1985 cutty questions

[chitown906]

So I purchased an 85 Cutty of a family friend and she's in desperate need of a trans , and a pick me up in the engine department since the 307 seems a bit under powered in my eyes . I was thinking about dropping a 350 into her with vortec heads and carb intake , and get headers and some further exhaust work done. Question 1 , would that be a pretty good start to making some decent power , for a budget , OR are there better routes out there. Im not expecting 400hp , i figure I should be in the 250-350 range once completed at the very least and I'd be happy with that .

For trans should I go with a 700R4 , or Turbo 350, OR 5spd, I would prefer 5spd but I really think it's going to be even more difficult than it's worth in a car I currently only have $100 into .

Also what are some good budget things I can do to improve the car both while im awaiting to find an engine and truthfully set myself up for what route im taking with this car, and those ideas that I can do later on to improve the car as a whole .

Thanks for all the help thus far


Chi_Town

 

[DonutCr3w]

if I were you for the moment while you are waiting id do some suspension work, 2 inch 2wd zq8 drop spindles with c5 corvette brakes in the front or like a rear disc conversion, drop springs, sway bars, control arms, a very cheap thing to improve handling would be polyurethane bushings throughout the suspension.