Thread: 352 looking for some horsepower...cheap??

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Hi, I am very new to engine rebuilding. I had a 65 Galaxie 500 for my first car and recently purchased one in good shape. It has a 352 in it and what looks like an after market Holley 4 barrel carb. It runs. I would like to rebuild it and get a moderate 300 to 350 hp out of it. Any suggestions? Thanks.

My first inclination would be to follow standard hot rodder fare with heads, headers, cam, etc., but with a car this heavy and a motor this small, you would have to overcam it to the point that you would take all the low-end driveability out of it.

Consider this: How about a couple of off the shelf (read cheap) turbos and a blow-through carburetor. I have not done this personally, but it sure looks attractive. At least get in touch with these guys and discuss it. They supply the correct carbs and should know a good supplier for the rest of the system for you.
http://www.csucarbs.com/index.html

I never hear from most of you guys again after a recommendation. How about being a stand-up guy and letting us know how this went.

My experience has been cheap & horsepower don't go together.

A set of 390 GT or at least 4V heads, 390 GT cam, Edelbrock Performer intake, long tube headers, and a Petronix conversion on the distributor. Then really wake up the heavy sled by changing rear gears to a set of 4.11's..

i also have a 1965 galaxie with a 352, your best bet would be to find a 390 or 428 i put a cam, intake, and headers on my 352 and it was a pig off the line, but on the highway its would scream, i am currently in the process ofbuilding a 427 for it

Thanks for the replies!!
A guy I work with gave me a 352 he had rebuilt once...bored out 30 over ( by the way, what exactly does that mean...3 thousands of an inch from the stock 4.00 bore and now be 4.03???). It overheated years later and started running funny... it started using alot of coolant before he pulled it out and stored it. After reading some articles,...can't I bore this out more and basically turn it into a 390 with longer stroke rods??
Another question; are 1961/62 police interceptor heads compatible with the 352. How much would I expect to pay for them or a set of decent heads?
Another Question; Since the stock engine I have is already running...I will probably just tune it up a little for now till I rebuild another one. Now the question...Is it worth my time to mess with this other 352 I have? Would it be better or cheaper to get the 300 to 350 horse out of a different motor?
Thanks again for the help!!!

it would really be better to try to get power out of a bigger motor, like a 390 or a 428, for as much as it would cost to bore a 352 .50 over and stroke it you could already have a 390 or a 428 block that might only need to be honed, put in a cam, headers, intake and do some headwork and you should meet or exceed you horsepower goal

Just get you a 390 or a 428 if you want to spend a little more money. It's very easy to get 400 hp out of a 390 the factory did it. The FE will run very well with factory parts or the aftermarket makes some very nice pieces as well. The first thing you should do is find the casting numbers on the heads. Since you're putting the motor in a full size car there are plenty of factory heads that can be had cheap and make good power and work in your car. Just about any FE head from 1960-65 will bolt on to your car and make good power. The 427 Low riser heads are basically just early 390 heads with bigger valves. So don't pay big $$$ for so called Hi-po heads or Cobra jet heads or anything. If you want to go cheap you can find you a 390GT intake and it'll work great for making your power goals. The down side of it is the intake weighs a ton and you could save a good 75lbs by going aluminum. If you want a mild build up thats cheap go with a 428cj cam, and some headers. This combo will make you at least 350hp. If you want to you could step up to bigger cams and make some big gains. I'd say get us the casting numbers off your heads and mention how much you want to spend and it'll be easier to make suggestions. In my opinion it would be silly to do anything less than a 390 though.

Ok, Thanks again.
I found a engine rebuilder on ebay called Tuff Dawg Engines. They can build a 390 to 400hp for $3300 delivered. I would need a carb and I guess some headers to add to it. It has a 12 month/12000 mile warranty. Does this seem reasonable? I like the fact that the work is all professionly done and probably more reliable then putting this stuff together myself.
Any comments?

I'm kind of surprised that Tech didn't suggest this, so I will. I'd search the boneyards or the classifieds for a mid '70's big Merc or Lincoln with a 460 and go from there. As has been said many times before there is no substitution for cubic inches. Even in stock form it would be a major improvement over the 352.

460....Interesting! What all does it take to drop that in?

460 uses the same mounts wiring and bellhousing as a 352, very easy swap.... bigger motor isn't neccisary, i have a 69 galaxie with a 302 on it that launches off the line no problem, its all about build, you can sacrafice high end HP for low end torque, i built my motor with a torque cam, mild ported 302 HO heads, 2 bbl stock intake with a 2bbl to 4bbl adapter..... she gets up and goes off the line no problem... tops out at about 80 though with the 3.70s and FMX tranny

I don't have a problem with 302's as I think they are great little engines, but he's trying to move something that would almost qualify as a tank. About 5 years or so ago my son-in-law had a '75 Merc Grand Marquis that was running a 460. The engine and tranny were in great shape, but the body was rusting off the frame. I was going to put the engine and tranny in a '73 F-100 I had at the time, but he got rid of the car before I had the chance. He got less than $500 and the car was power everything and most of it worked.