Thread: 350 small block rebuild kit

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Originally Posted by nateshrek

something like 500 hp? I would prefer not to have to bore the block. Nateshrek

Hello Nate. I'd guess that most all of us have been where you are, sitting in an old truck, wishing that it was fast/quick and making those BRRMM, BRRMM sounds. But fast/quick is not just about horsepower, it's about designing the whole package so that everything works together toward a common goal. Even if you had a 500 hp motor, you would need differential and suspension upgrades, gears and a limited-slip differential such as an Auburn or Detroit Locker. You'd also need a rebuilt transmission ($1300 for a 700R4) that would handle the power and a torque converter ($600) that would be loose enough to allow the motor to "get up on the cam" quicker. My regular, everyday advice is to begin at the rear of the vehicle, not the front. A rear that will hook and a good set of numerically-higher rear gears might even satisfy your "need for speed" with an everyday, run-of-the-mill 350 "stump build".

500 horsepower from a SBC is not totally unreasonable, but it will take a shoebox full of Franklins to accomplish it. You would want to convert the 350 block into a 383 via a different crankshaft, rods and pistons. Your preference not to bore the block is totally unreasonable. It is also unreasonable not to inspect and correct the main bearing bores for being round and parallel with each other. It is also unreasonable not to cut the block decks to to a new block deck height that will match the stack of parts you will use in the block and allow a good, tight squish of 0.035" to 0.045". And it is unreasonable not to balance the reciprocating assembly. All in all, you should allow about $1000 just for machine work and balancing. Figure $1500 for a good set of aftermarket aluminum heads (I would be thinkin' AirFlow Research 195's), $1000 for the crank, rods and pistons, $350 for a good set of headers, $600 for a Howards hydraulic roller cam and lifters, $200 for an RPM intake, $600 for a good 850 carb, etc., etc., etc. And we have not even begun to think about revisions on the brakes/steering.

I'm figurin' the old truck weighs roughly 3800 lbs with a 1/2 tank of fuel and you in the driver's seat. If you could remove unneeded weight from throughout the truck and get the weight down to under 3000 lbs, it would be waaaaay easier to make it fast.

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