What can you do with a 350 rocket? Can you bore it .030 over? can I get good performace out of one or am I waisting my time and money?
350 Rocket
- Thread starter MWA
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MWA said:
Depends on the year of the block. The 1968-76 blocks have solid mains and thick walls. 0.060" over is common. Some people have gone even further, but that usually requires sonic checking. The 1977-1980 blocks have windowed main webs and much thinner walls. 0.030" over is still fine, however.
As for is this motor worth it, well, the prevailing opinion on this forum seems to be to just hit everything with the SBC sledgehammer. Personally I don't agree. The 350 Olds has a better bore/stroke ratio than even the Chevy. Dare to be different.
I'm getting a 72 350 rebuilt at the moment, it will be bored .30 over. mild cam, edelbrock intake, and edelbrock 650 carb. It is a little more expensive to have an olds motor built, but your going to to save time and money by being able to use all the brakets and mounts from the 307, if you have a 307. It will be almost plug and play. I like the fact it is different, because chevies are everywhere ( not starting an argument of what is better) also you need to look into having a stronger trans put in because the 200 r4 won't hold the power. I went with an upgraded 200 r4, a little more expensive than a th350, but i wanted an overdrive and again the easiness of plug and play. This is my first swap I'm attemping and after researching found this to be the easiest. Granted my complete rebuilt motor is going to run me 2500, plus 1300, for my transmission. This is my first swap and want to have the least margin of error and extra work.
DETROITBOY27 said:
I think you meant the metric 200 won't hold the power. The rocket 350 is a good solid engine. Mine is a 77 and a good runner, but I will be building for more power down the road. I may look into a girdle to help the windowed main problem though. Have the 5 heads and will be getting a different intake and flat top pistons down the road along with getting the heads worked. I may also look into a 2004r in the future.
definettly learned alot there.outsider_27 said:
from what i've read i've the 200 4r won't hold anything past 200 hp., i could be wrong though so anyone feel free to chime in.
check out oldspower.com, and realoldspower.com, there are a lot of good resources there, i have learned alot there.
DETROITBOY27 said:
Horse power doesn't kill the them, it is torque. Also, another big thing is having the t.v. cable adjusted properly.
definettly learned alot there.DETROITBOY27 said:
from what i've read i've the 200 4r won't hold anything past 200 hp., i could be wrong though so anyone feel free to chime in.
check out oldspower.com, and realoldspower.com, there are a lot of good resources there, i have learned alot there.[/quote
Im not too sure I believe that. Im a noob, but its pretty hard to believe that any transmission is that weak.
cdg1984 said:
Considering that I've killed two with a pavement-ripping VIN Y 307, yeah, that's probably close in stock form. Of course, the turbo Buick crowd has found and fixed just about every weakness in the 200-4R. The fact that they can get this trans to live in a 9 sec car should tell you something.
joe_padavano said:
I forgot to mention turbobuick.com, that is where i researched for my transmission, most of those guys run the 2004r in their GN's, it is very rare one of those guys will swap it out. I think the GN had a stronger transmission from the factory than the other gbody's, I could be wrong on that though. Point being i don't believe, this is MY belief, my stock 200 4r ( with 64k on it) will be able to take the power of my motor.
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