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I have a good amount of automotive experience. Everything from changing tires to (helping) rebuild engines. I do not have any experience as far as hot rodding engines.
Ok.
I have a 1980 Chevy K10 with a 350. I want to start building a replacement engine. I would like it to be BULLET PROOF. This will be a long term build (3-6 months.) I don’t want to modify the engine bay or suspension because I have put about 1500 into it. stroking out the 350 would be fine as long as it will be reliable.
What I really want is a strong motor that is carb-ed and has a (relatively) mechanical ignition. By “bullet proof” I mean I am looking for the best: pistons, rings, head gaskets,cam, bearings,heads/valves,crank. If anyone knows good engine combos that would be good.
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The “best” bang for your buck depends on a lot of variables here that I would need a lot more info on. For instance, automatic or stick? Do realize that upping the horsepower will require either rebuilding the factory trans (if auto I’m guessing TH350) with a shift kit, upgraded torque convertor, shift kit, etc. or if a stick a heavier duty clutch. More power is more stress on the rest of the truck. Can’t build the motor without the rest being upgraded.
What have you done with this truck so far? Is it lifted with large tires? What gear ratios in the diffs? Are you ok with having to use premium gasoline or do you need to only run 87 octane? What kind of RPM range are you looking to perform in? Do you want a rockcrawler, where low-end off-idle torque is key or a mudbogger that can be rev-happy to keep the tires turning? Or do you just want to improve low-end power on a stock daily driver that doesn’t get thrashed off road?
You certainly have the right engine to build on a budget. They only made a few million 350 engines. Parts are cheap. Every machine shop has the tooling and knowledge to prep your parts right. Every aftermarket performance supplier makes parts for your every need on this, from mild to wild.
Being pre-centerbolt heads opens plenty of doors for you, with wanting to run a carb instead of EFI. Ton’s of parts out there.
You tell me what you want this to do and I can better judge a combo. Also worth checking with the guys at Summit Racing. Lots of good people there that know their parts and can set up a great combo based on your needs. I’ve ordered from them for years and can only say good things about them.
Stroking a a great way to add torque, which would really improve the driveability of something as heavy as a K5. Realize machining to clearance the block for the longer stroke will be needed. Its not too expensive, and worth it to get what you want. For street builds that need to be smooth, I’ve had good results with the Edelbrock performer cam and intake. Summit has some nice roller rockers in their own brand, and a factory head freshened by a machine shop with good guides and seals along with a very mild port and polish are fine for smaller HP builds. The factory 1.94/1.5 valves paired to a well-designed set of headers will deliver great flow for all but the strip builds.
It has a Muncie 4 speed manual trans that I rebuilt about 30,000 miles ago. I use synthetic gear oil in the trans and transfer case. Both diff’s are Dana (not sure what the gear ratio is …maybe 5 or 6). I change the gear oil in them every 2 or 3 years. From the info I have found, the trans should easily handle 550 ft lbs of torque, so I should be fine using the stock trans.
I use Yukon chrome moly over-sized u-joints on the front and back axles. And have replaced all bushings and engine/trans mounts with “Prothane” polyurethane. It isn’t really relevant but, I have a rear disc brake kit on it that I got from Summit too.
The truck is not lifted and has 33 12.50 15 tires.
All I use is premium gas because i noticed difficult starts and a slight knocking with 89.
It is a “frequent driver.” I would like to focus on low end torque and beefy parts for reliability. I do not push it too hard normally but there are times when I pull trailers or have to deal with towing through mud.
I have purchased a 350 block that I had magna-fluxed. I could get it bored out .060 over but I think I will go with .040 to make it a bit more durable and get a bit more displacement. I do want to stroke it out a bit though. Can I put a 383 crank in it? and if you have any recommendations of a maker that would be great. I have heard good things about “Eagle”Eagle makes some very good rotating assemblies. I’d check out Summit Racing. I’ve gotten good prices and the sales guys know their stuff to get the right kit put together for you. Their number is 800 230-3030. Northern Auto Parts is a good source too, and will do in-house balancing of your rotating assembly for you prior to shipping it for a reasonable price. I wouldn’t punch it out .060 over. Makes the walls too thin and you’ll never be able to rebuild it again if you needed to without sleeving it, which would be cheaper to just get a different block.
By going for the low end torque instead of crazy RPM your build can be done cheaper. You don’t need a forged rotating assembly, just cast. Go with about a 9.0 compression ratio, an Edelbrock Performer intake and camshaft kit, Summit Racing brand 1.6 ratio roller rockers, Clevite bearings and a high volume oil pump so you can use an auxiliary oil cooler. If you don’t already have one on this truck stock, the late 80’s and 90’s trucks and SUVs did. They have a sandwich adapter that screws on where the oil filter is and has the ports for the cooler lines. The Oil filter then spins on below the adapter. Any junkyard should have that for cheap, especially a pick-your-part. Take your measurements and thread sizes of the hoses you will need to any place that does hydraulic or heavy truck repair and they can make the hoses for you. Or just get a radiator for a Suburban or pickup that had one factory and buy the factory hoses. They go into a heat exchanger on the left tank of the radiator.
Before you call Summit or check around on kits, it would be a good idea to jot down the casting numbers of your heads. They likely are a 72cc chamber for that year.
You sound like you’ve done some good homework on this and are willing to spend the money properly to get this build done right. I like that. Remember to use a good break in oil like what is offered by several manufacturers such as Comp Cams. It contains extra ZDDP which has been heavily reduced in today’s oil formulations. Flat-tappet engines such as yours need it to ensure the cam lobes don’t get wrecked among other things. Its very important during initial break in of a new cam. After the break-in oil has been changed, use a quality conventional oil along with a vial of ZDDP additive at each oil change. Lot of vendors sell it, Like Eastwood. Not a bad price, well worth it. If you plan to switch to synthetic oil, do not do so prior to putting about 10,000 miles on the engine. The rings may not fully seat properly if you switch to full-synthetic too early. You will get increased blowby and reduced fuel mileage.
You will need some machining done to your block to use the stroker crank, which most any machine shop should be competent to do as its a popular mod. You use a 5.7″ rod as stock.
If you plan to build this yourself, I do have a book specifically about building small block Chevy engines from HP Books. I’ve had it for years, it gives a lot of specs. You can tell it was written around the same time your engine was. I have no need of it so if you want to PM me your name and address I will drop it in the mail to you and you can have it. Let me know how this comes out. I have a good feeling on this being a nice truck with your attention to detail.
I will check the casting numbers on those heads.
Since I wanted to keep the trans and (preferably) not have to modify the engine mounts, what year blocks should I be looking for. And are there any years that mey be a little better than others as far as metal composition?
Thanks for suggesting the “ZDDP” additive. I looked it up.
I’ve seen oil cooler kits, similar to what you are talking about, in Jegs.
Thanks a bunch I’ll keep you guys updated when I start. It will probably be a couple weeks until I get the block. I also need to figure out where I can keep it while I put it together.
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