I want to build a motor that will do very well at the strip and still be able to drive around and cruz. I have a 4 bolt main block that i believe came out of a 78 c10. as of now, it is pretty much stock except an edelbrock low rise intake, edelbrock 650 carb, and it sounded like it had a cam when i heard it run but im unsure. What i was thinking of doing is going .40 over with some vortec heads good intake and a nitrous cam with about a 125-200 shot of nitrous. I know when building an induction motor you have to build it with forged internals to handle high compression but with just the motor itself needs to be at a low compression. the main thing im not sure of is what compression i need to run and what head/intake/cam combo will fit best for what i need. im shooting for 360-380 hp without nitrous. i want to do things the right way so i don't screw myself in the end.

Thanks.
Brian

 

I'd go .30 over that would make a 355, if your going to spray nitrous I'd get a nice cam and some low compression forget pistons, and get some nice rings also, dont go cheap, if you want more cubes I'd go with a 383 stroker with the same set up, low comp pistons, nice cam and get a nice intake manifold for the vortec heads, make sure you get a TQ Converter that will hold up to all of that also

 

I would only go as far over has a machine shop suggests, which will more or likely be .030 over. Forged internals are a must. If .030 is what they suggest, than a 383 will get you there easier than most other ways. For compression, you're gonna wanna look around around 9:1-9.5:1 compression, depending on how much boost you plan to run.

Look on Summit or Jegs for head/intake combos. There are much better options out there now than the Vortec heads, not that they're not good or anything, just there's been a lot of improvement in the last few years. I'd get a custom ground cam to your application as it'll work better overall than a "off the shelf" cam.

Do not forget about the trans and rear either. Make sure they can handle the power. There is also suspension. You want to put that power to the ground, not sit and spin tires the whole time.

Also, what year Camaro are we looking at?

 

To make 360-380hp on motor with a set of vortec heads if very easy. Check out some of the 383 rotating assembleys you can get that have all the parts you need to do it. It will be a little bit more than the 350 assembley but will add the cubic inches we all like. Once you have the short block taken care of then a cam and head choice is in order. For starters and your budget, the vortec heads with a spring upgrade and a Comp. EX-274 cam would get you there very easly. Even in a 350 this combination makes well over you HP goal. My choice before you spend the money on the older block is to pick up a later one pieces blocks that are set up for a hyd roller cam. It cost the same for the machining and parts but the upgrade to the roller cam over a flat tapped is worth it.