One last suggestion

since this isn't your daily driver and you don't need it done in a week, then don't use a dealership.

Find a local shop near you who also has sources for parts and can get good prices, negotiate a project price with them and that they know it must be done in xxx (60, 90 or 120 days) and they would then work on it to fill in empty voids of their schedule. yes, they would need to store the vehicle but small shops like having these kinds of projects without a tight timeline

 

what supporting parts are you talking about? you WILL NEED larger injectors, 350 prom, and the 350 knock sensor. without those, the car will run poorly, lean, and potentially damage itself

 

What I meant is I should hope the shop would take care of getting those parts for me and I wouldn't have to pick them all up myself.

I don't care either way, but if it makes it a bit easier, you know~

 

Ok so, I went to the dealership to ask about parts- the 350/290 can be mine for $2400 plus 5% sales tax. Only, it uses the old-style heads apparently and my TPI intake will not work with it. He offered me a ZZ4 block, said I could use my heads and intake for that, and that'd be $3000 plus tax.

I went on google for two seconds and found this, for whatever it's worth
http://www.chevy-350-engines.com/che...der-heads.html

And just for kicks, the ZZ427 runs at $12,000 and tax.

 

ah, yea. the shop can pick those out for you, however there will be a large mark-up in price. when it comes to ordering it, i can assist you with it if youre going to go with summit. the prom chip you will probably need to find on ebay, or contact pcmforless.com and ask if they happen to have any. the most expensive things i would get yourself.

 

Don't leave anything up to the shop except the actual work. For this kind of job you need to get everything you need and make sure they know what needs to be done. There's a good chance that if you told them they needed to get a new PROM chip for example, they probably wouldn't.

 

Alright, so just an update on the situation- I am going to go with the GMPP 350/290. I found out one of my friends wants to help me do the swap, so I can skip paying a shop to do it for me.

I've got holidays come May 21-29 that I will use to do the work, and hopefully we'll have it on the road again not long after~

There's a couple things that have come to mind- since I'm saving money in labour, I am thinking about spending some to get a little extra out of the engine before I drop it in.

I want to stick with a tuned-port intake, but I'm wondering if it's worth it and/or possible to open it up a bit- I know TPI is a very restrictive setup, if I'm not mistaken only 300cfm? Is there any way I can make it flow a little better?

And I'm wondering about getting a different set of heads- I'm thinking 10:1 compression ratio instead of 8.5:1, and well, I know very little about cylinder heads aside from that so I was hoping to hear any suggestions as to what I could use.

That's it for now, I'll probably have a few more questions as we get closer to the date.

 

Ok, bumping this back to the top rather than starting a new thread.

I've ordered a GMPP 350/290 (part number 19244450) and it's on the way. I bought a set of Edelbrock Performer RPM heads to install ('86 and earlier style, part number 60899) and an '85-'86 TPI intake manifold.

However, I'm no longer sure this build will work as I don't think the bolts match up between the heads and the intake. It's possible I'm wrong as I've never done this sort of work before and could be looking at it wrong. But, I can exchange the heads if necessary for a pair that will work, if the ones I got won't.

So I'm posting up in hopes someone will have any idea if I'm on the right track or not, lol.

 

Those were some expensive cylinder heads!

 

Remember to get the 350 Balancer, the one from the 305 will not work. You will need the heads that the center bolts go in verticle not at an angle. And make sure the flex plate is for the crank you are going to have. THe one piece rear main and 2 piece rear main use different flywheels.

Keep us informed on how everything goes. And dont forget to get the other parts that Microkid suggested.

Massey