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Engine Swap questions


Ptrck20011

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Hi guys, thanks for accepting me on the board.  I have 71 Monte i purchased in September 18, and I've been enjoying it since.  it has a 350/350 in it, and 10 bolt rear.  I just had the trans gone through and an Eaton Posi and 3.73 gears put in the rear.

My next move is going to be to the engine, and i know i have a lot of options so i am hoping to get a lot of input and stories from your own experiences.  For this exercise we are going to pretend $$ is no option. 

Option 1:  Find a 70-72 454 block, and have it machined and rebuilt to better than stock specs hopefully making 450-500 hp and even more torque on pump gas

Option 2: Find a 350 block hopefully period correct and stroke it to 383 potentially aluminum heads making 425hp ish

Option 3: Pull the 350 that's in it and do a good solid rebuild on it, boring if needed, refresh the heads get everything to good stock running order

I know there's really endless configurations small block 400, big block 396, LS.  I'm really open to most though not so much LS swap because i think its above my skill level and i prefer what i do to be mostly period correct.   I would love to hear from you guys who pulled your stock 350's and went to something else what you liked, didn't like, anything you wished you did different, all in cost,.

 

Thank you all in advance picture below is Big Rhonda

60743417_10105609777647578_3490285313165623296_n.jpg

Edited by Ptrck20011
i wasnt finished writing when it posted
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Hi Patrick. Nice ride. 

What do you want to do with your Monte? Cruise? Race? Street/strip? 

I don't feel an LS swap is a bad choice, depending what you want to do. I personally got a 2008 ly6 6.o LS with 59,000 mi. Changed the cam, valve springs, oil pan and used a carburetor intake and carb. Used an MSD wiring harness. Like 7 connections and turned the key. Fired right up!  The car was a 1979 Grand Am (Malibu like) that had a 12 1/2 comp 455 in it that ran 11.81@115. swamped in the LS 10.1 comp ran 11.85@119 without tuning. With that being said, I feel old school cars should have old school engines.

My 70 SS has a 1988 4 bolt 454 from a suburban. Eagle rotating assy making it a 496. 10-1 comp pump gas engine with a th400 and 3.31 12 bolt. Best so far has been 11.22@120ish. Drives like a regular car. no replacement for displacement or torque. 

Can a small block be built to do that? Absolutely. It's all a matter of what you want to do and what your budget is. 

Hope this helps and not confuses you more. Lol either way, good luck!!! 

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I should've specified what i was i want to do with it.  it will never see a track just the street mainly cruise unless i am feel fresh, and want to let it flex a little.  Just right now the 350 doesn't really have enough get up and go to get out of its own way.

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Ahhhh ok. Lol. Your 350 runs good? I would add headers with dual exhaust, aluminum heads with smaller Chambers, a bigger cam with lifters, MSD electronic distributor and an MSD 6al, Edelbrock rpm air gap  intake and a 650cfm Holley. Should wake her right up! 

But then again, my 496 is beyond streetable. Just saying. Lol

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Welcome!

A TH350 transmission and 10 bolt rear won't survive beyond about 400 HP and/or 450 lb-ft of torque. A bigger more powerful engine requires an upgraded drive train to handle it.

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I would rebuild the 350 engine you have. Bore it .030 and new flat top pistons. New heads with a 64 cc chamber. The flat top pistons with a 64 cc head will give you around 10-1 compression. Still can run pump gas. The 270 comp cam is what I have been using. With a 750 Holley carb and Edelbrock performer intake, headers and HEI distributor. This will give you a nice idle and you can flex a "little" when the mood hits you. Plus gas mileage won't be to terrible and this build won't break the bank.

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I had my 350 rebuilt three years ago and it was bored  20 thousands with flat top pistons, Erson roller cam and roller rockers, HEI Elderbrock intake, but I only put back on the carb I have an Elderbrock 1406 with electric choke. It has Magna Flow  mufflers with a 2 1/2" exhaust. It has a healthy sound and It only cost me me $2,250 for the rebuild and it was completed in 10 days. Reused my crank and heads. I have not yet had it dyno-ed but it is guestimated to bee around 350 to 400 horse. Suits my needs to a tee.

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If it were me I would LS swap it. I have done several different cars and trucks now and it is so nice to hit the key when it is 100+ or 30 degrees and it starts the same every time. My personal C10 has a 5.3 and 4L60e out of a 2005 Tahoe and I have done nothing to it but a free flowing air intake, true 2.5" duels and a little tuning and it put down 340 hp in second gear on the dyno. It gets 18+ mpg on the highway with the AC and cruise set at 72 mph. It will smoke the rear tire on command even from a 30 mph roll :) Holley makes a full swap system for our cars that works well. The wiring is not that hard, and Holley just released their new Terminator X engine and trans controller that makes it real easy to wire and fire the engine. It is self learning and from what I have read it works really well. I have on in the box for a customers Camaro so I will have more info soon.

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