Salvaged fresh from the trees, now what?

[mrwilliamsburg33]

Whenever you do rebuild your 350 or whatever, document it along the way with what came easy and what was unexpected... I've never rebuilt a motor either but would like to eventually.

 

[brockmub]

Did you follow my Scoggin Dickey links?

Yes I did follow the links, that's why I didn't know which heads to go with. But I did figure out from a lot of different places, your links included, that the Edelbrock Performer RPM or AirGap were going to be the right intake to use. As it is, I'm inclined to go with the standard kit, since I don't really need it to "handle high revving", it's a slow dirt road truck not a fast circle track racer. Is that a dumb reason? Now I just need to find a cam with matching lift, right?

A Vortec head uses a centerbolt valve cover, not a perimeter like the 1955-1986 Chevrolet small blocks use. So if you are ordering a "dress up" kit, keep that in mind. The centerbolts are much better, they are not as prone to leak.

Thanks for the tip on that one. I would most likely have over looked that during the final stages of the build. You probably saved me some shipping costs, I'll buy you a beer sometime if you're in SD.

As for the carb, I would stick with a Quadrajet.

Do I need to worry about my carb matching up with the intake?

 

[Chevy305]

Do I need to worry about my carb matching up with the intake?

Yes,

Your q-jet is a spread bore, any aftermarket such as a holley truck avenger is square bore. Easiest way to tell is if primaries are the same size as the secondaries then its a square bore, if not then spread bore. They do make adapter plates so you can mix and match but I dont recomend running one as they tend to create turbulance in the intake and rob some hp.

 

[82355]

An Edelbrock Performer RPM will not work with a Quadrajet without an adapter plate. I have used many adapter plates, going either way with no troubles. I am not saying Chevy 305 is wrong though. Out of curiosity, do you have a link to back up that claim Chevy305?

As for the heads, I would get the machined ones. Here is a good camshaft from Comp that would be in your RPM range (I would go bigger)

http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductModelDetail.cfm?ProductModelId=8904

Intake is right at .450, and exhaust is over .450, and that is a pretty small cam.

Martin

 

[brockmub]

I found a number of barely used but really cheap parts recently, including a "like-new" Edelbrock carb and intake. The carb is a manual choke and I'm doubtful that the intake is Vortec?

Should I even consider them?

 

[82355]

Not if you are going with Vortec heads. That said I wouldn't run the Edelbrock carburetor no matter what heads you are going with.

Martin

 

[KMAYK5]

I pretty much just built the exact same motor your are talking about for my first motor. It's a gm goodwrench block bored .40 over, vortec heads with the guides machined if I decide to run a larger cam down the road and that very same xtreme 4x4 cam suggested earlier is the one I went with. I went to a local swap meet and found a spread bore vortec intake from GMPP for 90 bucks.

All together I will be in the motor for 1600 including having to buy a new block cause my old one was cracked.

Estimates for this combo are 310 hp and just under 400 ftlbs of torque. Just invade you were wondering.

 

[brockmub]

Not if you are going with Vortec heads. That said I wouldn't run the Edelbrock carburetor no matter what heads you are going with.

Martin

Why wouldn't you run the Edelbrock carb? Had bad luck with them or because it's a manual choke?

As for the intake, I know I wouldn't be able to use it with Vortec heads. Just wasn't sure if it was worth it to use and find some quality non-vortec heads.

 

[brockmub]

I pretty much just built the exact same motor your are talking about for my first motor. It's a gm goodwrench block bored .40 over, vortec heads with the guides machined if I decide to run a larger cam down the road and that very same xtreme 4x4 cam suggested earlier is the one I went with. I went to a local swap meet and found a spread bore vortec intake from GMPP for 90 bucks.

All together I will be in the motor for 1600 including having to buy a new block cause my old one was cracked.

Estimates for this combo are 310 hp and just under 400 ftlbs of torque. Just invade you were wondering.

So do you like the setup? Any problems that you ran into with any of these parts? I'm hoping to fall into that same price range for my motor. The motor will more than likely never get a larger cam so I can leave out the machining of the guides. However, my military friend tells me, "Failure to plan ahead, is planning ahead for failure." So the guides will be considered.

 

[KMAYK5]

So do you like the setup? Any problems that you ran into with any of these parts? I'm hoping to fall into that same price range for my motor. The motor will more than likely never get a larger cam so I can leave out the machining of the guides. However, my military friend tells me, "Failure to plan ahead, is planning ahead for failure." So the guides will be considered.

Honestly I can't comment on its performance because it is still on the engine stand. I will be putting it in as soon as I get back from my buisness trip and i will let you know exactly how it performs or if I ran into any problems.

On having the heads done, I found a place locally to me that works on vortecs regularly and they only charged 15 bucks a head to machine the guides so i cant see other places having it cost that much more. If they are going to the head shop anyway why not get it done so that if you ever do decide to upgrade the cam you wont have to pull the heads and take them to the shop and then have to reinstall them. If its already done all you have to do is change springs, lifters and the cam itself and you are done.

