How much HP and Torque for Daily Driver

[Bextreme04]

Sure as heck wasnt no 195 horse in '85 ..i'm thinkin youre a lot closer to 165.
I'm on the same page as @75gmck25 ...it's really all about the cylinder heads. And cylinder head GASKETS.

Run some copper shims and 305 heads - spare yourself buying a new engine and marry 91 octane instead ... Same difference.
And if you went to 31s from 33s for example - that would make an additional world of difference.

Dont wanna run 305 heads? Fine but at least see what difference a different head gasket can make...it's so cheap and simple nobody believes me. Have the current anchors (191s or 193s u have) rebuilt and milled a little bit AND THEN you can run shorter pushrods.

If its not puffin ring smoke makin u choke - there is little reason to suffer an engine swap old boy but then again im honery.. Work with what ya got - run what ya brung. At least run Chevrolet parts..come on man! You could build it out of whatever you like, Camaro or Corvette parts..... GM parts interchangeability is unmatched across the globe..cop car or interceptor pieces will all bolt on. It's really fun!

For the love of god, please don't just slap 305 heads on a 350 and send it.

I'm not saying you are wrong rusty, just that for people who don't know any better its a good way to kill the performance of the motor. When I got my motor apart I found that some high school kids must have done just that on it, which is why it always felt low on power and had detonation issues. 305 heads CAN be used to great effect to bump up the compression on an otherwise dismally low compression 350, however you need to make sure you get either large valve 305 heads, or have larger valves fitted along with good pocket cleanup to let them breath.

The kids that put a passenger car 2-bolt main 350 block in my truck at some point had fit old truck 305 heads with 1.72/1.5 valves and a ****** port matching job with no pocket cleanup. They then put roller rockers and a Comp 270H cam in it. The factory compression with the measurements I took from the motor would have been 8.01:1.. with the 305 heads it jumped to 9.4:1, which is a bit sporty for a 3/4 ton truck that should be doing lots of low RPM towing and hauling. Basically it was a dismal performer, and I'm betting 90% of that was the heads. If you build an engine, make sure you select your parts to work correctly together and not just because someone said "slap some 305 heads on there and they will really wake up that engine". Better options would be new design summit iron heads for about $700 for the assembled set or the ATK performance or blueprint engines aluminum heads for $1000 for the assembled set. You aren't going to be able to acquire, clean, and build a used set of heads for that cost in most cases.

 

[WFO]

That's strange. I think I've seen you post before about how unhappy you were with the Sniper. Out of curiosity, what did you hate about it so much? Most people I know IRL that are running a Sniper seem to LOVE them. Can't say I personally know any who runs one on a truck they're all on cars, so maybe weight has something to do with it? But yeah I haven't heard of any bad experiences with them in my circle

IRL?

 

[Bextreme04]

IRL?

In Real Life... as in, not just bad things they heard about from other people on the internet

 

[RecklessWOT]

IRL?

In Real Life

Sorry, i don't use a lot of "interned slang" but I do use a few pieces of shorthand I thought most people were familiar with.

I just meant that I have some friends I personally know in the real world (not just strangers on the internet) that run the sniper and they're happy with it, haven't really ever heard much bad about it. Then I see one guy on the internet (for which I have no frame of reference, I've never seen his setup and I don't know anything about him or how he does things, what other mods he has, what type of mechanic he is, what his driving style is, etc) saying he hates it so much that he thinks it should be illegal (obviously exaggerating/being dramatic, but still sounds like he severely hates it either way). That's the only reason I mentioned the fact that I don't know him as a real person because simply knowing someone can give you a lot better picture of what's going on. I only mentioned it so it's not just more of "well hey I heard this on the web", I mean I actually know a few people who are really quite pleased

 

[Bextreme04]

In Real Life

Sorry, i don't use a lot of "interned slang" but I do use a few pieces of shorthand I thought most people were familiar with.

I just meant that I have some friends I personally know in the real world (not just strangers on the internet) that run the sniper and they're happy with it, haven't really ever heard much bad about it. Then I see one guy on the internet (for which I have no frame of reference, I've never seen his setup and I don't know anything about him or how he does things, what other mods he has, what type of mechanic he is, what his driving style is, etc) saying he hates it so much that he thinks it should be illegal (obviously exaggerating/being dramatic, but still sounds like he severely hates it either way). That's the only reason I mentioned the fact that I don't know him as a real person because simply knowing someone can give you a lot better picture of what's going on. I only mentioned it so it's not just more of "well hey I heard this on the web", I mean I actually know a few people who are really quite pleased

I have a friend that went from a blow through carb setup to a Holley Sniper on his 73 Nova with an 8.1L Gen VII BBC running a custom twin turbo setup. He said it worked OK for drivability, but was a complete pain to tune or do anything custom with. He said that it was "just ok" and that, for the cost, if he had it to do over again he would have gone a different way with it.

He decided to go with an LT4/8L80E setup from Chevrolet performance instead of messing with it anymore, if that matters.

 

[RecklessWOT]

I have a friend that went from a blow through carb setup to a Holley Sniper on his 73 Nova with an 8.1L Gen VII BBC running a custom twin turbo setup. He said it worked OK for drivability, but was a complete pain to tune or do anything custom with. He said that it was "just ok" and that, for the cost, if he had it to do over again he would have gone a different way with it.

He decided to go with an LT4/8L80E setup from Chevrolet performance instead of messing with it anymore, if that matters.

Well yeah, for a twin turbo big block, I would assume you'd want to do something more custom. But for most people with a mild build and or on a daily driver it's plenty good enough for most applications

 

[75gmck25]

When I switched to aluminum heads I decided to use a Howard’s cam with 213/217 @ .050 and 112 LSA. With good flowing 64cc heads this cam works well, but it might not have the idle lope you want.

