Engine Rebuild Ideas

Just bought a stock 78 and would like to upgrade the stock 350 any suggestions on upgrades will be appreciated.

i am the son of z28mia, we need horsepower! please help thanks!

You might want to give more info as to: intended use, cruiser, street/strip, mostly strip; transmission, rear gear ratio, how important is gas mileage, budget... you get the idea. Welcome to the board and how bout some pics of your project.

Get the block bore it .30 over. Buy a rebuild kit like master kit from enginekits.com aka powerhouse for it. Valve job on heads and shave em or buy a set of performance heads like trick flow, afr, w/e floats your boat. Then get high comp pistons if you chose to stay with stock heads go with really really high comp pistons like LT1 pistons get around 10.5 back in 1970. Get headers i would say Hookers then an Edelbrock air gap or performer rpm manifold nice carb i would say Holley and a hell of a cam maybe comp magnums with a good stall shift kit and the 3.42 should be ok for a streeter unless your gear is the older 3.08s

thanks guy's, well me and pop's want to work on it together but its will be crusing alot of the time but we want some horses under the hood we want to take it down to the strips as well put the ricer's over at my school to rest already with some racin at the strips. Budget wise its a little tight but were good right now to work stricly on engine first, btw what do you guys suggest for a transmission as well? pics coming soon!

guys thanks for the replies.

Attached are some pics. All I know its a 350 V4. Dont know the size of the rear. As you can see my son is a little trigger happy lol. Surprised him with the car this past weekend.

I need to study more about the engine rebuild and power options I have not been into cars since the 80's I got to learn the lingo, parts and how it all works together.

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If the engine is in good shape, you can't go wrong by freeing up the exhaust with a set of headers, dual 2 1/2" pipes, and a good pair of high flowing mufflers like Dynomax or Edelbrock. Also give the engine a good tune up with new plug wires, cap/rotor, and a new fuel filter. Later as money allows, you can install better heads with 64cc chambers to kick up the pathetically low factory compression ratio, a better dual plane intake like the Edelbrock Performer RPM, maybe a Holley carb and a better cam to replace the teeny factory cam.

If the engine is on it's last legs, build a good solid short block 1st, then do the enhancements listed as money allows.

You can be quick with an auto or a manual, and the diff is the 8.5", plenty strong. If it's a manual Z28, it should have a 3.73, auto Z28 = 3.42 ratio, both good all around gears. If it's not a Z, could have something as bad as a 2.41, would require a better gear or it will hold back the car.

You have to upload the pics from your hard drive to a free hosting site like photobucket. When you do, it will provide you with the IMG code (the one with [IMG] at the beginning and the end) for each uploaded pic. Copy and paste those codes in a post here and the pics will show up.

http://photobucket.com/

thanks yea sounds great, but i was thinking how about a new transmission and a Turn-key from GM? I was thinking this shuld be pretty good

http://www.crateenginedepot.com/store/350-Crate-Engine-330-HPBase-HO-with-Iron-Vortec-Heads-12486041-P18C53.aspx

Yea I think that a crate engine sounds like the way to go for you guys. As for the stuff to bolt onto it. There is so much for a gen1 sbc its almost unbelievable. Pretty much just have to do some research and ask around on the diff. bolt on parts that you are looking at.

Many of the GM crate motors are a great value. There is a huge convenience factor and everything is brand new. Some seem to be much more reasonably priced than others though. And IF you can do the work yourself there is something very satisfying about the DIY route of rebuilding what you have. It really doesn't save money though, more likely to cost more, in the end. You cannot buy parts as cheap as GM and good machine work will be exepnsive. The ZZ4 is ~350 hp and is a very nice engine for $4-5K depending on how complete you want it. It can be had complete from oil pan to air cleaner to plug wires to distributor.

Rich

I have a 1981 Z28 auto that has not been driven since about 1988. Story goes that my sister's boyfriend didn't keep the oil to level and it locked, but I had a friend look at it and he said the engine looked good. Car has been stored outside with a cover since 1988and never driven since.

Any advice on getting an accurate assessment without getting ripped off. I am ready to restore it, but have no idea where to start. Just want to be able to drive it for fun.

What kind of cost is involved if the engine is locked up, to replace it?

Do a search for "GM crate motor".

Rich

Did. Found 350 LM1 8 cyl for $1500

Did. Found 350 LM1 8 cyl for $1500

It is amazing for that price, isn't it? It is a pretty basic engine, but it's new and with a warranty. Keep in mind it will be a few hundred bucks to ship it.

Rich

Now I have to find someone to work on the car.

the best part about the lm1 engine is the warranty. and as the speed bug hits(and it will) you could easily install vortec heads,performer rpm,nice comp xtreme cam and have a 350-400hp motor for only 1500 more. the 330 hp motor does have the vortecs and an intake and is an extremely great value for the dollar. it is hard to build one yourself for much less(with no warranty) good luck.

i would get some long tube headers and check out the jegs or summit 3 inch exhaust. it is not to loud in the car but sounds great wot

great choice! my firt car was (and still is) a 1978z28. i still have it!there one of my favorite years because they are the last cars to have the intermediate chassis before chevy went to the metric.that means the brakes are a inch bigger and suspension is beefier than the 79-81 style camaros.sounds like your on the right track with the drivetrain,your going to have a blast with this car!