[dukin-it-out]

I have been thinking about taking on a street rod project with a friend of mine... both of us know a bit about engines and the rest, but haven't ever fully built an engine, or swapped one. As far as I've gone, is replacing heads on 2 of my cars (83 Toyota supra) (88 S-10 with 4 Cly) and i also have done a clutch, and everything involving it... I want to build skills on engines and really get elbow deep in this stuff. I have a good place to work on it, and am willing to learn a lot, and buy a bunch of little things here and there.

Heres the plan... as far as the engine..


Small Block Chevy...Kit Costs... 1729.95

www.Summitracing.com

sells a kit involving....

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...TFS%2D30400001
.....................
Trick Flow 23* cylinder heads
.......................
a cam...
Hydraulic Roller SB Chevy 246/254 Duration 558/558 Lift,112* lobe separation
.............
Roller Rockers, timing chain and gears, all the bolts needed, all gaskets
...................
What i would need would be a complete bottom end, intake manifold, and carb...

I found a victor Jr.. and a Q-jet 750cfm


Im thinking about getting a complete 350 from a junkyard and stripping it myself and getting new pistons, rods, and a crank, for if i want to add any additional power.

Like i said im not completely savvy on engines, but i ran this combo on desktop dyno and it said about 460hp and 450tq... (about)

The combo looks good to me.... I've got a girlfriend with a student loan check, a friend with a good paying job, and me with some money. Aside from who's going to buy what, and what if we end up hating each other... Just letting you know that money is here, but limited....

Would i just be better off getting a 454 from a junkyard and rebuilding that?

Also... what about a car to drop it in? I am smog exempt, so i could go with my S-10, but that would be a lot more money going for a new tranny and a diff (borg warner t-5 and 7.5" 10 bolt)

I have always liked the 60s-72 chevelles and the 68-72 novas.... as far as price goes, im thinking about a nova.

Fun to think about, would be a really good car to learn on as far as im thinking.


Let me know your thoughts and ideas! i know there are so many in these message boards, and im interested to find what you guys think.

thank you in advance!


-Brian



P.S. What would that cam be like? im not too familiar with the numbers.... lumpy idle? how about power range? 2000-5000?

[Zartan]

how about that!
i am starting the same project myself. i've never done more than change spark plugs and i just bought a 350, 4-bolt main from a salvage yd, for $200.
i also bought "Chilton's guide to SB chevy", and "How to rebuild your SB chevy",
and ordered a video from a master rebuilder. i can twait to tear it donw and get to learning, put it back together, and then drop it in some 1 st gen camaro.

sounds like we are headed down the slightly same path. Good Luck!

frank

[1BAD80]

Maybe you want to do the work, but I would recommend getting a crate motor from GM with warrenty.
It would be cheaper then the route your taking.
My .002 $ worth.

[troy-curt]

Plus you get a good warranty on a crate motor.

[Zartan]

sorry for the confusion.

thx for the info

[1BAD80]

Who are you asking this question to, just don't want to have any confusion to the main question in the posting.

[dukin-it-out]

i know that just getting a crate engine would be cheaper, and probobly a little more reliable then my first engine build, but i want to GET MY LEARN ON! I want to learn about all this so i can do my own repairs mainly, and also just feel more confident when i do work on any engine in the future... I was just thinking that any big auto buff does a rebuild sometime or another, i just want to learn......


If i buy a car with a small block in it, then i could just use that engine, and keep the block matching (if it is already)...... plus the whole piece of mind that you get when you do stuff like that yourself.

[firestone]

The motor sounds pretty good, I am not sure what size this motor is going to be, but that cam sounds like around a 3000-7000 powerband in a 350. Trick flow heads are a pretty good head, but have you looked into AFR's? I have seen some really impressive motors with AFR heads, and they are about the same price as the trick flows. You should check out their website www.airflowresearch.com . I have a 1972 ventura (same as a nova) that I like alot. They are pretty light (~3300 lbs) and they get good weight transfer. Also, there are many aftermarket parts for them that are reasonably priced. Also check out www.revolutionaryperformance.com They have several short blocks, and long blocks for fair prices, and I have heard good things about their customer service. I can understand wanting to do it yourself though. Good luck on your motor.

