[70LeMANS]

Hello all. Im about to start upgrading the engine and need some help. I want to up the "umff" out of my 2bbl 350 but dont know what would work well together.I want to keep the original 350. Every thing is stock except for dual exhaust and flowmasters 40's. What kind of carb, headers, intake, and cam should I look for? Keep in mind this is a daily driver, that MIGHT see some runs at the strip. The guy i bought the car off of ( 2 months ago acually) said he changed the heads to run pump gas (87 i think not quite sure) Is there a way to check which heads it has? He also said he made the engine into a 396 when he had it overhauled so i dont know if this is true, and can't get ahold of him to ask him question about the rebuild. Any help?

[70LeMANS]

No, it's the 4 tube headers. I don't have power brakes . So is summit out of the question? Im having a very difficult time deciding what cam to get. I want the most out of the engine (low 14's) without losing drivability. I'll do some research on the wolverine cam.

[70LeMANS]

15's is not bad at all. I drive this car EVERY day and this is my first muscle car so im kinda anxious to get her up to par with the other muscle cars in the car club. Im guessing im would probably run 17's also with my current setup. After seeing the numbers for my friends car, i dont even wanna go to the strip yet. I still got reseal the tranny. Some bumb nut "fixed" the leak it had, but found out he did a horrible job when it was time for an oil change. He used orange silicon to stop the leak...and what a MESSY and HORRIBLE job he did! Hopefully i can drop into the mid 14's when im done with the engine. That's all im hoping for *crosses fingers*

EDIT: Thanks for the pic greg!

[70LeMANS]

Keep the 350 and show those 400/455 your tail lights at the track Now, I got another question (im full of'em!). How would i know if i ahve the th-350 or the 400? I was reading along some of the old post about 350, and a user said the that 70's cars that came with an a/c had 400's is this true?

[PunchT37]

Run a Crower 60240 cam [210/221@050] and keep the stock springs. Run a pre `73 iron intake or edel. performer with a Q-Jet or 650 Holley.4 tube headers 2.25-2.5 inch pipes,quick timing
curve etc. should put you at low 15`s to high
14`s. By the way, with decent gears[3.23-3.73]
and maybe a little stall[2200-2800].

[PMDRACER]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> and I'm sure it did'nt happen pulling in the driveway. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You're right. Didn't happen at the strip either. Even worse than the strip - cruising at 75 MPH on the freeway doing 3000 RPM on the way home from the strip. Couldn't shut it off. Had to drive what seemed like 5 miles before I could pull over.
Ended up pulling the valve covers, removing what was left of the studs, nuts, rocker arms and pivot balls, along with the pushrod from both of the offending spots, (an exhaust on the passenger side, an intake on the driver's side), putting the covers back on, and limping the other 25 miles home.

[screamingchief]

By the way that motor(the stuff I got rid of to move) is in black-cat's convertable now that is in the lobby in a thread called aaargh! check it out and see how nice that one worked out!

[bmpmdf]

A well tuned and balanced combo is always a good thing. I like a just as easy 375-400 hp combo as the 300 hp combo myself. Once you get into changing to screw in studs and valvesprings, (which any aftermarket cam with more than .440" lift needs) it might as well be to make the hp to show for it. You can still use the Crane "drop in" springs even with the cam along the lines of the high 220's of duration at .050" lift. Oh. don't even go by the advertised duration numbers as they are not comparible from one company to another. Go by the duration at .050" lift numbers and the lift at the valve rating. When possible, duration at .200" lift is nice to know, but not many companies will let you know those. The cams I would use out of what was mentioned is A) The Melling 068 replacement (part # SPC-7, won't have to change valvesprings with it), B) the summit 2802, (but you need new valesprings to handle it) or the Crower one listed earlier. If you pull the heads to change valvesprings, enlarge the intake pushrod holes toward the rocker arm stud so you can later add 1.65 rocker arms without binding up the pushrods.

[70LeMANS]

No apologies. Putting my own screw in studs IS out of the ball park to honest, but I'm willing to learn (working on a friends car of course! ) that's why I asked how much it would cost me.

It's an auto, but i wasn't going to buy an MSD right off the bat. =)The igniation was converted to HEI from the previous owner (sorry i didn't say this before). Duals were done also done by previous owner that didn't include Xpipe and are dumped before the dfferencial.

20 hp is well worth some time

[b-man]

Here's a mild 350 combo I put together for a '69 Firebird that my brother owns, a heavily optioned car (A/C, power discs/steering/windows/drivers seat, deluxe interior) that weighs over 3700#.

350 bored +.030
1969 400/428 #46 heads, cheap valve job/used stock springs, press-in bottle-neck studs
Crane blueprint 068 cam (212/[email protected],.407"lift) advanced 4 degrees running stock 1.5 rockers
Cloyes Tru-Roller timing chain set
Stock 1969 iron intake, exhaust crossover still functional
1972 400 750 Q-jet
91 octane premium unleaded (9:1 compression)
Stock points distributor
Stock log exhaust manifolds, cheap 2-1/4" dual exhaust
TH400 trans with shift kit
TCI Saturday Night Special converter, approx 2500 stall
1980 T/A 10-bolt 8.5 rear, 3.42 posi
235/60-15 street radials, no traction devices

This car ran a 15.21 ET at a 2800 ft. altitude track, launching easy so as not to spin the tires. Using the standard correction factor for this track the ET at sea-level would be in the 14.80s.

