Technical Small Block Chevy 350 Rebuild

The engine I got was definitely pulled from a truck,,,,it was removed by my brother from his personal company truck .
He purchased the truck brand new,,,,,it had around 85,000 miles on it when it was swapped out .
It is a 2 bolt main block,,,,,,and was fuel injected,,,,,it also had a windage tray in it .
The fuel pump area was not finish machined,,,,,,,I guess they were saving the added machine time .
Although,,,,I have read of some being finish machined,,,,,,mine was not .

It was NOT a Vortec engine,,,,,,and since he bought the truck brand new for his construction company,,,he knew all the service records .
When I got it,,,,,,I only used the block and crank,,and windage tray,,,,lol .
Everything else is brand new parts .
The block had zero wear,,,,,,bores were perfect,,,,,,and the crank was like new as well .

Anyway,,,I decided to upgrade to roller,,,,and all the parts fit beautifully .

Tommy

 

my first was a Vega engine. Only good thing about it me and my buddy pulled it out and put it back in without a hoist.
It was the ultimate backyard rehab project.
I started with a worn 4 cylinder that didn’t have much power and burnt oil like it was free. I ended up with a 4 cylinder that that didn’t have much power, but didn’t burn oil.
I had expectations….

 

I have to say that you are a stand up guy for offering to help this guy learn. Rebuilding an engine can be daunting if you don't know what you are doing. One simple mistake, like not cleaning it well enough, can ruin an engine in minutes. Kudos to you sir.

 

I found a fuel pump in the pile of parts. I believe it goes in this port of the engine but the hole in the engine is much bigger than that of the pump.


I believe there is another plate that goes between the two of them and then, some kind of internal workings in the block? Something like this for the plate not sure what goes in the engine though


Or I can get a block off plate like this


And run an electric fuel pump like this?



The smaller holes between the two bigger holes are not threaded. I am assuming this engine had a flat tappet cam rather than a roller because they are not threaded. I also assume they smaller holes could be threaded to hold the two roller lifters in place. I will stick with the flat lifters.


Thanks again for everyone who has responded. I have learned a lot in just the past couple of days. I have order the book by Dave Vizards. It even comes with a DVD.

 

There is a plate that goes between the fuel pump and the block. there is also a pushrod, which is a 1/2" diameter steel rod, that goes from the cam to the fuel pump lever. Some of those blocks had the hole drilled for the pushrod, most did not. If you can't see an open hole from the cavity towards the camshaft, then you can't use the pump unless you drill the hole. The 1987 blocks are more likely to have the hole drilled, than later blocks.

The lifter retainer spider is bolted to the three bosses in the center of the block, not the holes next to the lifters. Yours are drilled and tapped, so you can use a factory type roller cam without much effort. Might also check the front of the block, there could be two drilled and tapped holes either side of the camshaft hole for the cam thrust retainer that's used with the roller cam

 

Yes, there is a hole drilled in the block for the fuel pump. After reading everyone's replies, I can see where the bolt holes are for the spider that would hold the dog bones for roller gears. With my limited knowledge at this point, I think it would be easier to stick with the flat tappet cam. I'll have to look for holes on either side of the camshaft hole. It's been snowing like crazy here and still in the low 30 which is better than the -20 he have had. Haven't seen green since Thanksgiving. I have a nice dry barn to work in but it is not heated.

 

I see one of the pistons has 319-05-05-A marked on it. Anyone know what that means? I do have a set of snap gauges and a micrometer to measure the cylinders. I also read about how to measure the clinders buy using the rings and feeler gauges. I have seen some engine rebuild kits that include full gasket kit, dishtop pistons, rings, crank main bearing, connecting rod bearings, camshaft bearings, hydraulic camshaft, 3 pc timing set, oil pump freeze plugs, rear main seal and valve stem seals. pretty much what I would need. It does not include piston conecting rods. Not sure if I can reuse what I have or if I need to buy all 8. I am missing 2.

 

I have bought good, used engine pieces from local engine machine shop when freshening up engines in the past. He didn't keep junk, just stuff that could be re-used. Connecting rods, valves etc.

 

A first timer might also not stamp the rods and caps before disassembling an engine.

 

The good ol day’s of using a center punch. That #8 sure was fun getting all those dot’s to fit.

 

It would be a good idea to measure the bores to see if they're standard or oversize, and then you can figure out how to measure the wear at the top of the bore to get an idea of whether or not you want to rebore it. But you'd be amazed how long an engine will last with a fresh set of rings, with a lot of taper in the bore....you could go to every hit'n'miss engine event forever and not have an issue...

That piston might have been replaced, if it's the only one with that mark. I like to scrape the piston tops and see what I can see, sometimes there is a faint oversize number stamped in them (030 for example), often there is no mark because they're still standard bore size.

I wonder what the budget is for this project, if there is one? or can we spend all your money for you?

yeah, you need to stamp numbers on the rods and caps if it hasn't been done yet.

 

Truck Dr. Andy. Thank you for the offer of help. Waterloo is pretty far from Upstate NY. I do have a 1911 Waterloo Boy Hit/Miss engine. My pride and joy is my 1898 5HP Bessemer Hit/Miss engine that I have running on propane. It was bought by my great grandfather to pump an air compressor that was then used to start a much larger 50 HP Bessemer hit/miss engine that ran the entire family Feed Mill in Harmony PA until the early 20´s when the mill was upgraded to electric motors.

