well, let me start by introducing myself. my name is mike, im a huge fan of the chevelle, but i currently own a 78 F-body. well. i said "screw that emissions garbage motor, im gonna make my own powerplant"
so i decided to go with the ever so popular Chevy 350 with an 010 casting number. so ive decided that i dont want to build a stroker motor for afew reasons. and i want to go with a 355. so i need some advise, im very mechaniclly in clined but not to spelling inclined (muhah). i have changed pretty much everything else there is to change in a car, and rebuilt alot of things, but i have never built a motor from the block up. id like to get around 450 FWHP from this motor, so if anyone has any tips or any thoughts of how i could get here, that would be a huge help. and i refuse to go with a crane or comp camshaft, please dont hold it against me. also my grandfather is a member on this board and said i should become a member. thanks alot for your help.

mike

what's the budget... smile.gif

I am more of a BBC guy myself but from what i hear you should be able to see those kind of numbers out of a good 355 with vortec heads and a decent cam. I am sure someone will speak up.

Daniel

using AFR's formula..(.257Xmax flowX#cylinders) the max HP for vortecs flowing 225CFM..if all of the other parts are perfectly match is:
.257 X 225 X 8 = 462.6...realistically you wont reach this number..a head that flows in the 250-260 range will get you there easier

Well plain and simple, 450hp is a stout 355. And its probably not going to be super cheap, But its very possible. If this is going in a truck why would you not want a 383? It would be easier to haul things and make alot more grunt for the heavier truck. I personally run a 350 but mines in a much lighter Nova and i spin it a little higher than some like.
For a 450hp 350 your going to need some aftermarket 200cc heads, this will probably be your biggest expense besides getting the motor machined, if you want cast iron go with the Iron eagles/toplines/sportsman II's. There are tons of aluminum heads but they are much more expensive. Cam wise i wont personally recommend a spec but your best off going with a solid flat tappet. And broaden your horizons outside of "comp" theres alot more cams out there. {no need to bicker about that last comment its just my opinion} if your budget can allow it go with some aftermarket SIR eagle rods. Flat top -5cc pistons and 64cc combustion chambers should give you 10.3:1 comp, run an intake that suits the rest of your combo, if you decide to go dual plane look at Brodix's HV0016 {i think thats the number, it kicked the RPM's butt in a shoot out in a super chevy magazine a while back and darn near beat out the victor jr on top end. Thats my simple advice, im sure somone will chime in on some specifics

Originally posted by BruteSBC:
well, let me start by introducing myself. my name is mike, im a huge fan of the chevelle, but i currently own a 78 F-body. well. i said "screw that emissions garbage motor, im gonna make my own powerplant"
so i decided to go with the ever so popular Chevy 350 with an 010 casting number. so ive decided that i dont want to build a stroker motor for afew reasons. and i want to go with a 355. so i need some advise, im very mechaniclly in clined but not to spelling inclined (muhah). i have changed pretty much everything else there is to change in a car, and rebuilt alot of things, but i have never built a motor from the block up. id like to get around 450 FWHP from this motor, so if anyone has any tips or any thoughts of how i could get here, that would be a huge help. and i refuse to go with a crane or comp camshaft, please dont hold it against me. also my grandfather is a member on this board and said i should become a member. thanks alot for your help.

mike I think he was talking about a camaro or firebird as noted by the F-body comment

HA man im a dip**** graemlins/clonk.gif i though he was saying he had a fricken F-series ford he was going to throw a SBC in....whoops i could edit it....or let people get a good laugh, hmmmmmm .......... redface.gif

hahahahaha at first i was like "truck? where did he get truck?" and im thinking of a lunati cam, my grandpa gave me the name of a dude who works in the designs of the cams and he said he would spend a long time on the phone helping me pick out a great drivetrain.
also, can someone go alittle more in depth about Vortec? what is it? how does it work? Good or bad?
thanks alot, these opinions are really really helpful. also whats the average cost for a .030 over machine job now adays?

thanks alot again

mike

355,lunati BM II cam .480 lift,flat tops with 4 valve reliefs,vortec heads, Ebrock RPM air gap,headers and a 750 Holley pushes my sons 81 Chevy swb p/u thru the 1/4 mile at 13.50, not too shabby for a fairly heavy box going thru the air.

well if you want my opinion on cams, look through Erson's catalog, Howard has some nice grinds,Harold from ultradyne started designing cams for Lunati so hopefully he'll bring them back to life.

harold is the guy whos phone number i have.

Harold from ultradyne started designing cams for Lunati so hopefully he'll bring them back to life. Back to life??? I can't complain about mine or my sons performance. I think Lunati may have fallen behind a little bit,but they are still and have always been one of the best.

well a first hand expierence was a certian friend named Jason who was running a Lunati that everyone told him would work great for his engine, changed to an Erson 320 HLM that a certain buddy Dave picked out for him and he broke straight into the 11's i believe going 11.76 for a best. I got other reasons too, thats just one of them, dont take stuff so hard man, if YOU like it use it, i wasnt trying to ruffle your feathers

LOL,,,looking for feathers graemlins/waving.gif

oops

Rapid Robert, what your son shifting at? I'm running the same cam in a 355, 10.75:1 comp, rpm air gap, Dart II's out of the box, 650 dp and shift at 6k. best so far is a 1.67 60', 12.25 @ 107 in the heat.

He shifts at 6000,but since its a truck it won't hook,his best 60ft to date is 1.99 with M/T et streets. We've removed the bottom leaf to help soften it up a little,which has made it more consistent,but still not hooking at all. No slapper bars as yet,and not sure they will help much. He's making a pretty good size hole in the air too and he's running 275/60/15's on the front,too much drag if you ask me. What gears are you running? Truck has 4.11's.

I'm running 4.30's with a 28" slick and the car weighs 3360 with me in it. My stock 85 chevy 1/2 ton long wheel base weighs 3940. If he does not have a weight on his this may help.

http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=015994

Originally posted by Rapid Robert:
355,lunati BM II cam .480 lift,flat tops with 4 valve reliefs,vortec heads, Ebrock RPM air gap,headers and a 750 Holley pushes my sons 81 Chevy swb p/u thru the 1/4 mile at 13.50, not too shabby for a fairly heavy box going thru the air. Thats exactly my point...those vortecs are making about 360-375HP..which is great..but not 500HP