[Fnix]

What do you think it would take to get a 350 to 400 HP and the costs? Would it be better to find a 350 off Craigslist?

This would be a budget build that I promised my youngest brother I would help him build a 400hp S10 for his 16th

[S10 Racer]

About 3-5k for a reliable one with "decent parts" and all machine work, the price goes up with the brand of parts you use of course. I would be a little worried of putting a 16 yo behind 400hp in an S10 though.

[DENCOUCH]

Look around and try to get the attention of F'bird-88.

I used one of his recipes, and I am not disappointed in the least. Easy to find parts, very little machine work and is sounds deadly when at idle. No absence of bottom end torque either.

All my pals think I did a pretty good job on the motor, plenty of heads sticking under the hood when my truck is parked.

The guy knows of which he speaks.

Honestly!

[chevy350_Camd]

Honestly just get a edelbrock Rpm Kit, that puts a old sbc at 410 or very close, and its only 1800. which is still alot but way worth it. Through in a crank and have a383 you are looking at 420 460 horses

[Cutless442]

Originally Posted by S10 Racer

About 3-5k for a reliable one with "decent parts" and all machine work, the price goes up with the brand of parts you use of course. I would be a little worried of putting a 16 yo behind 400hp in an S10 though.

dude, I agree with you 100%. A 16 year old is way too inexperanced for that kind of power. He is going to wrap himself!

[383mudlust]

Not to be a smart arse but do you really think a 400 horse s-10 is something a 16 year old is ready for? At 16 I thought I was Richard Petty in an Escort. Neadless to say that car ended up wrapped around a telephone pole. mudlust.

[ChevelleSS_LS6]

I ran over a stop sign in a saturn making 125hp at the crank when I was in HS. Some other kid wrapped his parents conversion van around a phone pole and the kid got to visit the morgue.

Go with a stock ~280hp crate 350 at first, it'll be fast in a light little s10, so he'll learn to respect it, hopefully without any bodily or sheetmetal damage.

engine I'm talking about

[Sickpuppy22]

A 400 horse s-10 is not something to give to a 16 year old when hes not used to driving trust me I've got one and it still gives me the shakes on the 1/4 mile lol plus with so little weight in the rear it does get loose when you snuff er, so id say like above start off small and let him build experience taming it, or you can be happy with possible street racing tickets 7 sets of tires in 4 months or worse a total loss.

[barnym17]

Buy a stock 350 and put it in I did this for my boy plenty of oomph for him but not so fast it will get out of hand.A 305 would be a good choice to.

[Cutless442]

Originally Posted by 383mudlust

Not to be a smart arse but do you really think a 400 horse s-10 is something a 16 year old is ready for? At 16 I thought I was Richard Petty in an Escort. Neadless to say that car ended up wrapped around a telephone pole. mudlust.

I had a 78' Camaro at 20 that I put a 300hp 350 in. I did a corner stretch,and lost control of the car. Thank god the only thing I did was smashing the front rim into a curb. But, the nose was 3" from a tree after I stopped. Enough to scare the SH.. out of me and make me slow down.

[Cutless442]

Originally Posted by Sickpuppy22

A 400 horse s-10 is not something to give to a 16 year old when hes not used to driving trust me I've got one and it still gives me the shakes on the 1/4 mile lol plus with so little weight in the rear it does get loose when you snuff er, so id say like above start off small and let him build experience taming it, or you can be happy with possible street racing tickets 7 sets of tires in 4 months or worse a total loss.

I test drove a used 2000 Buick Regal for my girlfriends son with 150 thousand miles on it. v6 with turbo. it makes I think 300 hp. And it's front wheel drive. Scared the crap out of me.

[Fnix]

My brother learned to drive in my Old truck with 380 horses. He is ready for his own vehicle now and is a very defensive driver.

He has been driving an Neon SRT.

[ap72]

Its a stupid move to put a kid behind a 400 hp light truck. My first car was a '72 Cutlass puttin gout a littl emore than 400, but it's heavier and had a 2.73 Rear gear so it didn't have a crazy amount of tire spin.

I can tell you how to build one for 2G's in parts and about 700 in machine work- it really quite easy- but If you care enough about him to protect him from his right foot you'll just drop a 305HO with a cam swap in it. the cam will give him a "racy idle" and will kill som eof the low end torque which kicks the tires out.

I had a s10 with a 2.5L and 30" tires and that thing still scared the crap out of me. granted it was a circle track 2.5L that was running a hair over 11:1 and over .550 lift but it was still only a 2.5L.

If you still insist on building one put it in a 4wd s10 with an auto and a tight stall- just to minimize traction issues.

For the recipie:

flat top hyper pistons- $160
Vortec heads modified for high lift- $600
RPM Vortec Intake- $250
750cfm carb- $250
TS Gapless Rings- $175
LT1 rods- $100
rebuilt HEI- $125
Speed Pro cam kit with 468/480 lift- $125
and he'll probably want a noisy gear drive for the cam- $100
felpro gaskets, and Clevite bearings- $200
misc. (wires, oil pump, warter pump etc)- $200

Total- $2285 in parts, though you can buy most of this used on on ebay for half the price

Machine work-
deck, line hone, fit pistons, polish crank, balance ***., .030" bore+hone- $650

So a little under 3G's

A 305 with a cam kit would be more than adequate though.

Also you'll need the headers, mounts, wires, and linkages to do the swap- $500 for that.

[Fnix]

Originally Posted by ap72

Its a stupid move to put a kid behind a 400 hp light truck. My first car was a '72 Cutlass puttin gout a littl emore than 400, but it's heavier and had a 2.73 Rear gear so it didn't have a crazy amount of tire spin.

I can tell you how to build one for 2G's in parts and about 700 in machine work- it really quite easy- but If you care enough about him to protect him from his right foot you'll just drop a 305HO with a cam swap in it. the cam will give him a "racy idle" and will kill som eof the low end torque which kicks the tires out.

I had a s10 with a 2.5L and 30" tires and that thing still scared the crap out of me. granted it was a circle track 2.5L that was running a hair over 11:1 and over .550 lift but it was still only a 2.5L.

If you still insist on building one put it in a 4wd s10 with an auto and a tight stall- just to minimize traction issues.

For the recipie:

flat top hyper pistons- $160
Vortec heads modified for high lift- $600
RPM Vortec Intake- $250
750cfm carb- $250
TS Gapless Rings- $175
LT1 rods- $100
rebuilt HEI- $125
Speed Pro cam kit with 468/480 lift- $125
and he'll probably want a noisy gear drive for the cam- $100
felpro gaskets, and Clevite bearings- $200
misc. (wires, oil pump, warter pump etc)- $200

Total- $2285 in parts, though you can buy most of this used on on ebay for half the price

Machine work-
deck, line hone, fit pistons, polish crank, balance ***., .030" bore+hone- $650

So a little under 3G's

A 305 with a cam kit would be more than adequate though.

Also you'll need the headers, mounts, wires, and linkages to do the swap- $500 for that.

Thank you for the concern and safety of him. This is the kind of info I was looking for.

[barnym17]

Another good option if you think he can handle it would be home ported 305 heads(h.o version), dished piston stock short block, rpm intake, comp280 h or 292h cam.It will have a real racey idle and be pretty strong for cheapcould probably do it for under a grand with a good used shortblock.