700r4 or 350 turbo?

[MrSony]

Yeah, looks ok to me. He said it had 115k miles when he took it out. I would love to have the block honed and bored over .30. How much do you think that would cost me? Would I see good gains for the money?

lol .30 over. To have a v8 hot tanked, 60 bucks. That includes cleaning and removal of all block plugs and cam bearings. To have it bored .030 over cost me around 150 dollars. Cam bearings would be about 50, to have the shop install them about 60. Unless you want to buy a 2-300 dollar tool you'd use once. Pistons for a 305...https://www.summitracing.com/parts/slp-h534cp30/overview/make/chevrolet 167 dollars. Rings would be about 60 at most. It's cheap enough with a sbc to have it bored over and new guts and whatnot, so there's almost no reason not to. It's gonna cost a bit, normally it's around 2-3,000 dollars for a nice running, tight, well built engine. For a chevy, it can be done on the cheaper end of that spectrum. But machining will almost always cost the same. I'd say screw your heads and get a set of iron vortec heads from summit. They're worth nearly 100hp stock for stock and will allow the engine to breath much better. BUT beware. Stock vortec heads (don't know about the heads summit sells) can't accommodate valve lift over .420 as the spring retainers will hit the valve guides. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12558060 these are a good head, but I would upgrade to screw in rocker studs. The pressed in studs have a tendancy to pull out of the head under high stress and spring pressure. But, if you don't plan to rev it past 5 you should be fine, but I'd err on the side of not having the rockers do the truffle shuffle and destroy everything.

 

[84Monte305]

lol .30 over. To have a v8 hot tanked, 60 bucks. That includes cleaning and removal of all block plugs and cam bearings. To have it bored .030 over cost me around 150 dollars. Cam bearings would be about 50, to have the shop install them about 60. Unless you want to buy a 2-300 dollar tool you'd use once. Pistons for a 305...https://www.summitracing.com/parts/slp-h534cp30/overview/make/chevrolet 167 dollars. Rings would be about 60 at most. It's cheap enough with a sbc to have it bored over and new guts and whatnot, so there's almost no reason not to. It's gonna cost a bit, normally it's around 2-3,000 dollars for a nice running, tight, well built engine. For a chevy, it can be done on the cheaper end of that spectrum. But machining will almost always cost the same. I'd say screw your heads and get a set of iron vortec heads from summit. They're worth nearly 100hp stock for stock and will allow the engine to breath much better. BUT beware. Stock vortec heads (don't know about the heads summit sells) can't accommodate valve lift over .420 as the spring retainers will hit the valve guides. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12558060 these are a good head, but I would upgrade to screw in rocker studs. The pressed in studs have a tendancy to pull out of the head under high stress and spring pressure. But, if you don't plan to rev it past 5 you should be fine, but I'd err on the side of not having the rockers do the truffle shuffle and destroy everything.

If the engine truly is a HO, wouldn't the stock heads be better than vortec heads or no?

 

[MrSony]

If the engine truly is a HO, wouldn't the stock heads be better than vortec heads or no?

Not necessarily. Vortec heads' casting number will end in either an 082 or a 906. The difference between the heads is marginal, especially at your power level, but the vortecs would support more future mods, and be worth more should you again, decide to sell the engine later on.

 

[MrSony]

But I can tell you right now, those heads aren't vortecs. They have the perimeter bolt pattern, not the center like vortecs are known for.

 

[84Monte305]

But I can tell you right now, those heads aren't vortecs. They have the perimeter bolt pattern, not the center like vortecs are known for.

Oh god, do I hate centerbolt! So hard to find nice looking valve covers for a decent price. Just like the dual stud air cleaner on the tbi. Have to buy offset screw and everything. But with the numbers you showed me earlier, if I made close to the 279 hp and 347ftlb torque the car would be pretty quick, wouldn't it?

 

[MrSony]

If that's the stock top end, and it looks to be by all the grime and rust, that's not an HO motor. Don't know for sure without the numbers, but that looks like the LG4 155hp motor. Came with a qjet on it. The HO motors had the TPI setup.

 

[MrSony]

Oh god, do I hate centerbolt! So hard to find nice looking valve covers for a decent price. Just like the dual stud air cleaner on the tbi. Have to buy offset screw and everything. But with the numbers you showed me earlier, if I made close to the 279 hp and 347ftlb torque the car would be pretty quick, wouldn't it?

With a decent tire and the right conditions I could realistically see high 14s, depending on the driving weight of the car. Dry g bodies normally weight anywhere from 3300 to 3600 depending on options like power seats, windows, doors, drivetrain, etc.

 

[84Monte305]

With a decent tire and the right conditions I could realistically see high 14s, depending on the driving weight of the car. Dry g bodies normally weight anywhere from 3300 to 3600 depending on options like power seats, windows, doors, drivetrain, etc.

Ain't that a b*tch! I believe your right, not a HO. Would it still be worth buying? And also, my monte has 1 racing seat. No door panels in it, although I have all of the interior pieces except for the seats.

 

[84Monte305]

Ain't that a b*tch! I believe your right, not a HO. Would it still be worth buying? And also, my monte has 1 racing seat. No door panels in it, although I have all of the interior pieces except for the seats.

I was going to buy a 350 until I saw the 305. The 350 was from a 1978 chevy van. It is all stock, but has sat for a LONG TIME. For years I think. Would that be a smarter choice? $200 but no 700r4

 

[MrSony]

I was going to buy a 350 until I saw the 305. The 350 was from a 1978 chevy van. It is all stock, but has sat for a LONG TIME. For years I think. Would that be a smarter choice? $200 but no 700r4

Realistically, you'd end up spending the same amount of money on either engine, but you'd come out with less power and less potential for making more power. I mean, for 5 grand you can have a 450+hp 383 stroker out of a 350. Can't do that with a 305. And a 700r4 wouldn't be my first choice for a transmission either. Monte SS g bodies came with one of the desirable models of the 200r4, along with the GN, and 442. It's really the valve body and some internal components that make them better out of the box than say one from a caprice or delta 88. the GN has a higher stall converter (something like 22-2600 if I remember right) because it was behind a turbo v6. With the 700r4, you'd need a new cross member, as I'm sure has been mentioned in here quite a few messages ago. A 200r4 would drop right in, and have better gear ratios for a car. Still a 4 speed auto with overdrive (4th). but weighs a bit less and saps a bit less power.