I recently bought my 74 C10 Pickup and was going to swap out the 250 for a more powerful 350. I got to thinking i wanted to keep the drive train of this truck original, so i was wondering what I could do to get the most power out of my 250? I have looked at threads on here and see that shaving the head, switching to V8 pistons, 4 bbl intake and carb. would increase power. So my question is what do i have to do to my stock 250 to make it one of the baddest 250s in the land. A list would be much appreciated.
I built a 250 not too long ago and I'm planning on building the 235 in my Biscayne. The 250 I had was in a '81 2wd C10 that had a 3 on the tree in it and I'm telling you this now......that truck would beat on stock 350's and stock 5.0 mustangs ALL day long. Of course mine was turbo'd but still had very little work done to it and you cant beat the sound of a inline six that winding up I had mine bored to fit stock 350 pistons, head was shaved and "De-Lumped", blow through 4 barrel carb, turbo manifold, MSD distributor, aluminum offy intake, a custom ground cam for the turbo setup, and a 12 bolt with posi 3:73's. You dont want to go with too low of a gear cause they dont rev high. A good website to check out for the head "De-Lumping" the turbo manifolds and cams is www.12bolt.com. Steve has been building these motors for a while and has quite a bit of knowledge on them.
All that would increase power but take a major hit on your bank account. Best tip for these motors? Dual cast exhaust manifold, stock intake with some port work, 2bbl carb, HEI conversion (74 may already have HEI, not sure). You can even go as far as lumping the head or a valve job and cam install. Depends on how much you want to throw down.
Biggest bang for the buck would probably be to put a 292 six in place of the 250. Pretty much a bolt in, but what changes are needed are few and simple. 40 cubic inches more gains a lot. If you want still more power, some of the mods suggested for your 250 apply to the 292 as well.
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