Path of least resistance

[lightninquick]

Currently i have a completely stock from air cleaner to tail pipe truck with a 350 motor and turbo350 trans. My nephew gave me a victor jr. manifold.  If i get a set of vic jr heads and cam to go with it then throw on a higher flowing exahust what kind of HP gains could i expect?

[VileZambonie]

Sell it on Craigslist

[HAULIN IT]

Agreed! It's your deal, but to have a "survivor", air cleaner to tailpipe...it really shouldn't be messed with in my opinion. Drive it & enjoy it. If you are going to modify it, choose carefully & do a "quality" replacement not something based on a free part...pretty soon you have no warm air choke system, some rubber hose rigging with a plastic fuel filter, a hardware store throttle cable "adapting", & an alternator belt that won't stay put. In the end, the truck will operate worse than it does now in several ways.
As for a guess on HP gains...That's hard to say. What you should be interested in is not peak ("How much HP can I get?"). What counts & moves the truck is a good low to mid range. In the end, I guess it depends on what you are wanting to do with the truck.
If you can get the compression up with the head swap, the engine could/should run fairly well, however I would purchase a different block & rotating assy. & remove the original in one piece Think about how many of the original parts you would be using over: a block, crank & 8 pistons & rods. My Two Cents, Lorne

[Irish_Alley]

If you are going to modify it, choose carefully & do a "quality" replacement not something based on a free part...pretty soon you have no warm air choke system, some rubber hose rigging with a plastic fuel filter, a hardware store throttle cable "adapting", & an alternator belt that won't stay put. In the end, the truck will operate worse than it does now in several ways.

haulinit you been looking at my truck?

but i agree with them
Fast, Cheap or reliable. you can only pick two

[HAULIN IT]

haulinit you been looking at my truck?

Unfortunately MANY look like this. Not so bad if it started out as a clapped out 6 cyl. but a nice truck should be better cared for Lorne

[lightninquick]

Good info, thank you.

My goal for the truck is to use it for daily driver duty. One of the requirements is it has to have around 400 reliable hp.  I'm now leaning towards a motor swap to a fuel injected ls.

[VileZambonie]

Why do you have to have 400HP? What are you doing with the truck?

[lightninquick]

I enjoy high powered trucks. In California you can build your way right out of a nice street truck. A 1974 truck is exempt from smog regulation. Occasional towing will be needed out of the truck too

[beastie_3]

I wouldnt go beyond Performer RPM parts for a street truck.

[topp]

I enjoy high powered trucks. In California you can build your way right out of a nice street truck. A 1974 truck is exempt from smog regulation. Occasional towing will be needed out of the truck too

For towing, torque will get you going much better than High HP.....
For the weight of the vehicle, torque will get you going much better than High HP....

[Grim 82]

Agreed. You don't want to put your power curve too high into the rpm range, or it will be a sloth. Like many have said before, horsepower sells engines, but torque wins races.

[The dream]

So what is a good combo to get torque?
Would a cam with a big lift ?

[westsidek20]

http://www.summitracing.com/expertadvice/storydetail/techarticles/How-to-Choose-the-Right-Street-Cam/

[77c10diesel]

I agree with the others. You want torque. I had a Chevy that a guy built a motor for and it had lots of HP after 3000 rpm. It sucked big time, worst POS I ever drove. Off the line it had all it could do to get going, after about 60 MPH it came alive and ran great, but was worthless.
I now have a truck with a Cummins that has 555 ftlbs of torque, would not trade it for the world. I can pull anything and still hit 70 mph quicker than these riced out import jobs and the truck is over 8000lbs.
Go stock, or go for torque, its not a Camero.

[frotosride]

Just like everyone else torque is what you really want and midrange is where you want it. Here's what to look for. Cam and Head selection. with the heads you want to look at the flow charts. Most all respectable head manufactures will flow ther test the right way and thats @ 28" water. In the flow chart you want to find a head that will first of all support your budget and secondly(power wise) look at the peak flow in the .400-.500 lift range. This is where you will find your torque...but only if you match the cam to the heads. No big lift cams, thats going in the wrong direction. with a bigger cam you will almost always increase duration as well as lobe seperation angle which will push your power curve up to a part of the rpm band that you will rarely ever see.

The lift of the cam needs to be in the same area as the heads you choose. pick the heads that flow the best that you can afford in the .400-.500 valve lift range. Then a cam that has a lift of the same range. Don't go cheap and not get new lifters when you replace the cam because that is the easiest way to wipe som elobes off the cam.