Just my opinion so you can take it for what it worth. I like to have things done right the first time so i dont have to regret doing it half ass the first time. My father always told me, if you cant do it right the first time around, what makes you think you will the second?

Good luck on your build and i will be sure and get back to you once the motor is in and running.

Thanks
Kyle

 

[KMAYK5]

I also forgot to mention that it took me a little under a year to get all my parts together. I am a full time college student so parts come slowly and i waited for good deals. Thats how I got the price down but if you take your time and search cl you will be able to keep it down.

Ex. The cheapest i could find a set of vortec heads was 300 bucks already rebuilt but not the way I wanted. Waited and found a set locally for 150 and had the rebuilt the way i wanted for 400 including the price of the heads.

 

[82355]

I would not run the Edelbrock carburetor because it is inferior to the factory Quadrajet. As for the intake, no I can't say enough good things about the Vortecs. No other factory head performs as well. If you feel like taking your time, and searching Craigslist/swap meets you could probably find better deals, but that package from Scoggin Dickey is brand new parts, and complete. No hunting down odds and ends. I would get the machined heads, and a decent cam. Any newer, quality cam is going to have over .450" lift.

Martin

 

[brockmub]

Visited the machine shop today and talked with the owner. Good guy, knows his stuff. Their turn around time is pretty long, three weeks! He said that the past few weeks have been crazy with everything from trucks to tractors, mud racers to 1/4 milers. Guess I should have started the project a few months earlier. Looking to have them test the crank, clean and magnaflux the block, check if it needs boring or honing, then have them install cam bearings and freeze plugs. They offered to help out with any part I had difficulty with (for a price I'm sure).

Also found a pair of Vortec heads locally for $300. Is it worth following up?

Ordered a new engine stand since I couldn't find one cheap or used (didn't exactly look too hard but there were a lot of crappy ones out there). Then I'm pulling the motor next weekend.

 

[brockmub]

The guy also has a rebuilt set of 642624 w/ Z28 springs $350

 

[KMAYK5]

I don't know about the other heads but keep looking for cheaper vortecs. Like I said I found mine for 150 and had them machined, and fitted with z28 springs for like 450. I don't have the receipt with you so I can't tell you the actual price. For 300 just for the heads you are better off going with a set of aluminum aftermarket heads. After about 600 into a set of cast iron heads I believe you can pick up built aluminum for around 800ish. I'm not sure on that though so look around.

 

[brockmub]

I don't know about the other heads but keep looking for cheaper vortecs. Like I said I found mine for 150 and had them machined, and fitted with z28 springs for like 450. I don't have the receipt with you so I can't tell you the actual price. For 300 just for the heads you are better off going with a set of aluminum aftermarket heads. After about 600 into a set of cast iron heads I believe you can pick up built aluminum for around 800ish. I'm not sure on that though so look around.

I will probably keep on looking for some heads and if I can't find any, then I guess I'll contact SD. $400 per head seems a bit more than I want to spend.

Told a neighbor about my plan to rebuild the 350, to which he replied "Dang, wish you would have told me about this a year ago when I got rid of my 350, engine stand, tools, and other Edelbrock stuff! Hold on a second." He went into his garage, handed me a box and started throwing some odds and ends into it.

Helped me out a ton... then he said, "Here take these too, don't know if they'll fit but they were off of my Big 10 pickup."

I guess I don't know if they will fit Vortec heads either. They are Mr. Gasket with what looks like a 3" collector. They would probably clean up ok with a wire brush and some high temp paint.

 

[brockmub]

Pulled the motor yesterday and snapped a lot of pictures so I hopefully know where everything goes back together. I wont post any because the last thing everyone wants to see is the another oily 350. Will probably post some pics later to show the condition of the block during disassembly. Interesting thing though, I found a 9/16 wrench wedged between the starter and the transmission. Kids must have dropped it a while ago when they were working on it at school.

Tried to get the number off the back of the block but after an hour of wire brushing it, I can only make out 397??1?. Which makes me think its a 3970010, about right for OLRUSTY. The heads make sense as well because they have a triangle stamped on the side.

I'm ready to start getting into the motor this week and would like some more tips from everyone. For example one tip I could have used would have been to shove something in the water pump or drain the block some how before it turned my garage and driveway into a Superfund site.

 

[brockmub]

Here are a couple pics.

Harmonic Damper

The question I have today is how much of this stuff should I plan on keeping?

I have been tagging and bagging everything that comes off, as well as take some notes how things fit together so I can hopefully get it together again.

So what should I really try to keep and what are straight to the scrap pile? Is the damper usable? Fuel pump? Water pump?

 

[82355]

It depends on how much you want to spend. Clean the head bolts up real well and look for corrosion. If they are corroded, replace them. They are about $20 a head. I always replace the spark plugs. Did you ever decide on heads?

Martin

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Aren't head bolts TTY?