Hi guys, I'm rebuilding my '71 350 and I am looking for power, about 350-400 horse. as of know, I plan on doing a stock bottom end rebuid, with teh exception of ARP bolts, and forged pistons. I'm probably going to balance the assembly, cut the crank and take it .030 over. nt to mention resizing the rods, and align honing the block. any siggestions as far as clearances and that sort of thing, or tips would be appreciated. I wanna go to 6000 rpm at least a few times. as for the top end I plan on using the '71 heads. Questions- I plan on about 10-11:1 compression. I've read somewhere taking .040 off the heads will give me about 10.5-10.0:1, is this true, and safe to cut this much? I have no idea what size my valves are, but I'm guessing they are to small.... Is this true? what valves do people commonly swap in??? I plan on some heavy porting and polishing, and I was hoping some one could give me a few tips in this area. I realize there are books written about porting, but I hope someon could tell me where to concentrate most. also, whats the deal with the rocker setup??? I'm a BBB guy so the small block is new to me. what can expect to do here. shouild I replace or is it up to par? CAmshaft- any recomendations? I have not started this process yet. Its going to be behind a built TH350with 2500 stall, 3.73s and in a 80's g-body. intake...carb... what really works here. I don't even know if anyone makes an aftermarket manifold, do they? also, what size carb is neccesary? I know the big blocks prefer huge carbs. I need some general info here, so help a gu out. thanks alot. all suggestions considered. Joe
TA performance or Postons will have what you are looking for. They each have an intake manifold that you can replace your stocker with. Have some one knowledgeable do the head porting unless you know what your doing. You can take .020 of the block and still have the pistons in the hole .030 to .035 giving you a greater than 10/1 compression if you use the 10.25/1 forged pistons. Personally if I had it to do over again I would use a stock compression forged piston and cut the block to give you a .005 in the hole clearance. You must assemble the block and see exactly how far they are in the hole so you can cut them once and get it right. It takes time but is worth the hastle. If you go with the first thing that I said and you want a 10.5/1 compression you can just put a set of steel shim head gaskets in which are only .020 thick and will give you a 10.5/1 minimum compression. You can buy them from Checker/Schucks/Kragen auto parts stores for $17. Part number FelPro 8264pt1. Balance the motor if you want to go above 5k rpm. It will live longer. Good luck and check the back of a Postons catalog for the right clearences for a street strip build up.
