Crate engine swap advise please?

[MadOgre]

Careful, George...you'll make @MadOgre puke .....after he edits his original post of nonsense

No just your ********* Biff

 

[MadOgre]

OK. This morning I popped in the stretched 8" springs. You can see them here sticking out because of the stretch.

You must be registered for see images attach

I also popped in rod 6557. This is as close as I could get with what I had.

First off, it wouldn't start. It was not getting enough choke. It was about 65* F this morning. I turned the choke by hand and it fired up.

I just drove it to work. I think it is running pretty good. Just no balls. Maybe the distributor was part of the problem.

K so you do have a lopey cam right? Im just wondering why you have so much vacuum with a lopey cam?

 

[73 C10]

K so you do have a lopey cam right? Im just wondering why you have so much vacuum with a lopey cam?

Sorry to say, I think the lope was the distributor , and we're learning it has a small cam in it, and I'm guessing that's why it's got no balls.

 

[MadOgre]

Sorry to say, I think the lope was the distributor , and we're learning it has a small cam in it, and I'm guessing that's why it's got no balls.

OH got you! Oh well your next cam will fix that! So the question is then 12-300-4 High Energy or 12-230-2 Xtreme Energy

Stock lift vs a little more then stock lift ???


I would just buy the pro comp RV cam for your stock 350 and then later maybe throw some heads at it that will also work with a roller cam block.

Then start working on a complete roller cam short block with a roller cam! lol and then just swap the heads over with the carb and distributor and other goodies. Probably gonna need a new intake when you swap heads.

You might just be a happy camper after just doing the cam swap on your current engine.

 

[MadOgre]

And Im super stoked you got it going in the right direction now

 

[MadOgre]

Thanks, but there's also a lot of stuff I'm dumb as a post on. Haven't ever done it, or it's been a long time, whatever. I just read what other people say and try to learn, from MO and others.

Whenever I do something on the truck, I research it pretty heavily before I do anything, and sometimes pull boner moves, then I fix it and move on. Hopefully I save somebody else from having to work through the same mistakes. I'm lucky in that I am not hard up for cash to fix my mistakes.

Anyway I try to limit my comments to stuff I actually know. Engine timing, that I got.

BTW, here's the best thing I have found on the net about engine timing. Other competent sources bear out this information. Read the first three posts.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/distributor-tuning-theory-part-1-a-59033.html

I meant thanks for this Rich. lol

 

[rich weyand]

Guys, I think it's running smooth. Nice. Thanks.

Now, let's give it some balls. I like the 4 step program. The:

#1 Cam to go with the,
#2 Heads to go with the,
#3 Carb. to go with the,
#4 Roller short block, idea.

if I got that in the right order. Can it be done without buying the cam twice? Probably not, because of the roller parts? I'm assuming I will deal with less then perfect output 'till the small block stage when the pistons match the heads.

But first help me tune what I've got. it ain't winning any races the way it is.

Give it the other four degrees of base timing, and back off the VA to 16 crankshaft degrees. It makes a big difference.

Buy the AF/R meter and get some numbers.

A 12-230-2 cam -- no other changes -- will give you 290 HP @ 4000 and 420 ftlbs @ 2500. With 3.73:1 and 28" tires you won't be able to keep the tires from spinning on any serious launch with that much torque without going to some pretty big meats in the back. You might have to re-engineer the rear suspension to gain clearance and tub the bed.

You will also be on the edge of blowing up the rest of the drivetrain. Guess what the 400 in TH400 stands for. Unless that trans has been beefed up from stock, you'll be on the edge of leaving parts on the pavement.

And if you spin the rears while making a tight right turn, while pulling out into traffic, say, you'll blow up the Eaton posi in that 12-bolt, and the shrapnel will take the rest of the diff with it.

A set of Dart heads will get you to 410 HP @ 6000 and 400+ ft lbs from 2500 rpm right through to 5000 rpm. They're also $600 a side. I know that setup works. A guy on another forum has it. Last I heard he was waiting for a new transmission.

 

[MadOgre]

Sounds like maybe the 12-230-2 is more up your alley ? It has higher then stock lift on the valves. But still starts to pull petty early LOL

 

[73 C10]

Give it the other four degrees of base timing, and back off the VA to 16 crankshaft degrees. It makes a big difference.

Buy the AF/R meter and get some numbers.

A 12-230-2 cam -- no other changes -- will give you 290 HP @ 4000 and 420 ftlbs @ 2500. With 3.73:1 and 28" tires you won't be able to keep the tires from spinning on any serious launch with that much torque without going to some pretty big meats in the back. You might have to re-engineer the rear suspension to gain clearance and tub the bed.

