350 refresh

[BigHemi353]

Wow, Im sorry about that. If I was you I would go find another 350 to build up since they are fairly cheap. I'm like you and don't have the money to buy a new motor right now. Ive also never tore apart a small block before so its all a new learning experience. In the mean time, your doing a great job on your truck. I love your other post.

Andy

[VileZambonie]

Don't freak out yet. You can easily have the crank ground and if it's beyond repair a crank kit is only $100 bucks. Once the crank is out check the main bearing bore alignment. Like I said if you want help just ask.

[exilous]

Well I do have another 350 I can see how bad that one is once I open that one up. Oh and I found part of a piston skirt when i dropped the pan it was stuck in the pan... Here are some pics nonetheless.
The Middle main



The end main Next to the balancer

[Just-speed]

That baby has got some miles on it.......     

Do what serves you best bro....   

[VileZambonie]

I've seen a lot worse than that!

[Russ130]

I agree with vile I've seen much worse than that. I'm willing to bet the rear bearing is pretty much torn up as well since that is the thrust bearing. But a new crank fixes that easily and they are fairly cheap as vile says. As far as the piston skirt goes that is easily replaced with a master rebuild kit which for that is around $180. Hit a swap meet for an aftermarket intake and your good to go. I thought you said this was a decent running motor?

[frogman68]

for our 4 bolt with the same casting number I got the crank and bearings for 99.99 cant remember if it was autozone or advance auto

[exilous]

Ya the engine ran good, had a little valve noise but i figured it just need to ge the lash adjusted.. I did a bunch of pricing out on summits website. I did a few differnt setups.buying a whole rotating assembly and then a cam  and stuff that route was like $800. Then I and priced out a crank cam timing set and rummit rebuilt kit and it came to 695. So I don't think that is horrible.I would get everythign to drop right in easy for 700 and whatever shipping would be.  Although, my dads best friend owns a machine shop so i'm sure I can have some fun there. I gotta wait for my dad to get home and see what he can do between him and his friend.I've been teaching myself about cams i've been doing tons of research so I now need to go pick myself out a cam.  Cause I think im just going to leave everythign else the same, rebuild the carb and maybe buy an aftermarket intake, i'm not sure yet. What kind of difference does lets just go with i dunno an Edelbrock Performer intake do compare to the stock cast iron intake? Is it like a large difference or is it minimal besides the weight difference? Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions im still learnin here. haha

[VileZambonie]

You can get a master overhaul budget kit with pistons for $200 bucks from summit. Add a double roller timing chain, cam and lifters maybe freshen up with some new tins and get a cheap dual plane intake you'll be under $500 bucks. Grind the crank, reface the valves and seats and you'll be in a budget of under $1k

[exilous]

ya we can do the valves and seats here at home. I did see that master rebuild kit thats what I used in the second way I priced it. I think the cheapest crank there was like $190 and the cam was like$170 it was a comp cam i just picked that no reason just to get an estimate of a middle of the road cam that was above stock.

[VileZambonie]

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=SUM%2DK1103&autoview=sku

$89

Just have the crank ground.

Here's a cheap dual plane. Are you going to run EGR?

http://www.kmjent.com/cart/product.php?productid=1891

[exilous]

No, i wanna keep the engine as simple as possible. just a few wires and thats it. Cause that ugly mess under the hood of my 85 is disgusting especially since it has the dual pump A.I.R. system on it. It's like the engine has a cancerous growth.

Does anyone know what my stock 78 350 would have been making for horsepower? Low 200s? I found a couple articles that said it might be 185 but I figured i'd ask the pros here.

[Russ130]

185hp sounds about right. Here is a 383 kit for $660 with the crank. http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductDetail.cfm?ProductId=2993

[Captkaos]

Factory output for 1978 was 165hp and 260lb/ft.

I agree, that doesn't look that bad, just really worn out.

[exilous]

Wow thats lower than I thought.Well either way when I'm done with it I will be crankin a bit more than that. At least I hope I will. I found a realy cool looking cap and rotor that I might get just for the heck of it. It's clear.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380111767921&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=
Check that out.