91rsrider

Ok building a motor for my 1991 RS. I have a 355 block cleaned and prepped and ready for some stuffin that I can get my hands on for a decent price , but I believe its a 2 bolt main. I'm looking at about $5,000 as a budget, and I want to get as close as I can to 450-500bhp N/A. I'm looking for a streetable motor, but really doesnt have to have much manners at all. Just has to start up and be able to make its way around town a few times a week. I've plugged in a combination involving some AFR 195 74cc heads, xe282hr cam(hydraulic roller proved to give the most power in the program. Is this accurate?),single plane intake with a 700cfm carb(yes single plane. I'm going for power here not street manners remember!), and a c/r of 10:1. I came up with 514hp@6500 and 463lb/ft@5000 with DD2000. Yes I do know that its not totally accurate, but it definetely puts me atleast past 450bhp, which is where I want to be. Anyone here see anything I could improve with this setup? I do know a fair share about engines and what not, but this is my first time really getting into a motor build and trying to figure out a good combination. The presence of more midrange and upper hp than low end grunt doesnt bother me. The car is getting totally redone over the winter, and for now I just want to get the motor built and dynoed so I know what I have to do to the car itself. I dont want any input on the transmission, T/C, rear end, or anything else right now. I'm focusing strictly on the motor for the time being. I would give some hopeful 1/4 estimates, but I have no idea what the car is going to end up weighing or how well I will end up getting the suspension and chassis done. Hell I might end up putting this in something else by next summer time. I've been interested in doing a SBC swap into a 240sx or RX7 like some other guys have been doing. But thats another story. Any help will be much appreciated!!

ME Leigh

LS1 because i want a light powerful powerplant!

Stekman

Buy some more of the engine im making.

DarthIROC

Id finish my backyard turbo project, I already have the front mount, but I need damn near everything else.

91rsrider

Ummm ok let me rephrase the question. What should I do with a $5,000 budget to get to where I want to be.

Dyosis

AFR heads are the way to go. Depending on the block you might have to get retrofit hydraulic roller lifters/cam (more money....pre 86 block) unless you want to run hydraulic cam. If ground clearence isn't an issue I would go with longtube headers. Since you want to rev you motor into higher RPM's, stud the mains and get a good set of rods or at least get your rods rebuilt and have arp bolts put into them. If you plan on going with some AFR's or similar priced heads, I personally would probably get some 4340 H beam rods so I know I wouldn't send a rod through those expensive heads. That would really suck. You might want to get a gear drive too vs. a timing chain. Get a good oil pump, fuel pump, roller rockers, hardened pushrods and forged pistons. Maybe some port matching of the intake to the heads. I would probably go with a Victor Jr. Intake. Be sure to get a stall and gears to match you cam.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

As far as what I would do with 5k. Get my gears swapped out, rebuild the L98 and add a HSR, my AFR heads, XE cam, headers and a stall. Subframe connectors and suspension work if I had any money left over.

91rsrider

Thanks for the input Dyosis. Thats about what I was thinking. I dont mind doing the retrofit for the hyd roller cam on an older block because I know it is totally worth it when it comes time to run a real lumpy cam. Do you know if there are any 86+ blocks that have 4 bolt mains? I'm strictly looking for a 4 bolt for obvious reasons, and will probably go the extra mile and have them splayed for good measure, just in case I end up going supercharged (which is a very good possibility). Gear drive would also be in the works for function and because they sound damn cool . Some light porting would also be done. I have some hookups that can do that for cheap. Victor Jr was also a plan, so we're thinking along the same lines there too. Again thanks for the info, especially with the main studs and conrod advice.

Anyone else??

Dyosis

The vette(L98) and truck blocks should both be 4 bolt main. You might have to do some research on the truck blocks, because I know some of them are roller and some are not (speaking of 87+). It might be worth it trying to find a vortec block because I believe they have 4 bolt mains and they should be roller.

CtRw

I just slammed an LS1 in my car but since you already have a great engine, just do your research.

kandied91z

ls2...

91rsrider

Thanks again Dyosis for some great info. I'll have to do some research to see whats what and do some junkyard hunting. Turns out the block I could get was only a 2 bolt main, and it was non roller. Are there any differences from a Vortec block and a regular SBC block, like there are with the Vortec heads and intakes? Time to scrounge the local classifieds and scrapyards!!

Kandied why do I have this weird feeling youre thinking about an LS2 lol?? Congrats on the CHP feature, I'll run to the store tonight to see if they have that issue in yet to check out it. Your car has always been my favorite thirdgen of all.

aklim

Why a 355 when you can go with a 383 for a little more money? Also get the HSR with the entire package so you can have decent fuel injection. Isn't the RS a TPI or TBI system? Either could stand to be replaced and currently the HSR is the most cost effective.

aklim

Vortec heads will not fit any sort of TPI intake except the piece Scoggy Dickin makes which fits the stock set of TPI runners. If you have to get that, you would have to hog it out and hog out the plenum and use larger runners. That is, if you can.

If you are TPI then you can resue most of your stuff with just the HSR manifold and plenum which should bring down your cost.

kandied91z

i believe they already pulled that issue off the stands...you might get lucky though. thanks for the kind words. let me keep my intake and march pulleys you can come have mine...be better off with something other then a miniram anyhow. too overpriced.

i like the ls1 package because it's a great motor, the ls2 is even better.

91rsrider

Not interested in going EFI. Call me stupid, old fashioned, redneck, or what have you. But I really dont want to spend the extra money on an EFI setup, spend a good chunk of change tuning it and the laptop to go along with it, and dealing with the wiring and all that extra crap. Its not worth it to me just to have a bit more power, driveability, and economy. If I wanted that I probably would just do a basic 350 and get a centrifugal blower and some sort of EFI. But at this point I really want to build a nasty carb'ed motor, because thats what I was brought up on and know the most about.

Aklim I wasnt inquiring about the Vortec heads, just wondering if the block is similiar to the Vortec heads and intake in that there are some differences between the Vortec blocks and the standard run of the mill SBC block. Like how the Vortec pieces have a different bolt pattern, does the block have anything different about it that would prevent a standard non-Vortec part from fitting? Vortec heads and intake are already out of the question. They cant do what I need them to do for me performance wise.

Kandied are you offering me your motor for free? lol I'll take it! Haha.
I'll have to rush there tomorrow and see if they still got it. Hopefully they do. I wanna see it more than your CarDomain site can show