the crown of the piston will be down in the bore 0.014" when the piston is at top dead center. If you use a composition head gasket such as the GM 10105117 that compresses to 0.028", then you add 0.028" and 0.014" and find that you have a "squish" dimension of 0.042". Perfect for pump gas and should allow plenty of ignition timing to operate properly on the street and highway.

If you want to play along with what I'm suggesting, we can get into more detail, but I'll wait and see what you have to say. Let me warn you of one thing......DO NOT TELL ME THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD THIS OR THAT. When I was a young man, I was working 3 jobs at 80+ hours a week in order to make the money required to do what I wanted to do. If you want to learn how to build a motor with 470 hp and 490 ft/lbs of torque that will rip the tires off and run on pump gas, step up to the plate. Otherwise, do it your way.

Oh, and by the way, the cam that I would choose for this combination would be a little lopey.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CCA-08-430-8/
You wouldn't have to necessarily use this exact cam. You could use one made by another grinder that used these specs. You'd want to use a 2500 stall converter.