Ok I know small block chevrolets aren't exactly traditional but anyway. I have recently started a build and have been offered a Small block chev 350 that I may or may not use but I could use it in something else. My question is the one I have been offered is a later one with the TPI injection and those funny center bolt valve covers and I just want to know what the differance is between this model 350 and the earlier ones you normally see people use. Is parts fitment and interchangability still the same?. I don't know much about chevs so have been wondering.
There were the poly head engines. the L and then the LA and then the second gen LA....Oh, I thought SBC was Small Block Chrysler. Running and ducking for cover, Scott M.
Yes, there are some difference between early blocks and later blocks. In 1988 chevy went to roller cams. The heads have a different bolt pattern for intakes, but the same port location. Earlier heads will bolt on, but the cumbustion chambers might have a different size, so check that. Internally, there are differences, but if you're not stroking or mixing parts, it's not a big deal. That is to say if you don't change cranks, rods, etc., you'll be OK. Probably the easiest thing to do is get a book on it. They're not had to come by and there's a lot of good info on them. Find out what year it is exactly and then tell us what your plan for it is and we can help. As far as traditional or not, everybody that says a '55 chev coupe is traditional but the small block chevy isn't has been panting without a respirator again.....
Thanks I pretty much want to know if the stuff for earlier small block chevs will fit this engine that includes bottem end internals , heads all that stuff. As for the small block chev not being traditional you make a point but its still not a hemi, flathead, caddy, olds rocket, so on and so on. I guess I should have worded it a 350 is not traditional haha.
What year is it and are you sure its a 350? I have seen many more common 305 TPI motors people tried to pass off as a 350. The early motors (85-86 I think) were flat tappet and the later (87-92) ones were hydraulic roller. You can use the early non center bolt heads if you don't want the center bolt look. The TPI heads also take a special intake pattern or you have to modify 4 bolt holes in the heads for a std intake to fit. You may or may not have a provision for a mechanical fuel pump. It will have the easier to seal one piece pan gasket. Crank will also not interchange with an early crank without a special adapter because of the one piece main seal.
CRAAAP! Who keeps saying SBC's are NOT traditional? Dollar for dollar they wiped the noses of almost every other make in the 60's-70's......NOW........Hell since they came out in '55. Maybe a bit overdone, and boring. I'll give ya that. But who says not traditional? Picture a 327, Cross Ram, 2 Holleys, Velocity stacks, Magneto, Early Cal Custom Valve covers, Rajah clips, and a big lumpy cam with the solids singing away, as it's KICKING SOMETHING ELSES ASS! LMAO <!-- / message --> <!-- sig -->
Haha yeah I worded that wrong should have said 350's aren't traditional. I put my foot in my mouth there its just when I think I traditional I think Hemi, flathead, caddy, olds rocket stuff like that. Thanks everybody I will talk to the owner and see if I can get some numbers off the motor and get some more info on it.
Ill admit im only 21 wasn't around back then. I put my foot in my mouth with that one. I only said it because I was worried about the responses I would get about asking about a fuel injected later 350 chev haha. Though I will admit as a hotrod lover the era of Hotrods I follow and like are 30's 40's and early 50's like in that 40's hot rod thread on here somewhere you know the dry lakes era stuff. Chevs arent an engine I follow or know much about so forgive me for sticking my foot in my mouth. I am bound to do it often haha.
Haha yeah, I just didn't want this thread to go the way of those "how to fit my s10 chassis" threads. Was a little worried what responses I would get when asking about a tpi injected 350
This is just stupid to think that the small block Chevrolet engine is not traditional. Gee whiz - the first OHV8 that hotrodders used was the Cad or Olds from 49, the Chrysler Hemi in 51 and the Buick Nailhead in 53. A whole SIX years later, Chevrolet introduces its OHV8 and they became the most ubiquitous US engine for many years. Thanks to Zora-Arkus Duntov and his wonder elves, there was relatively inexpensive speed equipment right away. Not to minimize Bunky Knudsen and his Pontiac brownies. It is widely acknowledged that there is no subsitute for cubic inches and as many racers (including Shelby) found out...a nice nearly-stock Big Block (FE) putting out about 400hp from the factory will outlast any tweaked small block hipo engine. Same with serious racers - the big blocks of all mfrs just made more power from the git-go than the sbc. The sbc engine family is WAY traditional...to the extent that many (including the exalted HAMBers) stick their noses up at them (mostly because they've become a cliche'). You cannot be a hotrodder and still say the Chev smallblock is not "traditional". I've had a ton of cars, and we used whatever we could get our hands on when we were 'kids', and that usually meant 303/324 Olds, 331 Cad, 331 Hemi (or the diminutive relatives from Dodge and DeSoto). When the 265s and 283s started showing up in the wrecking yards, they were as welcome as any other V8 - perhaps more so because two guys could actually lift one into a pickup. nuff said dj "ruminating, cogitating and pontificating for over 50 years"
Except he wants to run a TPI- so that's not an issue. When we got our hands on the SBC- that's what we installed. Early 60's, no one ran a flathead- they were all pulled out for more power. I had a car in early 60's that had a SBC & Rochester fuel injection. It was available & we ran it. And if there was a 350 chevy in the 60's w/ TPI- we would have figured how to run that as well. Install it, close the hood for the complainers & drive it!
I never said I want to run the TPI I don't plan to anyway. It just happens the engine I have been offered has TPI on it.
Most younger people don't realize the important role the Small Block Chevrolet (mouse motor) has had in the automotive world. It has been in production since 1955. It replaced the flathead as the "hot" street engine right off the bat. It has been around for so long, most young people see the mouse motor as "new". Motors like the Flathead Ford, the Buick Nailhead etc..etc...are nice "traditional" motors but the small block chevy is not only traditional but also the best engine ever designed, which is why it has outlasted all those other engines. Those who knock the fable mouse motor just don't know any better.
Get one that has a provision for a mechanical fuel pump. You'll be glad you did. Or your next post will be "how do I quiet down an electric pump" "how do I reduce the pressure of an electrical fuel pump" "how do I hook up a dead man switch for this electric fuel pump"
When it comes to defining traditional it's probably different to most people. Like a 1918 engine might be traditional, but I'm not going to run one. A small block to me without the accessory holes in the heads looks traditional, so having a 400, 383, 350 whatever dressed to look the look is alright in my book. Had a friend that had a 400 dressed to look like a old 283, won alot of races when they were caught by surprise...
The Jalopy Journal
