GM 350 & Turbo 400 Rebuild and modify

I would like everyones opinion, advice and tech support with this...

Ok I have a GM 350 casting# 3970010 suffix code#K02CMR 2bolt main, Heads casting#338882 and a Turbo 400 transmission.

Now, the question is this, if you had this set up what would you do in rebuilding and modifying it from low budget to mid budget to high budget/ mild to wild.
its going into a fully kustom cruiser 54 belair

please no trash talk as in "just scrap it" or dumb ass downers like that, please if your like that don't bother replying and waisting my time and others.

Stay Gold ,
Frankie Bulldog

 

First I'd figure out just what I want the engine to do...then I'd see what my budget is. Then I would figure out how to make it happen.

So.....if you tell us more, you'll get more useful answers.

 

see, if your read carefully i asked what would u do in description from "low budget or no budget", i wanna see what everyones ideas are so i can figure out what should do.
i could easily say i want a bad ass monster of an engine, but that answer is kinda vague, theres billions of was to build a 350, i wanna read ideas to make my decision. what more would u want for usefull answers?

 

No budget...get someone to give you an old car with a 350 in it, and run it as is.

Low budget--a cam and headers give you the most hp/dollar on a bone stock engine. Next up is heads, but usually you have to spend some money. How much money is "low budget"? $500? $1000? $1500?

 

sorry, when i ment "no budget" i ment money is not an option, but this exact engine will be getting rebuilt, no buying a crate or another engine, just this one

 

If money is not an object, then the first thing you need to do is figure out what you want. There are an infinite number of ways to build a 350, but only a handful of them will be right for a particular vehicle and driver.

 

ok, the ultimate 350 build, no money restrictions, but for what type of vehicle? truck? t-bucket?, cruiser?, and how is it driven? street raced? off road? high mileage? are we looking for high speeds, quick, durability or low rpm power?

 

882 heads are prone to cracking ,the 4oo turbo will shift by itself

 

it will be going into a radically chopped, 54 chevy belair, with air bag suspension, i want it to sound demonic but feel perfect, hard to explain

 

i want it to be fast, loud, mean but able to drive long distance as well as around town

 

what would u sugest? the 400 is a BOP i found this rebuild kit http://monstertrans.com/store/products/TH%2d400-Mega-Monster-Transmission-Complete-Rebuild-Kit.html

 

if its a bop it wont bolt to the 350

 

yes it will, with a commonly available adapter plate. but that adds cost to the "no money budget"

 

i have the adapter plate already

 

flat tops a good set of vortec heads,roller cam,stall,gears,

 

or if you go with the 882 heads you can run a dome piston to get the compression up

 

Dome piston? Now to run a roller id have to get the kit to make her a roller right? Not to sound dumb, but why is roller better?

 

roller cams let you get more lift with the same duration. The duration kind of determines what RPM range the engine will make most power at. The lift kind of determines how much power it will make at that rpm.

That's the really simple explanation...but hopefully will get you thinking about more things.

Also, roller cams live longer with the crappy oil we have today, which is designed for roller cams, not flat tappet cams, since all the new cars have rollers.

 

Ok, ill go roller, how do I choose the right cam? Should I bore or machine the engine? I thought of putting a 400 crank making a 383 and having the machine shop make it a 4bolt main. I really love the deuce intakes too

 

We're back to the "what do you want the engine to do?" question. You pick a cam mostly based on the RPM range you want the engine to perform best at. And that depends on the rest of the car, and it's intended use.

One of these days you'll have to figure out what you're trying to build. With numbers, not adjectives. Sorry, it's a tough thing to do.

 

Build it stock , rent the movie "dilemma" and figure out how they did it.

 

Can't do either of the above on a low budget, unless you run it with the choke pulled halfway out. That'll make is sound mean.

You really DO need to figure out what you want to do with this car. So many of the things you are describing are mutually exclusive. "Fast, loud, mean, drive long distances, drive around town" You might as well add economical and expensive to the description, because they are about as opposite as some of the other things you're describing. Your question mark behind "dome piston" leads me to believe that you really don't know much about putting an engine together, as does your question about boring or machining the engine. That said, I'll reiterate that you need to figure out what your primary use for this car will be. That will help the members of the board suggest what components might work best for you.

If it were mine, and money wasn't a concern (you did say that, I think) I would buy the highest dollar NASCAR internals I could find, put a blower on top, and run Hillborn injection. The Turbo 400 would be set under the bench, and a Richmond transmission would go behind the motor.

 

Ok, this thread was to see what would "you" do if you where to rebuild this exact set up in a 54 chevy belair, I don't know what exactly I want that's why I started the thread. All I know is I would like to have a motor with 350-400 hp with good response, no hesitation and no lag.

 

Get a 6 liter chev---340 hp---quick response----no lag-----great motor

 

If you intend to drive this car alot, you will be much happier with a "closer to stock engine".
I've had several big inch hi-horse engines on the street, and they aren't all that happy on the street. They aren't smooth, they don't make their horsepower in the right places.
For a custom, where you will be doing more cruising than racing, a low compression short or mid duration cammed engine will fit your driving lifestyle much better. You really want the engine to make it's horsepower down low in the RPM range for the street.
As far as the 400, a bit of overkill, but since you already have it, a great all around trans. Justmyarrogentopinon....

 

This is like trying to answer the qustion "How long is a rope?"

 

A mild big inch engine will be more streetable than a wild small inch engine that makes the same horsepower.

So....if you want that much hp with an older design engine, go for a big block.

 

The motor on the rod in my avatar was a hot 350 (Tunnel Ram w/2 600's, big compression, big number cam, 461 double hump heads machined for 2.05 intake valves, roller rockers).

It was also not street friendly.

I learned a lot of lessons with it.

Probably the most valuable of which was: What looks and sounds cool, may not be the best thing for street application.

Talk to some experts (not people who claim to be experts...im not an expert...but I'll tell you all about my experiences) and get an idea of what kind of equipment leads to a good street motor. You'll hear varying opinions but somewhere in the middle is what's right for you.