Excuse the complete newbie question - I dont know a lot about engines, especially 350's. My 1950 cad has the original running gear but its very tired. Really doesnt like highway stuff both the engine and trans. I always hear how common and cheap chevy 350's are, and how I could get a used 350 and trans for cheap and have much more power then the tired 160 horse (when new) 330 I have. I see online that at pull-a-part (local junkyard) you can get a V8 engine for around $170. My question is, could I take any old (modern by our standards) 350, and swap out the intake to run a carbureted setup? Or does a fuel injected from the factory 350 not lend itself to that kind of conversion? The point being that my current engine and ****** would be out of my price range to rebuild (although id like to one day), but, im wondering If I could potentially get a pretty reliable setup to enjoy the car around town and on the highway kind of cheaply.
Be sure you understand the parts needed to remove the computer controls on the ignition and/or trans- varies with specific years and models.
Junk yard engines are in the junk yard for a reason, most are wore out, but look and make sure you pick up an engine with a HEI distributor, not a coil pack setup, buy the time you do evey thing and then find out that you have to go thru the engine any way or trans, just save your money and do a mild soup up of what you have, you would be surprised how easy it is to pick up 50hp
Craigslist will help too. Search the terms engine, chevy, 350, SBC, etc. A 283, 327, 350, 383 etc will all bolt up the same. 350 engines and transmissions are the most popular and least expensive combo I would think. I bought a turbo 350 trans off Craigslist for $275 that was rebuilt and works perfectly.
Also, stay away from the fuel injection and computer controlled engines for what your doing. You don't need it and carb engines are cheap anyway.
Well the thing is most junkyard cars at mine anyway are from the 90's it seems. When did chevy use carbureted systems up to? Maybe 86?
Find a old chevy pre 1987 that run and drives and use all the parts for the convertion would be the cheapest way to go. Craig's list would be were I'd look.
Why not find a 472-500-425 Cadillac engine ,trans and use them? Your Cadillac isn't light and a small block Chevy really doesn't have the low end torq you need. They're almost a bolt in.
If you want/need any help on the newest Chevy engines, PM me. I've got a 5.3 in the car in my avatar. I've got $600 invested in the engine/trans, and it puts out 285 hp and should get 25+ mpg. Sean
I don't know about you guys. but i use tbi motors all the time with a carb. chevy from 87 to 95. A reg chevy carb intake will work on these motors with a little work. i just slot the center holes on the intake so it will fit . They run great on a carb and the have very little to no wear on the cyls cause of FI. i have a vortec 5.7 with old style heads a zz4 cam motor (had 200k when i pulled it from a suburban because of cracked heads). put a set of rings and bearings it it runs 7.10 in a 1/8 mile in ot camaro. A plus is the serp belt system if it has a hood and motor cant be seen all the time they work great to.
I have an 89 model 350 in my 51 f1 removed the fuel injection used an old wieand 4bbl intake by modifying 4 center heat riser p***age holes on manifold. I use a HEI distributor works great
There is a flaw in your logic here. You want to replace a tired 331 Cad with a junkyard 350 SBC to gain performance. Thats a fallacy. The 350 that you replace the Cad with is also likely to be tired, and also lack the performance you desire. Just because it's a SBC doesn't mean it's some high horsepower wrecking machine. Many are just old, tired, worn out V8s lugging along the 70s, 80s and early 90s ****-boxes they're attached to. The same can be said for poor 350 in my $1200 '91 Suburban, which wheezes along begrudgingly hauling home renovation materials or whatever else I throw in it. I'm sure if you went through the trouble of swapping an entire drivetrain only to realize the performance (or lack thereof) of my parts hauler, you'd feel disappointed. If your Cad is running well, then leave it. A tired 350 SBC will perform much like a tired 331. If you were suggesting swapping the 331 out for a new ZZ4 engine, it would be a different story. Personally, if you're looking for an increase in performance for not a lot of money, I would recommend losing the Hydramatic trans in the Caddy and swapping over to a more modern 700R4. Adapter plates are readily available and not outrageously expensive. No computer controls are necessary. The numerically higher first gear in the 700R4 will get your car moving easier, and the OD gear will give you easier cruising at highway speed. This will effectively make the power you do have go further, and if you eventually do want to swap to a SBC, you can reuse the same transmission.
Almost a bolt in? Unless ya' got some decent fabricating skills, it ain't almost a bolt in. You'll need to build, ( or buy), an oil pan, and the ***ociated pickup. Then the "little" notch and box of the crossmember, for the oil pump and filter to clear. Then the ****** mount, and making the linkage work. Then if ya' wanna run a mechanical fan and clutch, my experience was the radiator on the front side of the core support, to get a decent sized radiator with no cooling problems for a daily or a long trip cruiser. Nothing insurmountable, but far from "almost" a bolt in !.........
