well my moms new 1970 ss393 chevelle sounds like a f350 power stroke, even smokes like one, and yes i checked, it has sparks plugs. lol
so i'm pulling the motor and going to send it to a shop to be rebuilt. i have built a couple of small blocks and have been around racing since i was young. i know and understanf motors well enough, but i know zero about this 396 motor. i haven't pulled the intake yet to see if it is a mechanical or hydraulic cam but i know a hydraulic is going back in. anyway, could some one tell me about the heads that should be on it, and if there any good (power). also the compression ratio it should have and piston type , dome or flat tops. i'm talking about from the factory. i would like to here some suggestions for the rebuild, piston types and styles, cam selection, etc. car has a holley carb on it now (haven't looked to see if it's a double pumper or not) and an offenshouer aluminum intake. have a set of coated sanderson medium lenght headers on the way and a new 21/2 inch dual exhaust on it, msd electronic distributor, also. this will be a daily driver for my mother so it must run and idle. car also has power brakes, factory a/c, and a turbo 400 trans. 4:11 gear 12 bolt in rear that will be replaced with some 3:31 (3:31 because i took a set out of my 67 camaro, lol). thanks alot, gerald

It depends on what your mother wants to do with the car. Most women like a smooth running engine, and boy are they ever smooth stock. I guess if it was mine, I would call up Northern Auto Parts out of Sioux City, IA. They have rebuild kits that include, new cast domed pistons, cast or moly rings, cam, main, and rod bearings, new stock cam and lifters and timing chain, new stock vol. oil pump, frost plugs, complete gasket set. They are all top quality parts: Federal-Mogul, Sealed Power, Cloyes, Hastings, Melling, Victor-Reinz gaskets. There are upgrades you can do to the kit for an additional cost, such as high vol. oil pump, double roller timing chain, moly rings, etc. If you wanted to upgrade the camshaft, you can also do that for an additional charge, and they give you credit for your stock camshaft. The stock kit retails at 453.38. I wouldn't recommend going over a 268 duration cam. The HE268H from Comp cams would be as large as I would go with a stock torque converter and 3.31 gears and would give you a slight hint of a rough idle, not much. The horsepower I would think with the stock 396, stock closed chamber heads, and the 268H would be around 350hp. The heads should be closed chamber with 2.06/1.72" valves, which give the 396 plenty of torque. I would just have them redone stock and put hardened seats in them, unless your mom wants a racer, then you can cam accordingly, and install larger valves, springs, port work, but I know my mom wouldn't want that! ;) To my knowledge all 396's had small domed pistons in them, unless you are talking the 396/375hp then they had the larger domes. You can get by with the Holley. Your gas mileage may suffer especially if it is a double pumper. You may opt for a 750 cfm Edelbrock. Just set the float and the air adjusting screws and you're good to go. As far as the intake, there are many better intakes out there, but if your mom is not going for all out power, I would leave it alone. I forgot to mention that Most of the 396/325hp - 350hp were around 10.25 to 1 compression. I think it may be a little less around 9.7 to 1 with replacement pistons. I hope this has helped some. graemlins/beers.gif

I forgot to list the phone # for Northern Auto Parts.: 1-800-831-0884

Gerald, Post the stamp paid ID code (front RH of block just under heads), block casting (LH rear on bellhousing flange), head casting number (under valve cover), intake casting number, etc. and folks can tell you alot about your engine if it hasn't been rebuilt before.