 

I'm in buffalo and I have 2 rebuilt heads that are 991 heads, small valves 75 Cc chambers bought them thinking they were something else . Want them they are yours

 

This will sound familiar to some as I have made this offer before but was not taken up on it.
I bought a project that had an '82 350 in it that was advertised as a performance build. Engine had never been fired up. Being the curious type, I took it apart and yes it was all new on the inside and never ran. However, it was a standard rebuild kit not a performance kit. Took it all out and put what I wanted in it.
So, I am offering everything that goes inside a 350 except the crankshaft. Includes pistons, rings, rod bearings(std.), stock replacement flat tappet cam for '82 vette(nothing special), lifters, oil pump, complete timing set.
Downside: You would need to get your block bored as new pistons and rings are .020" oversize.
Upside: Price is $0. You pay shipping from 65737 and it's yours.

 

$3000 by the time you pay the core charge and freight

 

Sadly they were $1400 out the door at your local GM dealership in the early to mid 2000s. Then they jumped to $1800

 

That Jegs engine you listed said GM but wasn’t from GM.

Edit- just went back to it. Sorry no reference to GM, my mistake. It is how ever a reversed engineered Chevy 350. I wonder if it’s a Blue Print but can not say such since Summit sell’s Blue Print?

 

I know, one of the big rebuilders. I don't even see that GM sells the base model anymore. We had a lot of customers at the rod shop that used them.

 

I think GM stopped making the Gen1 small blocks a year or two back. I was looking for a ZZ4 shortblock and every place I tried said “not available “.
Came across a article indicating they were no longer producing them, just the LSx blocks.

 

Far as I can tell, this is the sole GM entry-level Gen 1 SBC that is still available

https://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Pe...SMVXk9tYqajUK3kDIEq-G5FYqnPn5BPRoCMhAQAvD_BwE

Blueprint has the best bang-for-the-buck, IMO, but they're still almost double what they were 2-3 years ago

Miss the days of inexpensive Goodwrench longblocks for dailies

 

$5k + for Chevy crate motors these days.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...chevy-small-block/brand/chevrolet-performance

 

Other than the 75cc chambers, those aren’t bad heads. They are not race car pieces, but I’d run them. They are perfect for Firefighter!

 

Too bad they are not 911. Ha!

 

Looking at pistons. Flat top, dish, dome. I have read that Flat top produce the most compression. Mine currently have two divets in each piston. My plan is to break it all down this weekend.

looking ahead, (not thinking about the correct size yet), when buying pistons and connecting rods, I see most come with “pressed pins”. Is that something I can do myself? I have seen some that have wrist pins with something like a snap ring to hold them in place.

At this point I am just looking to see what is out there to get an idea of cost. Maybe I am not very realistic. I am hoping to keep in the $2k range. I’d probably spend that at the bar if I were not out in the barn working on this engine.

 

^^^^^ “2 divets”?

 

Being your first SBC, you got two really good offers that I quoted above for free parts that you just need to pay shipping on. I would suggest you jump all over those offers. Get some good used parts, get it going, and you can always upgrade more in the future. I've been doing this car stuff for over 22 years and I'm still learning every day.

If you need any machine work, your $2K will be gone instantly. That's why jumping on used parts for now will probably help you out a lot.

I just got a set of heads done. Machine shop called me yesterday. New seats, guides, springs, hot tank and crack check, and a good performance valve job. I actually sent 2 sets and one was cracked so he used all the best valves. Granted I'm in Canada and they weren't mainstream Chevy heads but it was over $1,700. Engine machine work and parts aren't cheap now. You can always put smaller chamber heads on later. I have three SBC's with the big chamber 76cc heads and they run great, maybe now after 20+ years ownership I might start upgrading them to small chamber heads. Building something like this engine can be a continual process of improvement as funds and time allow. Getting it going and running now with what you can scrounge will be incredibly rewarding and a better learning experience than just buying new stuff. That has been my experience, at least.

 

Yeah, thats insane

 

The pins are not actually pressed in, they are pushed in after the small end of the connecting rod is heated to several hundred degrees. This is a job that takes a bit of learning, to get right...and some equipment.

Before you get too far along, have you investigated the wear on the crankshaft? That's one of the first things I would do. A 3" micrometer is the best way to measure it, but a caliper will probably tell you if it's really bad. Tolerance on diameter is about 0.001", compare a good journal to the questionable one, first. Also before you take out the pistons, be sure to stamp the numbers on the rods, at the parting line, on the "bottom" side. Start at the front, stamp a 1 on both the rod and cap, right next to each other. Then do 2 on the second, then skip the missing ones, put 5 and 6 on the middle ones, and 7 and 8 on the rear two. The big end of each rod is machined after it's bolted together, and the tolerances involved make it so they become matched, rod to cap, after machining.

 

Yes. Thank you. I know heads are heavy. Yes I would like to get them. Shipping to zip code 13654 Heuvelton NY ?

You mentioned you offered another item but I don’t see it above.

 

Red, white and blue are optional colors too!



A small bit of humor to interrupt the seriousness of this thread.