You make good points. Im not looking for hot rod performance - but i think a tired 250 horse engine will move a caddy better than really tired 160 horse engine. The car actually takes off the line just fine, its just gone once I get to the speed limits around town. Just gets louder when I step on it. I do like the trans swap idea however. My biggest complaint with my current driveline is that the RPM's are way too high for comfort at 65 mph. It needs OD terribly. I havent looked at or replaced my timing chain yet. Im told that can breath new life into an old engine.
Having just looked at used/rebuilt 700r4's, plus the adapter plate, plus a new driveshaft, and probably having to move the trans holder id be in at a minimum of $1500. At that point I probably could just have my current one rebuilt couldnt I? I know my trans goes through all 4 gears, and the speedometer goes up to I think atleast 100? Shouldnt it be happy to cruise 65? My only time running it on the highway was for about an hour, the RPM's felt high, I blew a U joint, and it also burned 1 quart of oil in the engine haha
Haha, that's awesome about the oil consumption. At least the areas you're driving through won't have to worry about mosquito infestation. You're right, even a bone stock vehicle from the 50s should be able to cruise at 60-65 without much issue. Hell, when I was in high school my girlfriend was a freshman at the University of Delaware, and I used to drive up and down the NJ Turnpike every weekend in a 57 Chevy with a 283/Turboglide combo. It did just fine. Same could be said for the 272/3 speed stick that was in my 57 Ford. That being said, I've never been fond of revving the hell out of these V8s on the highway, especially when I can do at 2000 rpm what the car has to do with 3000 rpms. More fuel consumption, more wear on components, more noise... none of it positive, especially since I like modern driving where I rip it in the left lane and GO. But getting your Hydro rebuilt isn't going to fix your cruising RPM issue, since you will still not have OD. The 700R4 will fix that. But if your engine is burning as much oil as you say it is, and that down on power that it can hardly keep right-lane pace on the highway, then maybe a drivetrain swap is in order. What my friends and I used to do when we were younger and had no real money for drivetrains is we'd buy a lame car that was complete and drove, then pull the engine and trans, and send the rest to the crusher. You can definitely buy a decent but very lame 80s Caprice, 1500 pickup, etc for under $1000 and get your 350/700R4 combo you want. Stick a used 4 bbl intake on it, a generic HEI, and you'll be off and running. If you s**** the rest of the parts car and sell your 331, you might even break even.
Find a pre '88 small block, I prefer a truck motor. Most guys like an OD, I don't care for them. I think that your caddy has an enclosed drive shaft if it does your easiest solution is to change the rear for an open drive rear end. If you get an injected computer controlled engine you will want to drop an earlier distributer in it and bolt an intake and carb on it. You will have to come up with a fuel pump as the injected models have an electric in the tank. if you find an '84 and earlier engine then you don't have to screw with any of that. Confused yet? I damned sure hope so it makes you learn more better.
Everybody has their own point of view, but I think I'd be looking at later model carbureted Caddy engine/transmission combo's to replace the one you've got. It will probably be a swap with all the normal hurdles to overcome like building mounts, exhaust, etc. but it will have enough horsepower and torque to pull your rather heavy car around without a great deal of strain. One big bonus of using a Caddy motor is that you won't have to put up with the whining, moaning and *****ing of the anti-SBC *****s whose only comment is "ohhhh, it's got a belly-****on motor" or some other ignorant remark. Another bonus of using a Caddy engine/transmission is that once it's in place you'll probably never want to take it out in order to go back to stock. With the SBC, while it also has great swap potential, the incessant *****ic whining will eventually get to you and you'll go looking for a Caddy motor just to shut 'em up. Just ask me how I know.
LOL I have been around a long time and have shoved a caddy or two in a chebby but never the other way around. I would think that a chebby in a caddy would not be normal enough to count as a belly ****on. I did shove an LS in a '51 Eldo though, but no one was calling them a belly ****on yet.
All of my friends like/drive modern cars like mustangs. I like mustangs but its all there for you with little bolt on aftermarket BS. So theyd really have no room to talk cool factor about my 50 caddy. Honestly I just want to be able to turn the key and drive the thing without being scared. Im scared every single time I take it out whether I'll make it home or not haha
You can use any SBC from 2001 on back to 1955. Getting it to run without the computer is super easy, seeing as they added the computers to the 1955 design. You tell us which one you get and we'll tell you how to make it go. It's all bolt on stuff.
Your motor my be rated at 160 hp but its tried and making maybe 100 or so hp, here is the thing you pull the engine for the swap the car is apart, you start to collect every thing to get the project going, you run out of money or interest the car sits in the garage for the next 10 years, or ends up on craigs list for cheap, or you pull the engine, have it gone thru have a mild cam ground for it and some mild head work and a better exhaust, every thing bolts back together, interest stays high cause the light at the end of the tunnel is always there, value of the car stays higher
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