hey guys, i am gonna be building a 350 for my 78 and am lookin for some advice and suggestions. im thinkin nothin to crazy, 350 maybe punched 30 over roller lifters rockers etc, i was thinking supercharger too but im not too sure

all thoughts and ideas are welcome

 

so do u want the charger for looks or power? are u planning on driving this on the highway? are u open to stroking it to say a 383? if u are going to drive this on a regular basis then a charger is not the way u want to go. to much maintenance. u will get some real tq gains from the stroke and wont lose to much on the upper rpms. drivability is good. have a look at some crate engines and some stroker rotating assemblies plus prices before u start. u can usually get a crate motor for the same or less money as rebuilding yourself.

 

well i have a 350 block and it might already be punched im not sure yet.. im getting the car from one of my inlaws and from what i have been told is that he has everything to build it it just needs to be built so when i get it and all the info i will be able to plan things out a little better. the more research i do the more im leading away from supercharged. if it isnt already stroked to a 383 then that will definitely be an option.
i am kind of a noob when it comes to motors... i know my way around them but i dont know what the match together to make a good build

 

yah good way to go. see what u have first then look over the options and how they line up with what the car will be used for. im looking for hp and mpg. lol transmission may be a way for u to gain on both ends, auto or manual trans?

 

Using roller lifters in a Gen 1 engine require extra work/parts to make provisions that aren't on your block now. Not to mention the extra cost of the lifters themselves. Unless you're racing the car where every last drop you can get out of the engine matters, I wouldn't spend the extra money on them.
And you need to decide which way you want to build the engine. You can't built it to be a naturally aspirated performer, and then slap a blower on it at a later date.

 

well thats some usefull info to get started with... thanks guys like i said im a noob with the motor workin stuff but i learn quick, ask me to put together a nice audio system and im your guy

 

I was a bit puzzled with your first post that mentioned not getting too radical, and then putting a supercharger on the engine? It's tough to not get tooradical, but install a supercharger. That's a major step that requires the bottom end to be fairly well built to handle the extra compression developed by a supercharger.
I think I'd want to decide on what HP range I was looking at, and considering mostly street driving, I'd want to stay under 400 HP if you don't want it to be hard on gas and driveline components. I'd go with roller tip rockers, but not a full roller cam and lifters. Nothing needed to go to roller tips, and they'll help your valve train run a bit smoother, and your rockers last a bit longer.
I would also recommend not going to high on the compression. 10:1 max., but around 9.5:1 even better on today's gasoline. It will help with mileage a bit too. If you have a good budget, a set of aluminum heads will allow you to run slightly higher compression and not knock or ping too.

 

i know it has a 350 block not sure on whether its a 2 bolt or 4 bolt main, and lets just assume that i don't have anything for it so from the rotating assembly on u what would u guys suggest.

i have some stuff in a wish list on summit racing take a look and tell me what you think

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ESP-B13405E030/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2098/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HOK-2451-1HKR/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRO-141-758/

 

It all looks great, but you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself. I'd get the engine torn down first, then have the machine shop check the bore to determine if it's a goiod block, and if (or how much) the bore needs to be bored to.
I bought a .020" over rebuild kit for my 427 and ended up having to send it back to Summit because it needed to be bored a lot more to clean it up.
I'd also be curious as to what compression ratio the pistons are in the crank kit. I couldn't find anything that said what they were, and you don't want to go over about 8.5:1 if you plan to supercharge it down the road. I'd prefer to start around 8:1 myself. Of course if the supercharger idea goes away, then you want to go up around 9.5:1 on it.

 

thanks for the pointers on the block, i know the block is clean im not sure if its bored out yet or not. i am assuming it is because my uncle had told me some of his plans for the car, and the supercharger idea has all but gone away. at least for this motor. i've decided that if i build a supercharged motor it will probably be a big block at that point i would just got nuts and build something rediculous like a 502 or 572 but not for this car i want this to be a nice street performer that i can have fun in and that looks really nice too.