Adam

[dukin-it-out]

thank you everyone for your posts...... I thought of buying a car with a 350 - 400 (probobly 350, due to costs) and just building that engine, and so i would have all the parts, and know that it runs before i get it... that way i would have all the accessories and small parts. I would reuse a minimum of parts, and also that way i would have a driveline that i know would stand up to a 350.


Thanks for the help firestone, and everyone else.


-Brian

[Kevin45]

I've got a girlfriend with a student loan check, a friend with a good paying job, and me with some money.

Some friendly words of advice...Don't do it. A little while down the road you'll all end up in court and it'll be he said, she said, blah, blah, blah. The the ride will have to be sold to satisfy judgments and you'll be right where you are no minus one girlfriend and one buddy. Better off to save up for awhile longer and go at it alone, and count on everyone else to turn a wrench. Just my .$02 worth.

Kevin

[38 deluxe]

never never never never go partners in a car.

[dukin-it-out]

lol those are good words of advice, i guess like everyone, i am not planning on that happening... but like everyone else, many things that i didnt plan on, did happen. LOL

I should have enough cash to buy a decent 67 chevelle, and work on this project.... i have my S-10 right now, so i will have a vehicle when the car is in pieces...... i think a lot of people forget about who is going to pick up those 'forgotten' parts, or get an alternator or battery tested.



thanks for your advice kevin

[killerformula]

I've been where you've been and done what you've done. I took a 360 mopar and put allllll the goodies on it, roller cam, nice heads msd, headers rods, you name it. The price-tag at the end was something I spent two years paying off... and I had to sell the motor to do it... for a lot less than I put into it.

Yeah, it was dumb, but I would say a good percentage of hot-rodders can relate to this story. THey get themselves into a project that eats up lots of time and money, and then end up so far into it they want nothing more than to just get a good night's sleep for once and get out from under the thing.

With your project, you're getting into something that is going to have a lot of high dollar parts in it. 90% of the stuff you need to know to build a motor can be read in a book. THe other 10% is what will kill your motor. YOu just have to have some experience to make stuff work perfectly... just like anything. Stuff like getting the rear main in correctly and checking tolerances, knowing how running rich or lean can destroy a motor and how etc.

One thing that I've learned is that any idiot can throw enough money at something, call up summit order up the most expensive parts, and make something go fast. It's not hard. The real knowledge, I think, comes from finding the deals, knowing what you need and what you don't and making a motor go fast without spending half your life savings on it. For example, aluminum trick flow heads are about $1000 dollars a pair. $1000 dollars?!? That's more than most 20 year olds make in a month!

uhhh, This is my 5th and last year in college, and student loans are real money. I would never think of spending it on anything other than the costs of living here at school. Don't spend your girlfriend's student check on your motor... that's nuts.

If you want experience, go to a junkyard and get an old 350, buy a summit rebuild kit and do it up. If you screw it up, you learned from it, and you didn't have that much into it anyway.

Food for thought-

K

[dukin-it-out]

ummmmm junkyard block, and cheepo rebuild kit... I like your idea. The idea of throwing more then 5k into a basic project never appealed to me, maybe that would be a good idea. I know a guy who would sell me some world products heads that are already port and polished. I kinda forgot about him though... if i put that on a stock engine, along with some headers, and later on a bigger cam and carb, that would work just about as well as the summit kit, for a lot less, i think he would sell them to me for about 250 for the set, because i know him really well, and he is a good friend of mine.... that would be a great deal, and make the whole project a whole lot cheeper.....

Now that i think of it, he has a 283 that he would just give me, with everything but the accessories and carb (chevy not ford, i get 289 and 283 mixed up lol)

Its from a 50s corvette, and it had rod knock..maybe get new rods, keep the 283 crank, and bore it out. Im not sure if thats doable, but it would be under 1500 for a running rebuilt engine that i did myself, with nice heads and a lot of new parts