You will also be on the edge of blowing up the rest of the drivetrain. Guess what the 400 in TH400 stands for. Unless that trans has been beefed up from stock, you'll be on the edge of leaving parts on the pavement.

And if you spin the rears while making a tight right turn, while pulling out into traffic, say, you'll blow up the Eaton posi in that 12-bolt, and the shrapnel will take the rest of the diff with it.

A set of Dart heads will get you to 410 HP @ 6000 and 400+ ft lbs from 2500 rpm right through to 5000 rpm. They're also $600 a side. I know that setup works. A guy on another forum has it. Last I heard he was waiting for a new transmission.

Gotcha. Let's not get retarded on the motor, just what the drivetrain can handle.

What was this?

"And if you spin the rears while making a tight right turn, while pulling out into traffic, say, you'll blow up the Eaton posi in that 12-bolt, and the shrapnel will take the rest of the diff with it."

 

[Old77]

Guys, I think it's running smooth. Nice. Thanks.

Great to hear, man!! Glad it all worked out with having to do any of the scenarios we came up with earlier in the thread

No just your ********* Biff

You probably haven't been on this site long enough to know this but "Biff" is a name reserved for @89Suburban and taking that name in vane and using as a derogatory name to bring somebody down is strictly prohibited in the GMSB by laws. We will pretend you didn't use this name THIS time but next time......off with your head!!!

 

[rich weyand]

Let me tell you a little story. Back in, oh, 1966 or so, my cousin had a 55 Chevy. Bondoed up, grey primer, stripped the (heavy) bumpers off, the whole nine yards.

He put a 435 horse 427 in it, Didn't change anything else, just the engine. He could spin the tires all day long.

So he put slicks on the back. First time he launched after that, he blew up the clutch. This was the clutch that came with the 265 in 1955, so big surprise, right?

So he fixes the clutch, and he's all happy, and goes out cruisin', and pulls a serious launch in front of the root beer stand. There's a big explosion and gears come flying out from under the car. That 1955 transmission was not made for that. He split the case.

OK, so he puts the big beefy transmission on it, and after he had all that together, he was pretty happy for a while until he blew up the 10-bolt in the back.

So, one new axle later, he's all back together. One high-performance launch later, he had dismembered the suspension. You really need new shackles and mounts and all the rest with that much horsepower on a double-nickel shoebox Chevy.

The moral is that, once you get past a certain point, you need to be talking about everything, not just the engine. You got great plans for the engine, but what about an over-built TH400, a different differential, new suspension....

Unless, of course, you can build it for that much torque and not use it.

I will say that I don't use everything I have at this point. I have the 12-300-4, and so should be getting about 275 HP @ 4000 and 420+ ftlbs @ 2500 with stock lift and stock heads. I don't use it all, particularly on launch, because 1) BFG All-Terrain TAs go for $200+ mounted and balanced, 2) I don't want to blow up the 12-bolt (3.73+Eaton, like yours), 3) I don't want to blow up the TH350, which is stock, and 4) it's sort of excessive and I don't need trouble with The Man.

 

[rich weyand]

Gotcha. Let's not get retarded on the motor, just what the drivetrain can handle.

What was this?

"And if you spin the rears while making a tight right turn, while pulling out into traffic, say, you'll blow up the Eaton posi in that 12-bolt, and the shrapnel will take the rest of the diff with it."

The Eaton Gov-Lock RPO code G80 is also known in some circles as the Eaton Gov-Bomb. If you spin both rears while making a tight right turn, like pulling out of a parking lot or side street into traffic, you can dynamite the posi inside the diff, which shoots shrapnel all over, including in the carrier, spider gears, etc., and the whole diff ends up garbage.

I haven't done it, but so I have heard.

 

[Georgeb]

I like Rich's story and there is truth to it. I had a mild build 327 in a 71 c10. Couldnt hook it up and split a few saginaw trannys down the middle hitting second. Had a limit slip not an eaton. Went past a cop smoking the tires sideways......sold it because I was addicted to it.

 

[73 C10]

So what LS doesn't grenade?

 

[MadOgre]

Gotcha. Let's not get retarded on the motor, just what the drivetrain can handle.

What was this?

"And if you spin the rears while making a tight right turn, while pulling out into traffic, say, you'll blow up the Eaton posi in that 12-bolt, and the shrapnel will take the rest of the diff with it."

OK ok well do the 12-300-4 full kit for $400