I'm kind of at the crossroads of deciding what to do with the motor of my car. The current engine is undetermined, either a 350 or a 383, this is what I was told by the previous owner...and here is what I know of it's internals......

Crane cam (not sure which one)
TRW Flat Tops
Demon 750 CFM carb
edelbrock victor jr intake
and that's all.

I do know the car in a previous life was sprayed with nitrous and dragraced, I would assume in the 1/8th because with the th400 and 4.10's it can barely be street driven.

That is partly where my problem lies, now the car leaks oil heavily after it has been run, it burns alot of oil, at start up there is a huge blue cloud behind it and it's VERY down on power. I dynoed it last summer and it only put down 205 RWHP:confused: (LOL). It doesn't feel quick or torquey in the least, the 5.3 in my truck feels faster. I have entertained the thought of having it rebuilt but being that it was sprayed before I'm kind of leary about the condition of the internals and the original block. I was looking in the Summit book today and saw the 350/330 and I could buy one with my tax return. I was thinking that I could swap my intake, carb, accessories and also the brand new patriot 2.02/1.6, 64cc, 190cc aluminum heads that I have, onto the crate motor. What would you do or recommend. I would LOVE to do an LSX swap but that's 110% out of my budget, I'm a recent college graduate that picked the exact wrong time to get into the Criminal Justice Field, so I'm framing houses right now and money isn't exactly pouring in.


pics of the current motor in the car

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh131/04Prox2/races024.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh131/04Prox2/races023.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh131/04Prox2/races025.jpg

We put that 350 HO in 76 vette it ran solidly, hard to beat the price for long block. Blueprint engines also has a 355, 310hp long block for arond 2400. Dunno how they are on the street but know a cpl people run their claimer engines down at the local track.

I just like the peace of mind that comes with a crate motor, and I would assume that an engine builder couldn't built it any stronger any cheaper.

Mike,

I put the GM 350/330 HO in my 67. All in all im pretty pleased with it straight out of the crate.

I think i was pretty worried (warranty wise and workmanship wise) about buying something other than a crate motor at the time, and since this was pretty much a great starting point i went with it (got mine from Scoggin-Dickey). Arrived within a week, all i did was add a fuel pump, fan, and headers (summmit brand) and she's been running fine since the first start up. 2000 miles on it now.

I was uncertain where i wanted to go with the car at the time, so i went with a TKO500, endind up not needing the flexplate that came with it.

It's a great cruiser, has great power all throughout.

Rob

I bought the 350/330 about 2 years ago. I put a Holley 650 DP, Edelbrock RPM Airgap, and Hedman 1 5/8 headers on it. I was amazed at how strong the motor ran compared to my 1970's 350. I don't take the car out that often, usually just for a quick spin around the neighborhood. But when I do run it, I don't baby it. I figure if it breaks I can get an LS motor:D. It has ran flawlessly for about 3000 miles now with a trip to the dragstrip and countless redline runs. I have estimated off of the Carcraft article, I am running about 375 horse and 415 ft lbs of torque. I would love to have more but for 3 grand I think the only thing I would have maybe gone with instead was YearOne's vortec 350 that puts out 400 horse for less money. Other than that I don't think it can be beat for the money.

put one of those in an 88 monte carlo ss with all edelbrock water pump,fuel pump,carb,intake,headers,mufflers with a 2004r 2500 stall and a 3.73 rear and it ran great and got decent gas mileage

Ive been running one for about 6 years now. When i had it with a stock long block heddman headers, holley 650dp, edelbrock performer rpm intake and msd ignition it dynoed 289rwhp. I have at least 10k miles on mine with no problems. Its a vortec headed motor so i swapped in a lunati voodoo 268 cam and crane valve springs with no head mods and that woke it up nicely. I have about 150 quarter mile passes on it and it still runs great.

I personally would hunt up one of the old $1195 Goodwrench 350 crate motors that I figure are still around for like $1500 or so and switch heads to some 305HO jobbers along w/ .015" thick shim headgaskets and then install a good old CC268HE or 270 Magnum or XE274 or a Crane 272/272 Energizer or 274H06 or an old Isky 270 Mega cam and go.

You have a hell of a bunch of GREAT hy-cams to choose from is what I'm trying to point out.

pdq67

Dave69Z, what did it dyno at with the Voodoo? Or what ET changes were there? What kind of vacuum does it pull with that cam? Just curious if it would be worth it for me.

Thanks for all the info guys! I ended up finding a 3/4 assembled 383 stroker that has never been run, I need to buy a crank and a cam for it and have it all reassebled with my carb/intake/heads. Four bolt main, Speed Pro stroker pistons, Eagle rods, bored 30 over, got it all for $500. This worked out perfect because I can drive the car right up until the point when we pull the motor and swap in the other one.