All stock or stock-replacement type parts were used for this engine build. The 068 cam was chosen with .407" lift because of the press-in studs. I didn't want to overstress the valve train and I wanted the simplicity of using the stock 20# valve adjustment procedure (actually no adjustment, stock non-adjustable valvetrain).

A no-frills 350 built on the CHEAP and a decent runner.

[GreysonWinfieldEsq]

Decisions decisions! This is a great thread that has made it all that more difficult for me to make a decision on which engine I want. The 350 that came with the car or a transplant 400/455. Well time to flip a coin or discuss it with my 6 year old daughter. Great info guys Thanks!

[screamingchief]

Yeah that's the problem! LOL...

[WCWhitey]

Guys I think you are sending him way in the wrong direction with the Wolverine cam and or the 2802 in a 350. With that much duration (224/234, .465/.488 lift) that motor would be an absolute dog. Stay small with the cam and save the money on springs, screw in studs and adjustable valvetrain for your next motor or stroker. If you like the Summit cams get the 2800 (204/214 .420/.442 lift), which is the same as the performer cam. That with the 600 holley, or look at the spreadbore 650 vacuum secondary holley with stock intake, a good set of headers and exhaust system will give you a great tire-smoking combo. It won't break the bank either. LOL Bill

[Formulafr]

i have a 350 too, and i have question about carb. I think of modifying my engine a little and i would prefer a spread bore (for smooth driving and gas mileage) but i don't known what can be the best manufacturer. Holley?
I think of choosing edelbrock performer, a 204-214° cam (edelbrock or summit, i don't know), new lifter.
I will like to make has little close the same thing as 70leMans.

[big_gto]

how is it that a 224/234 cam is too big on a 350 when the chebby guys run that big of a cam?

[bmpmdf]

Forgot; A 600 holley carb on a budget works well, their cheap 1850 series. Their cheap 3310 series 750 will work too. Alittle more money, the 670 Street Advenger is an awesome improvement. But no matter what carb you get, if it is brand new, it needs to be taken apart and the shavings cleaned out. Thats with Holley, Edelbrock and Bg's Demons.

[screamingchief]

People that is exactly what I was saying,the point is that your cam choice is dependent on the rest of the combination and the desired set of qualities that you require in terms of driveability,I do not limit myself to off the shelf cam choices,if I require something that is not generally available I'll have it made.Now the fact is he's on a budget and looking for the best cost/perfomance choice,which means he has to go with readily available grinds,and is getting some conflicting opinions,all I was saying is the same basic options open for performance on bigger engines exist for this engine,the use of windage tray for example will give some hp,as will a properly sized header and exhaust,heads can be lightly ported,intake port match,etc. and alot of this can be handled by the average DIYer and it will all add up to a strong combo.I am NOT advocating a full on race build,but disaggree that because it is a 350 that somehow the rules change completely,cam duration will still be related to things like compression ratio, intended rpm range, idle characteristics,and this will be slightly effected by it being a smaller engine but we all know that.A well balanced and educated approach is the best way to get where you are going,I was trying to point out that there are some solid ways to make power within reason.As far as pressed/screw in stud isssue that is just my prefernce,and feel it is a good idea even on a budget,dont feel that a bigger valve on these motors is a major issue,and would concentrate on getting proper compression ratio heads and doing mild port work to gain flow.Leave the exotic stuff alone and stick to more traditional stuff and he should have no problem getting it right,no hyd. rollers($$$),even roller rockers when a good long slot w/grooved rocker balls will do,even things like timing chain sets,use a good stock style w/iron gears instead of tru-roller,now if oppertunity should give you the option of an upgrade you obviously take it.The most important thing on a deal like this,and the thing I see most screw up is solid tuning,you HAVE to have it dialed in,no car will run great if improperly tuned.

[screamingchief]

Kind of depends on the shop,but a quick trip on the web showed butler quoting appx.60.00,spotts appx.100.00, and PPR(ace) appx. 95.00 these I am guessing don't include the studs. The most common option is to use ARP #290-7201 stud as it has 1/2 threads for head as when you pull the factory stud the hole is too large to tap at 7/16" like bbc.stud,some (spotts I belive) go the heli coil route and use std. bbc. stud,it is a individual choice which you prefer.Me personally I would probably tackle this myself as I am a diy type and feel confident that I could tackle this,would definately help to have access to a good drill press though for tap work,H-O used to make a fixture and I guess that approach would work too.

[70LeMANS]

I would run a smaller cam but i want most out of the 350 without having to sacrifice drivability. Like i said before, I don't want a beast of a 350, just one that can hold it's own and be daily driven.I have $1800 to work with, it's not alot by any means, but is enough to send me on the right track. I was very impressed by PMDRACER's combo and results from his setup his DAILY driver. All I need to decide is what cam! lol I will NOT run this motor, or any motor I might build later, on a power adder. I believe in all motor setup's personally. Decisions decisions...


EDIT: really sorry for my ignorance, but what's sis?

[70LeMANS]

yes, sorry, i know it was kind of a stupid question (I did some research after posting). I guess i should research first and then post.