450hp sb350. how to get there?

[DRIVEN]

I'm trying not to assume too much here. The OP sounds like he's probably young and is asking quite a few basic questions. Nothing wrong with that at all. He also said that he previously had a ZO6 with a "huge cam and A&A procharger and was said to be not street friendly". So someone (either the OP or his dad) either has deep pockets or some speed knowledge. Nothing wrong with that either. Most of these questions could be answered with a little searching or actually contacting some tech lines but it's okay to to ask anyway -- maybe we can help.

So, if you are running a serious 350, a Saginaw isn't a great choice. Most of the broken ones I've pulled apart actually fail in the reverse gear in the cluster and the shrapnel destroys everything else. They also have pretty low first gears which is good for tall rearends but feels like a farm truck in front of something like the 3.73s mentioned earlier in the thread. They're fine for most drivers but not for a high HP hotrod that is being purpose built for abusive showing off. A Muncie or Super T10 is a better choice but pretty pricy these days. A T5 is really no stronger than a Saginaw but at least you get an overdrive gear. The Tremec TKOs are probably a good choice but definitely not cheap. Expect it to cost $3k by the time you get it in. Another oddball option is an MY6 (New Process A833). They are certainly strong enough and have the benefit of an OD gear but have pretty wide gear splits so they really aren't ideal for true drag racing. I agree with DoubleV. Start with dialing in your engine and then beef up the rearend. After you have the bugs worked out start shopping for manual transmission swap parts.

Here's something to play around with: http://www.angelfire.com/fl/procrastination/rear.html . Might save you the trouble of buying parts twice. A good target for a compound 1st gear is 10:1. Since transmission gears vary so much, this might help you settle on an ideal rearend ratio to compliment your transmission. Good luck and keep us posted. Do you have a build thread for your car?

 

[Drew1021]

In regards to the gentleman on the other page saying my father should teach me this. I wish he could teach me this. He runs his own business so he barely has time for himself and he said he learned by teaching himself. so thats what im trying to do. but i like to double, or even tripple check the process/facts and how-to's so i can do it right the first time.

Next, yes i am a young kid, 20. Ive owned my fair share of high performance newer vehicles and this is my first old schoolish vehicle. I have a turbo 350 at home that i proobobly will stick back in the car if its not slipping like i thought it was. Just want to thank you guys for the help by the way.

 

[online170]

I tend to agree with what everyone else is posting here, but thats not what the OP asked in his original post. Live and learn is all good, but sometimes those lessons are expensive! Beleive me, ive learned them all the hard way.

In any case, im trying to find you a cam for your engine. Do you know the valve springs and rockers you have in there? They supply 2 options, 1 of them is good up to 0.620 lift, and the other is good to 0.750 lift.

Something like this would be right up your alley if the rest is true for the engine.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/isk-2 ... /chevrolet

 

[Drew1021]

right now i have the 1.250 single springs and im assuming 1.6 rockers. However, i was given a set of 1.5 and 1.6 rockers and was told i could use those and get more hp if i do the 1.5 rockers on intake and 1.6 rockers on exhaust side. not sure if thats true or not

I Contected previous owner of motor to verify of what heads it has and he told it that it was the middle head on comps website. I then checked and asked him what CC's it was, and it is a 200CC head, not a 227, which is a bummer. so i dont know if the cam in the post above will acutally work, but i could be wrong.

and if i do a automatic, are there any 5speed auto trannys that will bolt to these motors and are affordable. and i want to do a 4000stall and 3.73 gears with this car if i do an auto.

 

[DoubleV]

I can't help you with the Chebby stuff, but you do NOT want a 4000 stall converter! That's for race cars. You can't really choose a converter until you know what rpm your power starts to really come in at. The higher the stall, the shittier it will be on the street unless you minimize that shittiness with a very good ( and expensive ) converter. An off the shelf cheap 4000 stall converter would make you absolutely hate driving your car.

 

[online170]

This entire discussion is mute unless you know what you're working with.

Good luck!