350 / 290 crate engine fail

[Cuse99]

I had this same motor in one of my cars for a daily driver and it did great! Be mindful that the 265hp rating is with long tubes and a 4 barrel carb. Would I buy it again..... not right now with the price being $2,800 plus tax and freight, there are better options for just a little more money.

So lets say use short tubes or even factory tubes and a 4 barrel carb and an upgraded intake..... How much power can I assume? 250? 240?
I like the fact I can use 87 octane and its a direct swap with my existing 305. My other option is the 350/290. I just don't know how much power I'll lose so maybe if I start with a 350/290 I'll only get the 260 HP. Anything is better than what I have now, it just a matter of balancing what I get with the cost. If the 350/265 only cost 1500.00 I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Those cheap 265 and 290 hp 350s are just copies of 70's smogger van 350s. In the real world you might get around 200 hp. The big issues with them are the low CR and huge chamber heads.

 

[Cuse99]

Those cheap 265 and 290 hp 350s are just copies of 70's smogger van 350s. In the real world you might get around 200 hp. The big issues with them are the low CR and huge chamber heads.

Really - Motor rated at 300 HP even with a 4 barrel, edelbrock intake and long tubes will only get 200 HP? I'm sorry but I don't believe you'd loose that much HP.

 

[Ribbedroof]

I looked at those longblocks, but the 8.0:1 compression ratio and tiny flat tappet cams turned me off them, given the 100% price increase over the last 2 years.

Never going to make good numbers NA at 8:1

Blueprint was selling a 373 HP roller cam, vortec head longblock for 2800 early this year. Of course, they're now sold out. Waiting to see what replaces it and at what price.

Boss put one of the above Bluprints in his Chevelle, runs pretty good.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Really - Motor rated at 300 HP even with a 4 barrel, edelbrock intake and long tubes will only get 200 HP? I'm sorry but I don't believe you'd loose that much HP.

You could get 300 out of them with a really good flowing intake and exhaust, good tuning, and extensive emissions and accessories deletion. IE delete P/S, Cat, and A/C, it won't be steet 300 hp. However, it would easier to get 300+ steet hp with better heads and CR. HP costs big bucks.

 

[Cuse99]

You could get 300 out of them with a really good flowing intake and exhaust, good tuning, and extensive emissions and accessories deletion. IE delete P/S, Cat, and A/C, it won't be steet 300 hp. However, it would easier to get 300+ steet hp with better heads and CR. HP costs big bucks.

Right, I understand. But I'm only looking to get 250 - 270 HP as this car will be a daily driver and I'd like to use 87 octane gas.

 

[08Malibu]

That kind of money for an engine with a flat tappet cam and smog heads is nuts. I’d rather take my chances with a junkyard vortec 350.

 

[64nailhead]

If it had good heads or a factory roller cam setup then fine, but I agree with the previous post. Good money on top of bad with a FT cam and those boat anchors of heads.

To each his own though. I understand that money doesn't grow on trees and running what you brung is never a bad deal for a daily.

 

[CopperNick]

Just me wondering if you have done the post-mortem on your corpsical yet and what the verdict on that dead cylinder proved out to be?



Nick

 

[08Malibu]

If it had good heads or a factory roller cam setup then fine, but I agree with the previous post. Good money on top of bad with a FT cam and those boat anchors of heads.

To each his own though. I understand that money doesn't grow on trees and running what you brung is never a bad deal for a daily.

My post was more for the person that was looking at buying one of these engines, and not the OP.