I have a 1980 Chevy Camaro Z28 with a 5.7L 350 that has 56,000 miles on it and im looking to rebuild it. Not to big just about 400hp. Any good ideas im kinda new at it. Also wanna try to keep most of the bottom end if possible. Thanks

 

stroke ur 350 to a 383

 

There goes the bottom end. Just do a mild build and put a small NOS plate on it.

 

I agree with steve, just do a mild build, its all depending on how much budget you have for the project. You can go with a performer package from edelbrock

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_...age_main.shtml

Considering the engine only has 56,000 km i personally would just put a cam in it with an aluminum intake (maybe use the edelbrock performer, it fits under the hood) and a good adjusted 4brrl carb you should have some good results.

Joe

 

First things first,find a good local machine shop and have the engine checked out for wear to see what all you will need.
Perhaps a good overhaul with just rings and bearings is all you'll need then throw in a performance cam with all the bolt on's
(intake,carb,headers,ignition) and some good performance heads then away you go.
Might not hit that magic 400hp # but you'd be close and not break the bank.
If she needs to be bored out you can slip in a set of higher compression pistons and boost that power quite a bit more.
Your stock crank and rods will last a long time if properly balanced and assembled with good hardware like ARP within the hp range you're looking at.
It all depends on what you want to spend,a good rotating assembly alone will cost a pretty penny if you start getting carried away and you'll still need all the other stuff to go with it.
If you are not doing the work yourself at that point you'll be money ahead to go ahead buy a 400hp crate engine.

 

56K should be a pretty good engine still, but as Y2k said, you need to have it checked out once it's out of the car. Then you'll have a better idea of what it needs, be it honed and just rings, or a slight bore.
If you want to keep the costs low and still get near that 400hp mark you'll want to avoid a set of oversized pistons, as that will bring the cost of machine work up. If it's just a bore you can break the cylinder wall with a hone and it will be much cheaper. Even with new pistons on existing size bore it will be cheaper.
I'd consider a good cam/lifter change, intake, carb, and maybe a set of Vortec cylinder heads. The Vortecs will be one of the cheapest head changes you can make, vs. aftermarket aluminum cylinder heads. Should be able to find a good used set if you do some searching on various places like Craigslist, ebay, etc.
Summit sells complete engine kits (with hypertectic pistons) for about $225, which will give you all the rings, bearings, pistons and gaskets needed to complete a rebuild. They've also got some good prices and intake and carb combos, plus cam/lifter kits. I'd reccommend a set of headers and a dual exhaust system also, so the new engine can really breath! You could easily do a lot to get towards 400hp, and not spend over $2,000 if you can do most of the assembly work.