What has to be done to the block to get it up to 355? Any other parts needed?

 

A .030" overbore combined with stock stroke will give you a 355. You could reuse the stock crank and rods, but you'll need new pistons at the very least.

 

New pistons as in new stock or as in aftermarket new?

 

Well, the stock pistons are for a bore with 4.000". To get a 355, you will need a bore of 4.030". So you will need new aftermarket pistons made to work with the overbore. A 4.030" piston is one of the most common pistons made, so you should no problems there.

Besides, the factory pistons don't hold a candle to most of the "high performance" pistons that are available anyway.

 

I would get forged pistons too, instead of the hyperreutectic (sp?)
That way if you ever decide put a blower on, or use nitrous, you will be ready.

 

im thinking a 355 also, with a lt4 conversion up top, should put some good numbers out

what are some good pistons and rods for the money...tight budget

 

I'd prefer the hypereutectic pistons over the forged if you plan on remaining N/A. They're extremely lightweight and would work well in a 355. Keith Black makes a helluva hypereutectic piston...

 

I don't really care that much for the LT4 hotcam that much, doesn't really get into the powerband until above 3000 rpms.
It's kind of sluggish before that.

I bought the summit rebuild kit for my car with the forged pistons (if you wanna spray or turbocharge), polished my crank, and the rods checked out ok.

 

how much did the summit rebuild kit cost ya? are you happy with it

 

yeah, it's pretty nice, I think it was for a little over $500 and you get all of the gaskets you need, rod and cam bearings, forged pistons, 10.4:1 or a 9.x:1 comp. ratio.

The only problem we had was with the cam bearings, they didn't have them numbered so we had to buy some from Autozone to make sure we had the right ones in the right place.

 

I dont know if summit used the same one but when i gave eagle a call about there 500 dollar Forged I beam and Piston set they said that they only offer the hyper pistons now cuz they were losing so much money putting the forged ones in.

So I ended up buying some Light Weight TRW/ Federal Mogul 11.1:1 pistons because they had longer skirts (little nicer for street use than an SRP), some Eagle Forged I beam rods with ARP bolts, and a stronger cast eagle crank balanced by my shop. Was about 900 bucks for those 3.

I wouldnt waste your money on LT4 stuff if your on a budget. Spend the money getting a AI or LE heads/cam package and you'll be very happy.

Hypers fine but for power potential capabilities forged is always better. If you know you'll never use Nitrous or forced induction hypers would be fine.