Ive been running one for about 6 years now. When i had it with a stock long block heddman headers, holley 650dp, edelbrock performer rpm intake and msd ignition it dynoed 289rwhp. I have at least 10k miles on mine with no problems. Its a vortec headed motor so i swapped in a lunati voodoo 268 cam and crane valve springs with no head mods and that woke it up nicely. I have about 150 quarter mile passes on it and it still runs great.

Whats your car look like, i'm up at NED all the time

I bought the 350/330 about 2 years ago. I put a Holley 650 DP, Edelbrock RPM Airgap, and Hedman 1 5/8 headers on it. I was amazed at how strong the motor ran compared to my 1970's 350. I don't take the car out that often, usually just for a quick spin around the neighborhood. But when I do run it, I don't baby it. I figure if it breaks I can get an LS motor:D. It has ran flawlessly for about 3000 miles now with a trip to the dragstrip and countless redline runs. I have estimated off of the Carcraft article, I am running about 375 horse and 415 ft lbs of torque. I would love to have more but for 3 grand I think the only thing I would have maybe gone with instead was YearOne's vortec 350 that puts out 400 horse for less money. Other than that I don't think it can be beat for the money.Correction, nothing and I mean nothing beats my 440 hp vortec headed hyd roller 355 for the money, 11.4s @115 in my full street trim 71 camaro, to bad the people couldnt see the value, we dont sell them any more, good thing for year one with there reman special.

I never dynoed it after the cam swap. Mianly due to a lack of funds from a blown transmission. I didnt race ti last year but willbe this year. Its a fathom green 69z28 with ivory pearl stripes and a black interior. Typical it has old cragar ss rim with the drag tires but on t he street it has a nice set of rallyes. The cam change helped but only made a couple 10ths difference. But the power increased thru the entire range.

I never dynoed it after the cam swap. Mianly due to a lack of funds from a blown transmission. I didnt race ti last year but willbe this year. Its a fathom green 69z28 with ivory pearl stripes and a black interior. Typical it has old cragar ss rim with the drag tires but on t he street it has a nice set of rallyes. The cam change helped but only made a couple 10ths difference. But the power increased thru the entire range.

What kind of vacuum does it pull? I have power brakes, so I don't want to lose the vacuum.

I never dynoed it after the cam swap. Mianly due to a lack of funds from a blown transmission. I didnt race ti last year but willbe this year. Its a fathom green 69z28 with ivory pearl stripes and a black interior. Typical it has old cragar ss rim with the drag tires but on t he street it has a nice set of rallyes. The cam change helped but only made a couple 10ths difference. But the power increased thru the entire range.


I'll be looking for it for sure this year, sounds like a hard car to miss.:yes:

It has plenty of vacum for my stock z28 power breaks idles at about 700ish wtihout a problem. I think it had around 14" of vacum if memory serves me correctly. I can measure some night if you really want to know.
o4prox2 when do you usually race? i go 5 or 6 times a year usually on fridays. then theres Camaro day in June. Stop by and say hi if you see the car at the track.

I have the 350/290 hp version. I thought I ate a lobe at first with it but it was a cracked spark plug. I have about 4000 miles on it by now and its running strong. Got it from SD as well, no problems here. If you get yours from scoggy dickens, be SURE to check the crank for a pilot bushing. They told me none of there crate engines come with a pilot bushing, but this one did and I installed the engine without checking and it set me back a few hours.

Good luck with whatever choice you make :)

It has plenty of vacum for my stock z28 power breaks idles at about 700ish wtihout a problem. I think it had around 14" of vacum if memory serves me correctly. I can measure some night if you really want to know.
o4prox2 when do you usually race? i go 5 or 6 times a year usually on fridays. then theres Camaro day in June. Stop by and say hi if you see the car at the track.

I just go to watch, usually on Friday night streetnights, my car isn't ready for the track yet. I need to get that 383 built than figure out which rear carrier I have and buy gears, the 4.10's aren't rt101 friendly.

I bought my 350/330 ho vortech in July 2000 wholesale for $2150 with the flywheel. I already had all of the boltons.
Nine years later it has 4k on the dash and runs great. It is not a race car but it absolutely gets out of it's own way and rolls on the highway w/ a 200R & the 355 posi. 373's would be awsome for the launch but it is the difference between crusing with the pack @ 2500 instead of 3000 rpms. A comp 270 cam did wake it up. The motor was/is a great choice.
If I had to do it again I would wish for a 383 but I would be wishing for a long time at $2150. I don't think GM even had the 383 in 2000.
Sorry for the wind. Thanks for listening. Brian