SBC 350 recipe, looking for advice.

[kopeck]

Good morning,

I know, another one of these threads.  I've read a lot of them, but everyone's goals are different so I figured I would see what you folks thought.

'79 C10 with a SBC 350, right now the engine is 100% original with 90ish thousand miles.  It starts easily, idles well, and runs about as good as one could ask for that vintage engine with those years/miles.  That being said, while it starts easily, it makes a bigger and bigger puff of blue smoke, so the heads need attention.  When it's cold, a lifter makes a racket. It sorts itself out after warming up, but I'm not sure how far I want to push it (it's been doing it for a while; it's taking longer and longer to quiet down).  While it does idle well, I have to run it pretty rich to make it happy, not sure what that's all about.  It also leaks...from everywhere.
 It's pretty much a standard a tired, small block.

My goal is a lot different from most folks, at least from what I've read.  I want to keep it mostly stock, at least where it makes sense.  I want good idle and good drivability.  More torque would be nice, but the HP number I really don't care about.  I'll be keeping the iron exhaust manifolds and probably the single exhaust and Quadrajet carb.

My plan:

The Block: Get it trued up and bored to whatever it needs to clean up, I really don't need to punch it out as big as I can go.

The Crank: Get it looked over and ground to what ever it needs to be cleaned up.

Parts: Source a quality rebuild kit.  Nothing exotic is needed, just decent parts.  Things like a Melling pump and quality timing set.  (suggestions welcomed)

The Head: I would like some feedback on this. I was originally going to just have the OE heads rebuilt. Now I'm not so sure. They're 882 heads, which don't seem to have much going for them. They're low-performance and prone to cracking. A local builder I talked to said he would never invest in 882s.  His suggestion was a set of World Products SR Torquers; he said they do everything better than the 882s with zero downside.  He also said that if they were out of my budget, the Summit SUM-152123 would be a good choice.  Pretty much stick with iron heads, paint them blue and they will look stock. :-)

Cam: Another place I'm not sure where to go.  The same guy suggested a "CS-274" cam, which from what I've read it just a stock cam.  I'm fine with that but I know there's a ton of options and opinions.

Intake: Probably stick with the stock one.  The same guy said I wouldn't notice the difference by upgrading.  He really just thought the heads were the thing to invest in.

Any advice would be appreciated.  I've been through a number of engines, mostly ag stuff, where you don't have a variety of parts to choose from, so this whole mixing and matching is new to me.

Thanks,

K

[Mr Diesel]

Or save yourself the time and aggravation by just dropping in one of these:

https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19432780.html

[VileZambonie]

Ditch the heads, bump the compression up, definitely bigger cam than he suggested to make those heads work for you. If you are keeping manifolds you can still improve the exhaust system. Intake manifold upgrade is a good idea. Summit is a good source for everything you need.

[kopeck]

Ditch the heads, bump the compression up, definitely bigger cam than he suggested to make those heads work for you. If you are keeping manifolds you can still improve the exhaust system. Intake manifold upgrade is a good idea. Summit is a good source for everything you need.

Do you think the SR Torquers are worth the extra money over, say, the more generic Summit head?  67cc or 76cc chambers?  I want to run 87 octane. 

Is there a standard cam you would suggest?  I know that's a very open-ended question.

K

[berserk]

Here is my SBC recipe currently sitting in my K10. It should be around 9:1 compression and I can run 87 octane no issue.

Bone stock rebuilt short block
Bone stock vortec heads
"Torque cam" with 488 max lift to accommodate for lift restrictions on vortec heads. I can get the cam card if you really want me to.
Vortec aluminum intake
600 CFM Edelbrock
Hei
Headers

This combo has served me well for 10 plus years, it has good off throttle response and a usable torque band.

[JohnnyPopper]

Is converting to a 383 at this point a viable consideration?