Better Heads and Faster Trans

[Gears And Circuits]

If you're only pulling 3,000rpm, something is way wrong. Check your throttle cable. Even a stock 350 should float the valves around 4500.

Throttle is adjusted. I have gotten it to max out the revs but only on the freeway and if I get it to kick down just right. I'm assuming it might be the governor.

 

[DRIVEN]

200-4r and 3.42 gears will give you the same cruise RPM that you hasve with your 3spd and 2.29s.
Your build sheet in the 350 looks to be pretty tame (not knowing your cam specs) so I wouldn't expect crazy acceleration out of it but it still should turn higher than 3000 RPMs.

 

[fleming442]

You could always grab the handle and shift it yourself, too.

 

[lilbowtie]

You adjusted the throttle cable - how about the trans cable

 

[TURNA]

bad cat?

 

[Texas82GP]

bad cat?

 

[Gears And Circuits]

Everyone is saying basically the same thing, which I kind of figured. I just need to redo the rest of the drivetrain. If I'm going to go through the trouble of swapping the trans I'm just going to go ahead and convert it over to manual.

 

[ham1974]

If I was you I would find a used g body rear like out of SS 3.73 gear and get that compression up. There are a lot of speed shops around with the 600 dollar aluminum heads have them milled with a new cam you be in it for under $1000. See what that does then maybe a a stall and a transmission with a shift kit will wake that car up.

 

[fleming442]

I'm still not clear on the actual problem... So far it looks like you can hold it in gear, rev to 5 or 6 grand, all is good, but shifting on it's own is at 3000?

 

[64nailhead]

So currently I have a brand new SBC 350, .030 over, 882 series 194 heads, stock bottom end, Eddelbrock performer intake and Holley 600 cfm carb. All this hooked into a th350 that WAS bolted to the Buick 3.8L v6 and the rear gears are 2.3:1.
Im fairly set on reducing the chamber size to 64cc down from 76cc, BUT would it be better to get some aluminum heads and spend a thousand dollars or get a set of Vortecs and save a bit?
For the rest of the drivetrain, it's a dog. Engines maxes at 3k RPM with the pedal slammed and accelerates slower than a Honda civic. How do I make that automatic faster without compromising the drivability on the freeway? (aside from rear gears, I know that will have to change.)
If anyone is running this please let me know how you did it and what worked best.

1st - 882 heads make good door stops and boat anchors. They are pretty much the worst head that Chevy ever used. They were designed for a purpose, none of which you appear to be interested in. Any money put into them is wasted unless they're being used for Grandma's daily driver used for getting groceries, going to Church and Dr. offices.

2nd - to make a recommendation for heads we need some build info including piston cc, piston to deck clearance, rod length, exhaust, cam specs (cam number will help locate all of the specs). You can't just swap heads with no concern of cam or piston volume. Everything needs to work together to meet a goal. Since you have the short block freshly built with a new cam, now you need to pick a head that will work with your cam. Vortec's are a great upgrade if you can find a set that are in good condition, repeat if. But there are many other upgrades that end up being cheaper unless you already have the different bolt pattern intake and self aligning rockers.

3rd - nothing is going to make transmission faster other than more power in front of it. Your rear gear ratio is the ultimate in pathetic.Made for one use only - low power applications that are going to run on the highway with a 3 speed transmission with a mpg goal. You need to sort out your motor and determine what trans and tirer you're going to stick with and then come up with a proper gear ratio and stall.

Lastly, you need to give a better description of 'engine maxes at 3K RPM with pedal slammed'. Will it not run over 3K on the highway, or from a launch, or what?