Budget SBC upgrade

[64Chevelle]

Hi,

I'm considering a budget SBC upgrade from the dull bone stock goodwrench 350 currently in the car.

- 64 Buick Skylark cab, weighing 1610kg/3550lbs.
- Summit brand LT headers with 2 1/2" exhaust with flowmasters
- Edelbrock performer intake and 650 cfm Edelbrock carb
- TH400 with stock stall speed converter 1500-2000 range?
- Stock 8.2" non-posi 10 bolt rear, probably 2.73:1 gears



The engine is rated at ~200hp, can I bring it up to ~350hp with a heads/cam package? What else should be done? It's mostly a cruiser/beater so fuel economy is somewhat important as well. I'd rather have 300hp with great low end torque than 350hp but inefficient and worse low end torque.

I've been looking at the GM vortec heads, but there seems to be a lot of additional costs involved so the trick flow heads might be a better choice:

Vortec vs Trick flow
Chevy High Performance goodwrench upgrade article

[64Chevelle]

Also, can I score some parts from a junkyard to make it a better deal? That must be Vortec parts of course, I can't imagine finding non-stock SBC heads in a junkyard over here.

A complete top-end package might be my best bet, due to shipping costs etc.

[hifi875]

vortec heads w/small combustion chambers for a compression bump and a comp cam xtreme 274. get a gear and pos unit

[64Chevelle]

What about the additional parts needed to make the vortec's work in performance oriented setup compared to the "ready to go" trick flow heads? This is mentioned in the "TFS vs Vortec" heads i referred to earlier.

Do I need the same intake for the Trick Flows as the Vortec's? TFS use d-port and angled plugs so the headers i've got already might not work.

Gears and posi is a must to enjoy a better engine. What gears though? I'd like to retain as much fuel economy as possible and highway-cruising at high rpm is quite annoying as well...

[64Chevelle]

Well, I've just picked up a used marine 350 vortec longblock with intake (carbed), plastic/composite timing chain cover and a brand new oil pump and timing chain (+/-4 degree cam timing adjustment) for cheap. The plan is to swap the accessories, oil pan, valve covers etc. from the old motor to the new. I have no plans for a rear-end swap so that's gonna stay. I'm currently debating whether to do an upgrade to the motor when it's out or just stay with the marine intake (extra low end torque, slightly longer runners than car intake) and marine cam. I've seen info on the net indicating that the marine cam is somewhere in between the truck and car cam.

If I do an upgrade my plan was:
- Edelbrock performer rpm airgap intake
- LS6 beehive springs for added lift
- Either new somewhat more aggressive high-lift cam or upgrade to 1.6 ratio RR.

Any recco's on cam vs. 1.6RR or both is highly appreciated since I've never built an engine before. I've read a lot of theory lately though so fire ahead with cam specs etc. Isn't the 274 cam mentioned by hifi875 a little too aggressive for my needs? I'm probably gonna spend 95% of the time below 3000 rpm anyway.

[ArtosDracon]

On the heads, if you go vortec, you should also get LS2\6 yellow beehive springs and comp 787 retainers, that should allow you to run .530-.550 of lift depending on the heads with your stock valve locks. You will need to get a vortec specific intake, but Edelbrock does make a performer rpm air gap for vortec heads. Cam will depend a lot on where you want the power. It will take a very different cam to get 350hp and 400ftlbs than it will to get 400hp and 350ft\lbs(just a set of numbers, I make no promises.)

The only real drawback to the vortec heads is that they are iron heads, which are heavy. If you're upgrading you may want to think about dropping some extra coin and going aluminum, it will save a big hunk of weight that is positioned fairly high in your vehicle.

[DoABarrelRoll]

Head over to Jones Racing Cams.

[Lowend]

...and what's the budget?

[64Chevelle]

Hello all, I had written a reply before, but somehow it got lost. Anyway, the bugdet is as little as possible. Only upgrades that really makes a difference is considered or if it a lot of work to be saved by doing it now as the engine is out of the car and is basically a long block without valve covers and oil pan.

I thought maybe changing the RR ratio would net me a nice gain throughout the rpm range without sacrificing mpg much. But higher ratio RR's would probably mean I'd have to change valvesprings as well. I'm a little more worried about changing cam since that could change the profile of the engine too much. What about moving to 1.65 or even 1.7 RR's and keeping the stock cam? I have read about people making it work but it could probably be a lot more stress to the valvetrain.

[ArtosDracon]

What ratio rockers you can manage will depend entirely on the cam and heads you have now. Very few, if any, as cast factory SBC heads can take anything over .500 lift, especially with stock springs and retainers, so higher ratio rockers may not do you any good.