thinkin of taking the 3.8 out of my 97 and dropping a carbbed built 350 in it witch i wanna do , fight putting a new crank in again OR rip the 6 outy and drop a 350 my friend built and runs like a bat outta hell in it ? im just scared of the electricals

 

The polls are not working we are waiting on a update to fix that. I would have to vote for the fire thing. JK man. If you fill like the car is worth saving then a good small block swap may be the way to go. But here would be my deciding factor. What rear end do you have? and maybe more important what transmission?

 

everythings stock , and i was close to seeing fire works after i replaced the rod bearings and hoping it was aquick fix but it was also a headach, gettin the oild pan off but i got practice oh , i was wondering if i am gonna change the crank bearings and i figured i might as well replace or definatly chect the connecting rod cause it spun #5 bad!

 

Well, there's a LOT of "stock" options for both manual and auto trannys. Also, what type of rear end are you using and what gearing? If it's an auto and the engine is built for power then you're going to have to upgrade the torque converter also to help with your powerband and help the transmission and engine work together in the correct powerband. It's not just an engine upgrade but a whole drivetrain upgrade. Otherwise you'll just put in an engine and start breaking things from the transmission to the rear end because they aren't built for that type of power. They're built for a little 3.8 liter 6 cylinder. Put too much torque through the rear end and you'll blow the rear end apart. Put too much power through the tranny and you'll blow that up. Put too much torque converter in and it'll keep slipping, overheat the transmission and/or blow up. Don't put in enough torque converter and you'll have slow starts. Have high gears (low number like 2.56) and you'll have sluggish launches but a good high end. It's a lot of work to build the drivetrain correctly to handle power and do what you're looking for exactly. If it were easy every fool would be out there racing monster power cars.

Just throwing a 350 in it isn't going to solve problems, it'll just make more in a drivetrain not built to handle it. On the other hand a carbed 350 will be easy to install and has very little electrical needs compared to a computer controlled engine. If you're looking for power and have a decent budget then go for it. If you do just drop the 350 in then take it easy till you can beef up its supporting parts otherwise it will leave you on the side of the road.

I'm not trying to discourage you but just give you an idea of what to expect. If it were me I would go with the 350 especially if I had another car to drive around. No reason not to.

 

id go with a LT1 ARE LS1 or LS2 depending on your budget overall these engines are a better bang for the buck