Which 350 setup would you buy to replace your 305?

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maxtwms

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Assuming around 2-3 grand, just engine, heads, and intake manifold, which Summit or your preferred dealer setup combo would you want?

4x4, Daily driver, hauling things here and there, climbing hills, not having a pansy truck.

Feel free to include extras, I know they're coming.

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Rusty Nail

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4WDKC

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if there is any chance you might think about swapping to LS later, just do it now. The stock 4.8l make more power than a stock 350 has in the last 45 years.
 

poboy73

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maxtwms

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if there is any chance you might think about swapping to LS later, just do it now. The stock 4.8l make more power than a stock 350 has in the last 45 years.

There's a part of me that wants to keep the truck as period specific as possible, if you know what I mean. The more I think about it, I'm leaning more towards a 383 and 4.10 gears (from 305 and 3.08, pansy). I would like to just drop in a new small block without all the headache of swapping out more than desired that comes with an LS1. Maybe Ive been mislead. I know there's more bang for your buck with the LS1, just not sure I want to go mashing up different generational main components. Any water to be carried there?
 

DoubleDingo

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Carb'ed Vortec 350
a crate vortec 350 from gmperformance which I believe is also sold by summit. I swapped the heads on the stock 350 in my '81 to vortec and was impressed by the increase in power with the stock cam. Then I later took out the engine to reseal the entire thing, and while it was out I put in a 327/300 camshaft kit and that produced even more usable power.
 

DoubleDingo

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There's a part of me that wants to keep the truck as period specific as possible, if you know what I mean. The more I think about it, I'm leaning more towards a 383 and 4.10 gears (from 305 and 3.08, pansy). I would like to just drop in a new small block without all the headache of swapping out more than desired that comes with an LS1. Maybe Ive been mislead. I know there's more bang for your buck with the LS1, just not sure I want to go mashing up different generational main components. Any water to be carried there?

I am in the court of no LS, mainly because a good 350 engine build can produce decent power and economy and it is much easier to swap because there is no rewiring or reworking of stuff. Can it make the power of an LS and get the improved mileage? Probably not as much of an improvement as the LS. Another reason for the no LS for me personally, here in CA, if you run a newer engine you have to change all of the emissions equipment to match the newer engine. So it is much more involved but can be done by work with the Referee. Now I could swap in an LS into Crusty Biscuit without dealing with emissions crap, but I like the simplicity of the old technology.
 

Crispy

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Its all personal preference. I know I wanted easier starts, more economy, and more power. It was easy to decide on a LS swap and 4 speed auto. Theres always something to be said about a powerful small block and a set of flowmasters but eventually my Burb will be a daily driver so that direction made the most sense to me.

As for the ease, or quickness of the swap, a 350 will be your best bet and you can allocate more of your funds to a sweet engine as opposed to having to spend on swap components and integration of an otherwise stock LS.
 

77 K20

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I think it was rich weyand? Who posted about just using the standard GM truck crate engine but swapping out the cam to something else. Put out a lot of torque at a low RPM. I'm going to see if I can find that... maybe someone has it bookmarked?
 

77 K20

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Aha! Found it:

"Buy the Chevrolet Performance 10067353 engine at JEGS for $1500 delivered. Put the Comp Cams 12-235-2 cam in it before you even run it. Use the springs and lifters that are already in it. Put a dual plane manifoldlike Edelbrock 2101 or 2701 on it.

290 hp @4000, 415 lbft @2500."


http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/affordable-engine-replacement.16564/

Kinda wish I would have went this route instead of my 383. Would have had less issues and saved some money.
 

Rusty Nail

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I vote no LS. Gen 1 or bust because I too enjoy "period correctness". My '77 has a Holley "Contender" manifold on it and an 80457. I believe that type of thing ADDS value to the truck - in that sense- whereas an LS swap detracts from THAT TYPE of value. They look awkward and out of place to me and the answer is no. Not in MY TRUCK! Unreliable and unpredictable. No.

People are GIVING AWAY Gen1 parts these days. Later i'll post the insane amount of stuff GIVEN to me today. Dude called me old school and said that I am the only person he knows still building Gen1.
Sweet. Hook it upp! Badge of honor.

Cold day in hell before I go about adding computers to a 40 year old part of Classic Americana...then you would have to call it something else!

They're junk anyway. Don't last. Built to be disposable...all hp cant make torque so they're slow . Screamin meanies without balls.

I didn't post the 260 horse engine thinking you should run it like that @rich weyand .
Swap heads, swap cam and THEN youre talkin! but whatever...
 
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DoubleDingo

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Aha! Found it:

"Buy the Chevrolet Performance 10067353 engine at JEGS for $1500 delivered. Put the Comp Cams 12-235-2 cam in it before you even run it. Use the springs and lifters that are already in it. Put a dual plane manifoldlike Edelbrock 2101 or 2701 on it.

290 hp @4000, 415 lbft @2500."


http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/affordable-engine-replacement.16564/

Kinda wish I would have went this route instead of my 383. Would have had less issues and saved some money.

That's it! It does void the warranty, but you gain power right off the bat and what is the chance of a fresh new engine going bad.

I ran the piss out of a crate engine in Mean Green, it lacked the torque due to the cam, but I made land speed records in that truck running an SM420 and 3.54 rear end gears. It loved to cruise at 80 mph all day (3,000 RPMS) and at the time could out run most anything on the open road if I wanted to go faster. That was before everything changed and the high horsepower stuff came into production, but man that truck was fun to drive with that setup. I can imagine what it could do with more torque....YEEHAW!!! One example...My drive to work was 17 miles one way from the front of my house to the courthouse where I parked on the street. Was running a tad late one morning and made it to the work parking spot in 8 minutes. Fun stuff!
 

maxtwms

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Man y'all are making me want to pull the trigger already. I thinking I've found the right crowd. I always felt like these trucks should have nothing less than a 350 and that was enough to make all the power you reasonably needed if you knew how to manipulate the running gear and so forth. Glad to see gen I die hards. I'll be back for that crate, cam upgrade with prob vortev heads. Couldn't break the bank with that setup

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