Below is the story behind my quest to build a motor that will run forever yet still make good power in my truck.
I started off this engine build by removing a 350 out of a vehicle at a junk yard that I used to go to all the time. I then let it sit completely disassembled for 5 years in order to season. After the 5 yrs where up I ordered a $700 kit from Northern Auto Parts which included a new Scat cast steel crank. I also ordered new Scat forged connecting rods, B&M race flexplate and Pro Street damper from them. The cam and lifters that came with the kit I didn't use and instead bought a Competion Cams retro hydraulic roller cam. I didn't use the double roller timing chain either and instead bought a Pete Jackson gear drive which came with a cam button, degree bushings and rear bearing for the cam. The only other thing I bought was new oil pan which was basically a stock pan.
So off to the machine shop with my block and rotating assembly. I talk to an older racing fella there and tell him I want it cleaned and magnafluxed, then punched out .030 with torque plates. Then I tell him I wanted to use main studs instead of the bolts that came with the block. That required something of which I don't remember now but was no big deal anyhow. Then I told him I wanted it to be line bored since I was using a different crank than what came with it which was a forged crank. I really just wanted it to be true and in perfect tolerances. I then said I wanted it be squared and decked which he kinda looked at me odd and I said what I meant was I wanted the deck surfaces to be a true 90 deg. from each other and I wanted the deck milled for good head gasket sealing. I also wanted the cam bearings done, freeze plugs installed, oil galley holes plugged and the block relieved for the 383's longer stroke. We then talked about the balancing and I asked for them to balance it as accurately as possible which was a slight increase in cost but I didn't care. The next day I get a call from the guy and he asks if I know what I have for a block and I reply yes I do. It is a high alloy and nickel block with what looks by eye anyhow to be a perfectly centered casting, casting #3970010 4 bolt version. These blocks are hand picked for the application from which I removed it and are the cream de le creme of that casting #. This I did not know at the time but do now. So anyhow a week goes by and I get another call from him saying my block is ready to be picked up. So I fly down to the shop literally and get my block and rotating assembly. While looking over the block to check the craftsmanship of the work and the little mark I left so I would know I indeed got my original block back I noticed the serial number now says 9.000. I ask what is that and he tells me it was zero decked and explains he assumed I was building a race only motor because of the amount of work I was having done and what it was for a block. I was a bit upset because now I had to worry about the compression ratio and if I could ever run pump gas with it. So I explained that what I was trying to do was build a very long lasting motor that was not going to be raced. So says I can get thicker head gaskets and run 76 cc heads and I would be able to run pump gas as long as I went with aluminum heads.
I get the whole thing home and start to blue print the motor and everything is dead on just exactly as I wanted it. I wanted my main journals to be right in the middle of the acceptable clearances and it was. Same with the rod journals, piston to wall and so on. Perfect I put it together and oiled it down and bagged it. Now it was time to get the top end together. A friend introduced me to a guy at another shop who was instrumental in getting me through the rest of this build. We ordered Edelbrock rpm heads with 76 cc chambers and a felpro head gasket that is slightly thicker than most. Then I ordered full race roller rockers and custom length lightweight hardened chrome moly push rods man they where expensive. I'm glad he let me borrow the tool for figuring out push rod length because they where like .100 longer due to the thicker gasket surface of the heads. He ported the heads for me and cleaned up the bowls too. That he did in exchange for the cam and lifters that came with the original kit, a set of Manley severe duty valves and info on where I aquired the block. He also exchanged the roller cam for a different one free of charge and it turns out the springs that come with the heads are right on spec for the new cam, hmm wonder if he planned that for me. I also ordered head studs instead of bolts because I have this weird thing about studs over bolts. I get everything put together and he comes over and degrees my cam in for me instead of me buying a cam degree kit from him. That was a freebie from him. To install the Pete Jackson properly you have to clearance the cover and do some grinding on the block. I ordered a new timing cover for this reason and an adjustable timing indicator. The cover is instaled with studs and 12 point nuts, in fact everything is either studs with 12 point nuts or allen heads on this motor including the oil pan.
To top off the motor I added a Edelbrock rpm intake and I was going to go with a Edelbrock carb but while switching from manual choke to electric a screw broke in the housing with no more than 3 ft/lbs of torque being applied. Yeah so I packed that up and returned it and bought a Holley street avenger 670 cfm. I would have bought the truck avenger but I don't like the 1850 carbs at all so I went with the street avenger which is a 4150 type. I ran it straight out of the box for the last 5 years and only recently started messing with tuning it. Which required a heavier vacumn spring to keep the secondaries closed longer. I had some back problems that kept me from getting out there and tuning it in for optimal performance until recently. The ignition was an MSD 6al but I was having problems with it and have reverted back to the stock ignition for now. My next ignition is undecided at the moment. I also have flow tech headers and a dual exhaust with Flowmaster like mufflers that I was given out of a Corvette. My next exhaust will be stainless including stainless headers.
So there you have it, a motor build that has been quite the experience and cost a considerable sum of money. I didn't buy any chrome for it other than the timing cover and adjustable timing pointer. I already had some Edelbrock cast aluminum valve covers from back in my shiny chrome days along with a 14" air cleaner that is a little rusty on the top. The oil pan is painted the same color as the block which is yellow. My wife picked out the color which is a small sacrafice to pay for letting me spend all that money and time on the motor. Man I love that woman.
List of build parts and labor:
Block - 100
Engine kit - 700
machine work - 1200
Heads - 1000
Roller rockers - 250
push rods - 100
forged rods - 250
main studs - 50
head studs - 100
oil pan studs - 25
timing cover studs - 20
timing cover - 25
timing indicator - 15
hyd roller cam and lifters - 700
intake - 125
carb - 275
crankscraper - 10
rear baffle - 10
oil pump shaft - 5
flex plate - 50
damper - 80
Pete Jackson gear drive - 150
extra head gaskets - 50
misc. gaskets, oil, filters, bolts, rtv - 50
Total is $6240 with the list as is I'm sure I am forgetting a few things. According to desktop dyno it makes 425 hp and 550 ft/lbs torque. I have to run 93 octane and it has to be good 93 not cheaper 93's. This is the second to last small block I will ever build. I already have another 350 and kit so I'll put that one together but after that I'm only going to mess with big blocks.
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