Thread: 350 horsepower tips

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i made this post a few days ago and i want to give some of those experts out there a little more knowledege about my engine. Its a 74-75 model 350 engine in a 81 buick regal. looking to get more power out of it. Seems like it has a sort of slow take off. it has headers 1.5 comp roller rockers, edel 650 carb, air gap intake, 292 comp cam, 9 to 1 compression ratio, hooked up to a 350 tranny with 2800 stall. hadnt did anything to the rear end yet but im told this will help alot. It has regular gm heads 72cc. going to change the heads in a couple months. What is the best exhaust to put on it ?it has dual right now but they aren't flowmaster or any thing looking for a better deeper sound. it has cats on the duals right now i was told to cut them off because its to restricted for that and i have a way of getting around the emission test. please give me some help guys!!! i have $2000 in the engine right now and i dont look to spend no more than maybe another grand.Should i use the x pipe exhaust? What exactly does the MSD ignition box do and should i get one?

get yourself a set of 3.73 gears for it, you probably have 3.23's at most now and that is why you are lacking the seat of your pants feeling

Originally posted by mrbee
i made this post a few days ago and i want to give some of those experts out there a little more knowledege about my engine. Its a 74-75 model 350 engine in a 81 buick regal. looking to get more power out of it. Seems like it has a sort of slow take off. it has headers 1.5 comp roller rockers, edel 650 carb, air gap intake, 292 comp cam, 9 to 1 compression ratio, hooked up to a 350 tranny with 2800 stall. hadnt did anything to the rear end yet but im told this will help alot. It has regular gm heads 72cc. going to change the heads in a couple months. What is the best exhaust to put on it ?it has dual right now but they aren't flowmaster or any thing looking for a better deeper sound. it has cats on the duals right now i was told to cut them off because its to restricted for that and i have a way of getting around the emission test. please give me some help guys!!! i have $2000 in the engine right now and i dont look to spend no more than maybe another grand.

The gear suggested earlier will make a tremedous difference. One problem I see right away though is too much cam for the CR. That 292 needs at the bare minimum 9.8:1+ If you can get around emissions, definitly get rid of the cats. Try some flowmasters for a flee flowing exhaust and a deep sound. Be conservative on pipe size like 2 1/2 max. Try to find you some early casting heads with a 64cc chamber, or better if you can find a set of vortecs but then it cost extra money for a new intake to fit and either machine work or a set of springs I seen posted that omit the need for machine work. If you look around you can find some camel humps pretty cheap that can be home ported to make decent flow numbers for a street engine. One more thing to do is run a good quench area. Measure how for your pistons are in the bore and use a head gasket that will put you in the range of .037-.041 head to piston distance.

Originally posted by mrbee
i made this post a few days ago and i want to give some of those experts out there a little more knowledege about my engine. Its a 74-75 model 350 engine in a 81 buick regal. looking to get more power out of it. Seems like it has a sort of slow take off. it has headers 1.5 comp roller rockers, edel 650 carb, air gap intake, 292 comp cam, 9 to 1 compression ratio, hooked up to a 350 tranny with 2800 stall. hadnt did anything to the rear end yet but im told this will help alot. It has regular gm heads 72cc. going to change the heads in a couple months. What is the best exhaust to put on it ?it has dual right now but they aren't flowmaster or any thing looking for a better deeper sound. it has cats on the duals right now i was told to cut them off because its to restricted for that and i have a way of getting around the emission test. please give me some help guys!!! i have $2000 in the engine right now and i dont look to spend no more than maybe another grand.

I WOULD LOOK FOR A SET OF IRON EAGLE SS HEADS,PRO TOPLINE (TORKER HEADS) OR WORLD PRODUCTS S/R HEADS.I WOULD TRY COMPETITION PRODUCTS FOR THE HEADS.THE REASON I WOULD TAKE THESE OVER THE VORTEC HEADS IS THE COME WITH SPRING POCKETS MACHINED TO 1.550 WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO RUN ABOUT ANY SPRING,THE HAVE MUCH THICKER DECKS (LESS PRONE TO WARPAGE) MOST OF THEM COME ASSEMBLED WITH VALVE SPRINGS GOOD TO .510 LIFT AND THEY ARE ALSO LESS MONEY THAN THE VORTEC HEADS.I WOULD NOT BREAK THE BANK TRYING FOR DIFFERENT EXHAUST.LIKE YOU SAID TRY TO GET RID OF THE (CATS).IF YOU MUST RUN THEM LOOK FOR SOME AFTERMARKET ONES.

You could find out a lot by doing a cranking pressure test. If you do one make sure to open butterflies on the carb fully. You should have at least a 160 pound per cylinder compression. I think your going to be a lil lower though with that CR and cam. If you set up a good quench you could run up to about 185lbs to be on the safe side. Motor willbe sluggish without a good cranking pressure.

You can bump your compression ratio by switching to a 64 cc head, but that cam is still way too big. I would not go over a 280 at .005" duration on a street car. Since you have a 2800 rpm stall, that will support a fairly large cam. If your gears are also big (3.73-4.10), a Comp XE274H cam might suit your application well once you bump the compression ratio. The 64 cc heads will take you from 9:1 to 9.8:1. A thinner head gasket (Mr. Gasket makes a .028" gasket) will put you just past 10:1. If your block is already zero decked, then you will not want to use the thinner head gasket. When you get the heads, I would suggest not going larger than a 180-190cc intake runner.

Originally posted by 76GMC1500
You can bump your compression ratio by switching to a 64 cc head, but that cam is still way too big. I would not go over a 280 at .005" duration on a street car. Since you have a 2800 rpm stall, that will support a fairly large cam. If your gears are also big (3.73-4.10), a Comp XE274H cam might suit your application well once you bump the compression ratio. The 64 cc heads will take you from 9:1 to 9.8:1. A thinner head gasket (Mr. Gasket makes a .028" gasket) will put you just past 10:1. If your block is already zero decked, then you will not want to use the thinner head gasket. When you get the heads, I would suggest not going larger than a 180-190cc intake runner.

I am not trying to be a smart ass but who rates cams at .005?

camaro fever, explain to me about the cranking pressure test i dont really know about that. will i get morehorsepower by using the x pipe exhaust? any more suggestions guys. is the only way to get the compression ratio up is changing the heads?

does the 292 cam have to be taken out or could i leave it in their?atleast its supposed to be a 292 cam, the guy who built my engine says thats what he got because thats what i asked for.

I would replace it. Way too much duration for your compression, as stated above. I'd go with a Comp XE268 or XE274.

that car probably has 2.41's in it. My malibu came with 2.29's. (Talk about a performance killer)
just going to 3.08's will make a big difference.

that car probably has 2.41's in it. My malibu came with 2.29's. (Talk about a performance killer)
just going to 3.08's will make a big difference.

Originally posted by MI2600
I would replace it. Way too much duration for your compression, as stated above. I'd go with a Comp XE268 or XE274.

but dont trash the 292 cam, lube that baby up with some oil and put it up for later.

and going to a 3.73 gear will get you more of that seat of the pants feel than you think!

for $1000. you should be able to buy one of the cams mentioned above by M12600, and the flowmasters, new rear gears , and a posi unit , with some change left.

Originally posted by erik erikson
I am not trying to be a smart ass but who rates cams at .005?

Your not,everyone else knew what he meant.

To get around your emissions rules you can cut your cats in half gut them and put them over your strait pipes and reweld them to where it looks like you have cats. It works i have done it