Hi guys I'm building a 350 for my 72 skylark. I have bought a TA perfomance intake, headers, dual exh. and carb. I'm undecided on what to do for the long block. I want a relatively hot street setup that can be driven to shows and be reliable. So I guess what I'm looking for is what to run on the internal parts (pistons,cam,valve train) I have some idea's but would like some opinions. Cam would be the most important thing that I haven't picked. Anyhelp would be great. Thanks Frank
Use the high compression pistons. With the thicker headgaskets around today, you'll be 10to1 at the most. Pinging is not much of a problem with 92 to 93 octane. Recurve your dist as well. I would ask TA for a cam recommendation. They'll need to know your rear gear and trans info. Planning on using a higher stall converter? I would. Cloyes true roller chain, std pushrods, stock style rockers, and springs that match the cam, and you should be running very well. Hell, I am!
I would also have the block decked as much as .050. Most Buicks have the piston as far as .055 in the hole. Doing this will give you a better quench area, more compression and less chance of detonation. I had mine decked .050 for a deck clearance of .005 and my heads were milled .030 Im using Sterling H522NP pistons (I think thats the part number) and TA's 310 cam, TA intake, TA 1.60 Roller rockers, TA headers, and Holley 750 Vac secondary carb. I also have the TA big stainless valves, heads polished, bowl work, and port matched. And some other things I cant think of right now But I can say it runs great on 94 Sunoco with VERY little if any detonation. My trans is a 350 with a 24 to 2600 stall and 3.42 limited slip rear. At 3780 lbs. it will smoke 'em thru first and second gear:laugh: Good luck with your build up, Mark
Frank - I would definitely recommend following that advice!! It might sound odd...but decking the block to .005" below deck will minimize the tendency to detonate - even if it meant going from 9.5 to 1 compression, to 10:1 comp.!! That tight quench 'squishes' the mixture into the center at the very last second. Makes better use of each combustion event!! I would rather have the cast pistons AND get the decking done...than have forged pistons with no extra machine work! Whether you have the heads shaved that much is up to you! It may depend on which pistons you wind up with (8.5 or 10 to 1). Don't forget the TA 'grooved' cam bearings!!:Smarty: Also, make sure your timing cover isn't worn in the oil pump area!!
