Looking to build a 350 for torque

[76K20]

The story has it this is a Jasper rebuild with around 15,000 miles on it and supposedly has an "RV" cam in it.  I have not heard it run nor pulled it apart yet.  At the very least I want to pull the heads and oil pan to look things over and plastic gauge the bearings.
 but figured while I had it apart.....

Are aftermarket cams stamped any way to ID them?  Or how can I tell what cam is in it?

[Kennybill]

This was just the thread I was looking for. I'm wanting more torque in a 350 3/4 ton also. Thanks for starting this thread and for the positive posters. I a big believer in learning from more knowledgeable people. It saves one time and money coping from others more in the know. Thanks, Ken

[Engineer]

I like the 383 idea as well.

If building a 383 from a 350 there are reasonable priced cast iron 3.75" cranks available.

Pistons are available to use 350 rods with the longer stroke.

In addition to the above quoted specs for cams, etc. you may look at throwing on a set of 1.6:1 ratio rocker arms. They give a slight amount more lift without the extra duration penalty.

[Mario]

I started with a '92 350 4 bolt main block with the factory roller lifter setup.  I use 6.0" rods with flat top pistons with about 9.8 compression.  I also use roller rockers, an electric fuel pump, and an electric fan.  It has a Comp Cams 08-410-08 set to 4 degrees advanced, a gear drive, and Sportsman heads with 2.02 and 1.60 stainless steel valves.  It's capped with an Edelbrock Performer, either a 670 Holley Avenger or a 600 Edelbrock AFB style, and a MSD distributor and box.  It's in my '81 K20 with 4.10 gears.  I've pulled a 3 horse goose neck trailer with 2 horses 75-80 mph on the interstate.  A similar crate motor was rated at 375 ft-lbs of torque.  You can get a better lobe profile with roller lifters.  If you reduce the internal and external friction, then the 350 can start to have torque that you can feel in a 3/4 ton truck.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Regarding the pictures:

Is there any advantages/disadvantages to putting the fans IN FRONT of the radiator as opposed to behind?

[rich weyand]

The disadvantages are serious:
- It gets in the way of doing airconditioning.
- It is not as effective, because if you try to shroud it, you just block airflow, whereas shrouding the fan on the back side collects all the frontal surface airflow and uses the whole radiator.  This is by far the most effective cooling strategy.
- The fan is now exposed to tossed rocks and the like.

The advantages of putting it in front of the radiator is that it gets the rotatey finger-shreddy part out of the engine bay and gives a very clean look.

The only reason I can get away with this is that I don't have air conditioning and because my engine setup runs very cool, even cold.  Even with the setup I have with the fan in front, in the winter I have to cover the grill or I can't get the engine up to temp.

But I certainly would not do this with a bbc or a high-compression engine.

[Dan75k20]

If you want torque use a comp extreme 4x4 cam 12-235-2 my 355 with flat tops 4 valve relief hyperutecnic pistons 882 heads edelbrock performer and edelbrock 1405 carb with metering rods changed is a torque monster !

[rich weyand]

If you want torque use a comp extreme 4x4 cam 12-235-2 my 355 with flat tops 4 valve relief hyperutecnic pistons 882 heads edelbrock performer and edelbrock 1405 carb with metering rods changed is a torque monster !

Uh, yup.  That's another one of the good cams for these engines.