alright so i'm lookin at a 350 engine, its out of a 1991 chevy pickup. I do not know if it was a 1500 or a 2500. all i know is its a 350 with a rv cam in it, and 30,000 miles on it. anybody give me a rough shot as t how much power this thing might have?

 

New it was about 255 HP, but now it will be less and my guess is about 220 range.

 

A 20 year old engine with only 30,000 miles on it? No fukcing way. Do you know the seller personally? If not, Im saying you are about to buy a worn out nasty old 350. I had a guy who I thought I could trust sell me a rebuilt 350. He told me it was .040 over, RV cam, less than 30K on the rebuild. Long story short, it was a stock 350 with a bad oil pump and I spun a main bng in less than 100 miles. Id stay away from this engine unless you either personally know the seller or you are looking for a rebuild candidate.

 

huh????

torque was high but HP would be more like 190-200

To the OP, good luck because the seller is probably selling "as is"

if you think there are good engines out there for under $1,000 then you are sadly mistaken.

If they were in good shape and not tired, they would cost more than $1,000.

If you're looking to get performance, then why buy an old truck motor that you'll have to change the heads, cam and induction?

 

89cam said the engine has 30,000 miles on it, he didn't say the truck did. And since the engine has an RV cam, someone's been inside it.

 

All Im saying is buyer beware. 'RV cam' is pretty generic. If the engine has been rebuilt, then the seller should be mentioning that too. No way a 91 only has 30k original miles on it.

You can find 'decent' starter 350's for under 1k. They come from private sellers, usually selling rebuilt motors that they have no use for, or out of wrecked cars. They are out there, but you have to do tons of research and really feel the seller out. 89Cam, did the seller say it was rebuilt? Thats key. If he says its original, Id run away.

 

185 - 215 hp.

As for the other arguments I see low mileage 350's go for a few hundred dollars all the time.

Where are you guys seeing a price. He asked a simple question not what you felt the motor was worth.

 

rv cam basicly means the stock cam with just a little more lift. it makes no real difference (installed one in a friend's 88 sierra, it was a waste of $600). the horsepower really depends on the fueling, but with the stock tbi, i wouldnt say more than 220 hp and 330 tq