I feel like I need a picture of someone beating a dead horse with this question. the engine i have for my 63 belair is a 350 (casting number 3970010), i pulled it out of a 70 GMC step van, which ran great, and was a stump puller but i think it was all in the trans and rear end. the engine suffix is TYU which told me it was from a 1975 van or bus and was a low 165 HP My question to you all is, without breaking the bank, what would be the best bolt ons for the engine only internal work ill do is a cam and or rocker change, but thats about all i want to do, im sure the heads are restrictive, but id like to keep them, my main goal is to have a nice running maybe a mild idle car that i can drive 70-75 on the highway, ill probably put a 2500-2800 torque converter on the th350 im putting in it any input is highly appreciated
Cam and lifters, valve springs, and headers will wake it up. After that it gets expensive/labor intensive.
Elgin makes a RV cam for about 65 bucks. it will still pull a vacuum for brakes and such. it has a very mild idle put pulls great. if you add a good intake and headers its even better. a little bowl blending under the intake valves will also help. this will work with a stock converter.
What intake and carb are on it? If it's the 1 barrel carb, doesn't the power increase almost drastically when a 2 or 4 barrel carb and intake are installed? I know others'll correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm still learning through some things myself.
its got a edelbrock intake and 4 bbl carb but ill be changing the carb out anyways, or i may rebuild it because shes sat for about a year, and i hate leaks so i may rebuild her or throw on a new carb... whats the best cfm would you all say if i did go with a cam, lifters, springs, and a set of shorty block hugger headers. I know block huggers arent the best but ill have ground clearance issues any other way.
Id stick with a 600cfm if all you want to do it cruise. You will be fine taking 15 minutes to rebuild your old carb. Very simple.
Cheapest way .In my opinion 305 heads Rv cam ,lifters and manifold and carb Stock converter. I am thinking that the motor you have is the same one I use to own. Mine was out of a 1 ton truck .Compression was low. Probably 8 to 1 or 8 and 1/2 compression. You should gain a full point. Bringing you back up to 9 or 9 1/2 compression. 222 cam 'Edelbrock dual plane and my favorite a 600 Holley vac secondaries ,with a lighter spring installed in the va***n secondaries.The stock one does not open fast enough. Also I would play around with lighter springs in the distributor. Middle of the road for both, Not the lightest.
Some early, small chamber heads to kick up the compression, an SP-2P intake for low RPM grunt, and a 650 Holley will be the easiest and cheapest things that I would do. Changing the cam on that low compression pig will prolly drop the cylinder pressure to the point where it'd make LESS power. What cam were you thinking when using that 2800 stall converter? Any cam in THAT motor that needs THAT stall will for certain be a ****ing mutt. Be careful on your choice of parts. It's a slippery slope A lot of people do NOT like the SP-2P, making them very cheap to buy. And they have XLNT response from zero to 3500RPM, where, let's face it, most of the time is spent in that RPM range
Had a similar motor, same casting number, year, think mine was from a Monte Carlo. Rebuilt it with my dad using new Comp Cam and lifter kit, added headers, re-used the same stock 76cc heads, Q-jet carb, aluminum GM intake and stock converter on the TH350 trans. It was better than before and was done on a budget. As mentioned by others already, aluminum heads are really nice too, but costs more. My goal was more power without throwing a lot of money into it. Good luck to you.
I DO NOT like the SP2P! Never seen one part make an engine fall on it's face like that one. Might as well put a small 2 bbl on it while you are at it then and forget the headers, it won't breath hard enough to make a scavenge in anything over a 1" primary tube. Did I mention I don't like the SP2P?
Yes, a lot of people don't like em. BUT, it's all about the "combination". And that's where a lot of money gets thrown at a motor, just to run like ****. With that stock, no-nothing motor and **** compression, it's my opinion the port velocity of that intake will be a great ***et. Sure, on a "performance" type motor, the SP-2P's a piece of ****, and that's how it gets a bad rep. But, on his motor? An ***et for sure. I just took a $2000 set of Dart heads and Victor Jr (a great intake) off a 383 SBC, and made almost another 100HP with some ported, dinosaur 461's, and an old C4-B. It's all in the "combination"
I have several SP-2-P manifolds. I buy them whenever I find a deal on one. I love em. They were intended to be a mileage booster during the 70s oil crisis. For bottom end torque, they do work well.
someone with experience...this is why i came here, the reason i said that high of a converter for the low end grunt, but will this hurt my highway driving? i live in louisville ky and plan on trips to indianapolis in, nashville tn, bowling green ky, and other surrounding cities with it so i guess its hard to be in the middle of the road. ive got an old q-jet intake, would that help at all or is it just a paper weight? the reason why this is low budget for me is because my 72 chevy c10 project is a long project and i want something to cruise while i build it. again thanks to all you guys, my area of expertise is suspensions, when it comes to making something run good i dont know jack chit
Your rear gear ratio & tire diameter will also determine your mileage. Look up the math formula to find what gear ratio will put you in the 2200 rpm range at 65-75 mph. A 2500-2800 rpm torque converter may actually stall higher than that in a heavier car, and lower in a lighter one. It's just a ballpark figure. You could also go to summit's web page and look in the "professor overdrive" section under the customer service tab for answers, or call their tech hotline. They are good too.
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