well i have low oil pressure and have had two car buffs tell me its a spun main bearing. so im gonna do a rebuild. i would love to keep this around $3000 and $4000. i would like to do new heads and cam (le1 budget kit) or possibly just cam do to the cost of ported heads. and bore it .30 over. and obviosly new bearings. my budget includes the cost of labor also. thanks for your input guys i really appreaciate it.

 

How many miles and what does "low oil pressure" mean to you? What
are your readings and what are you using to determine the true pressure?

 

I did this and it worked out well. The idea comes from Karl Elwein.

http://www.ellweinengines.com



$1190
Do-it-yourself 355 kit featuring all gaskets, Mahle pistons, SCAT forged 6.0" Rods with 7/16" rod bolts, Cloyes oversized crank sprocket and timing chain to correct the stock extra loose set up.
Have your machine shop clean up your block and check for cracks, bore/hone to 4.0300", deck the block to 9.010 or 9.005", align hone the mains, install cam bearings and block plugs. This 355 rotating assembly uses your stock crankshaft and flexplate which can be balanced easily by removing weight from the crankshaft, (no mallory metal needed).

 

i have a LE1 cam for you if you decide to cam it.

 

i have 111,xxx on the motor and im just reading the oil pressure gauge in my car. and at idle the needle rests just above the 0 mark and when i get on it i only maybe have 30. i would be more than happy with 350 rwhp. could just a new cam and rockers and springs get me there with the bigger bore or would i have to get head work done too??

how do i manually check the oil pressure??

 

and im not seeing this 355 all im seeing is 383 and race engine stuff on ellwein's website ???

 

what is this le1, le2 i keep reading about. Who makes these kits?

 

With that budget I would focus on the shortblock and getting the car up and running again, you can not do a decent shortblock and topend for that money. Heck by the time you get the valvetrain, gaskets, and all the other stuff for a heads/cam swap that endsup around $3000 really fast.

The Mahle pistons with good rods and a stock crank is a reasonable approach, would do that before the $200 crank strokers guys like to build.

 

www.eportworks.com He does portwork for the heads and it comes in different "stages." LE1,LE2, and LE3. He also can tailor stuff to your specific goals and liking.

 

so with my budget i should just do a bigger cam with stock heads and put new rockers and springs? would the bigger bore make a difference in hp even with the stock heads??

but with the LE set up what is still needed?? new gaskets??

 

It's up to you but I would do a stock rebuild and cam it. Get the heads worked over later when you can afford it. $1500 for a short block rebuild and $250 or so for head work, used cam (like mine) and new springs, and a gasket kit. That should put you a little under budget so you can take care of anything that may come up unexpectedly or if everything goes perfectly you might have enough to buy some roller rockers or something.

 

i would like to bore it 30 over to clean up the cylider walls. so what i was thinkin is to bore it and obviously new pistons and rings. just keep my stock rods and crank (or should i get new ones??). cam it with new springs and rockers and call it good. and later do head work. could it be done on my budget?? and what hp numbers would i be puttin down with this set up??

and is that le1 cam bigger or similar to a cc306??? cuz thats the cam im wanting to use.

thanks again guys

 

also where do i find this rebuild kit?? cuz that maybe my cheaper route instead of boring it out or could i do both????

 

I put all the part numbers for suggested 355 parts on a web page. You can copy that rotating assembly combo or just get ideas from it. Summit or Jegs will have all of the items. Cam bearings are not shown in that 355 rebuild page but they should be. Cam bearings should be replaced while the block is being refurbished (I like the Dura-bond brand CHP-8 cam bearings but your machine shop may have other preference. And make sure to align the oil holes like the GM Helms LT1 shop manual describes).

I no longer sell that kit so I think it's ok for me to post the link. (selling parts was a huge time and resource hog).
http://www.ellweinengines.com/Ellwei...Kit/355Kit.htm

The last part of the 355 build web page has the controversial high volume oil pump....hehehe. Yes I use HV and HP pumps is stock oil pans but I make sure I have good windage control.

Karl Ellwein

 

You have a good plan and it will cost you about what I quoted depending on the kind of piston you go with. While you can't afford to get the heads ported you will still have to invest some money in them to get them cleaned up, VJ, new springs, etc.

HP depends on the cam you run. Cam only should be around 370 if you are dead nuts on everything with full bolt ons and get a custom cam. With a 306 you will be around 340-350. With the LE1 cam I have no clue as I did H/C at the same time, it's a 22x/23x with mid .500 lift. Numbers in sig.

The 306 is larger than the LE1 and it's a good proven cam and you should be able to find a used one cheap.