If you want noticeable lope at idle you can go up in duration to about 222-225 at .050 and use a cam with about 108 LSA. The longer duration moves the power higher, but it needs rpm to get there. The lower LSA helps low end torque a little, and should give you a idle lope and low idle vacuum.

Rememer that you have a heavy vehicle, probably moderate gearing (3.07?), maybe big tires, and an automatic with stock torque converter. The guy with a Camaro (lighter weight), 4.10 gears and a 4 speed can get a long duration cam quickly up into it power band, so he can light the tires up easily. If you get too much cam you might have trouble ever spinning the tires. But it will sound really tough at the drive-in.

 

[WFO]

In Real Life

Sorry, i don't use a lot of "interned slang" but I do use a few pieces of shorthand I thought most people were familiar with.

I just meant that I have some friends I personally know in the real world (not just strangers on the internet) that run the sniper and they're happy with it, haven't really ever heard much bad about it. Then I see one guy on the internet (for which I have no frame of reference, I've never seen his setup and I don't know anything about him or how he does things, what other mods he has, what type of mechanic he is, what his driving style is, etc) saying he hates it so much that he thinks it should be illegal (obviously exaggerating/being dramatic, but still sounds like he severely hates it either way). That's the only reason I mentioned the fact that I don't know him as a real person because simply knowing someone can give you a lot better picture of what's going on. I only mentioned it so it's not just more of "well hey I heard this on the web", I mean I actually know a few people who are really quite pleased

Much obliged

I wasn't arguing with you, honest.
Especially since I didn't even know what IRL meant.
Not much on shorthand, since I don't text or tweet or nothin, and Indy Racing League was way yonder out of context.

 

[Rusty Nail]

^ lol

Motor runs excellent, was replaced in early 2000s with a 350 crate engine 195hp. Was thinking about doing like Gmck25 said. Set of good heads/vortec, cam, intake, headers and maybe reuse qjet carb for now. What would be good cam specs for some low end torque and have a decent lope at idle?

I have a 408 with a single pattern Comp 268H and I think that's a decent choice for a truck. Was in a 75 K5.
https://www.compcams.com/xe268h

The next engine I build will have a L46 camshaft which will kick ass I bet.

RPO L46 (350 cubic inch): 350 hp @ 5,600 RPM; Torque: 380 lb-ft. @ 3,600 RPM

I also own one of these..
! I found this on eBay and thought you might like it! Check it out now! https://ebay.us/m1CXzE

There's a GOOD two in my opinion.

 

[Frankenchevy]

The sniper was okay for me. Doesn’t work too well in fairly cold weather on vehicles without a heat riser/crossover in the intake. Engines that have intake manifolds without a crossover were never designed to be wet manifolds ie vortecs, LS, Gen 2 etc. When they flow fuel at cold temps the fuel will fall out of suspension and pool. That’ll cause a good bit of sputtering, hesitation and poor running until MATs get up to ~40*F.

The pro flo 4 is better as a bolt on to a milder DD. Once you factor in timing control and a manifold, they’re pretty comparable in price.

As for hp/tq on a daily, don’t expect much more than 350/350-400 on a gen 1 350sbc with all the bolt on mods and a cam—unless you have some really nice aftermarket heads. This would also be the base I’d be happy with on something I’m just cruising around. 350-400hp is ample for a DD. Anything more, you’re likely sacrificing somewhere else, swapping in a more modern power plant or spending a bit of cash.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Well said.
I think 350-400 is the big end for most reasonable SBCs that you could daily to work. It's all the same cost in one place or another, that's a great point and I agree.
Can I add?
Pretty tough to get replacement parts from the internet at 5pm Thursday night if you gotta be someplace in the morning and that factor mutiplies exponentially the further you get some stock.

 

[Octane]

Put a hemi in it. 426 cid.Never be late for work again.Dont need no ls.

 

[Clayton Clark]

When I switched to aluminum heads I decided to use a Howard’s cam with 213/217 @ .050 and 112 LSA. With good flowing 64cc heads this cam works well, but it might not have the idle lope you want.

If you want noticeable lope at idle you can go up in duration to about 222-225 at .050 and use a cam with about 108 LSA. The longer duration moves the power higher, but it needs rpm to get there. The lower LSA helps low end torque a little, and should give you a idle lope and low idle vacuum.

Rememer that you have a heavy vehicle, probably moderate gearing (3.07?), maybe big tires, and an automatic with stock torque converter. The guy with a Camaro (lighter weight), 4.10 gears and a 4 speed can get a long duration cam quickly up into it power band, so he can light the tires up easily. If you get too much cam you might have trouble ever spinning the tires. But it will sound really tough at the drive-in.

Thanks for all the detailed info! The truck does have 3.73 gears but with 33x12.50’s I’m sure it knocks the gearing back considerably. I’m not looking for a 500hp sbc. Just something that sounds decent and runs good. Guessing less than 350 hp for a reliable daily driver. When I do end up swapping the engine probably just go with the gm ht383 that’s 325hp/444lbft

 

[sirweesarunch]

For “street “. Here is the best advice you’ll ever get. Naturally aspirated. Build the biggest cubic inch engine you can afford to fuel with the mildest off idle cam available. You want all your power from off idle to 4000 rpm where street engines operate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dan Brown]

I agree with the big block suggestion. There's no substitute for cubic inches. I'd use a low end cam with the big block for lots of low end torque. That should help you pass everything but the gas stations. Keep that credit card handy.