SBC 355 rebuild questions

[Veltboy618]

I"m thinking about doing a mild rebuild on my engine. I want to change the piston rings(maybe), rod bearings, main bearings, Cam & lifters. Everything else I am going to reuse if it's good when I take it apart. It has been rebuilt before but I have no idea how long ago that was. It runs real strong but I want to go through it over the winter.

Its a 010 block & the heads I have right now are stock. the casting # is 462624. I plan on upgrading to a set of vortec heads soon. Which ones will be best on my 355?

What would be a good cam for this engine. I'm just looking for a nice cam that I can drive on the streets & it will produce enough power to win a few street races.

When I order the main bearings is there a certain kind I need to get. What i mean by that is do they come in different thickness. If so. how do I figure out which ones I need.

I know it was more questions I wanted to ask but I can't think of them right now. I'll add them later.

 

[jrm81bu]

Yes the bearings come in different sizes. You would have to(at the very least) tear your engine down and see what is stamped in the back of the bearing, then order that size. Better yet you should pull it apart and measure everything, decide what clearance you want to run, then order accordingly.
If the motor runs fine now(good oil pressure, no knocking) then you could prolly get away with just putting back in whatever size is already in there.
Same deal with the rings, you need to find out if the block has ever been bored. If it has, then by how much, then order accordingly.
As for the heads any of the 350 vortec(96+) heads should work fine. I think casting numbers are 906 and 062.
With the cam, just to be safe go with something around the Comp Cams xe262. With that one you should have no problems with clearances.

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/howto ... index.html

according to the article you should avoid the 906 heads. so check numbers before buying and do lots of reading on vortec heads befopre deciding to buy a pair.

i still want to get a pair but i'm only putting them on a stock or slightly above stock SBC since it would be going into the daily driver, no need for a wild cam with massive lift and all that. they'd flow better than whatever would come on the engine if it's a stock rebuild.

 

[ElCamMan515]

I Would Look Around For Vortecs. You Can Get Stock Replacements From Summitracing For $310 Each
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-151124/

You Can Also Buy Aftermarket Vortecs From Suppliers Like RHS, I plan on running some RHS Pro Torker Vortecs as they are already set up to use with a higher lift cam over .475 lift, they also come with 2.02/1.60 valves. I also plan on running a Lunati Voodoo 60103 268 camshaft. Here are the links to the heads and cam. Also Patmickneyracing, a member here will be running the voodoo cam in a few weeks so you can always ask him wha he thinks of it and go off that. Hope This helped.

Heads: http://www.racingheadservice.com/Cylind ... 0Iron.aspx
http://www.competitionproducts.com/RHS- ... HS12410K1/ Cylinder Heads For $752.00 shipped

Cam: http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1984

 

[pontiacgp]

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/howto/97458/index.html

according to the article you should avoid the 906 heads. so check numbers before buying and do lots of reading on vortec heads befopre deciding to buy a pair.

i still want to get a pair but i'm only putting them on a stock or slightly above stock SBC since it would be going into the daily driver, no need for a wild cam with massive lift and all that. they'd flow better than whatever would come on the engine if it's a stock rebuild.

other than cosmetic changes there is no difference between the 062 and 902 heads....the larger gm trucks that used vortec heads were modified which cause the flow issues but they were a different part number...

from Sallee Chevrolet..."There is no difference between either of the Vortec head (P/N 12558060) castings except for a couple of minor external cosmetic details. The two casting numbers are 10239906 and 12558062. GM has and does take some of the P/N 12558060 heads made from either of these castings and makes alterations to them to better fit specific applications. When GM does this, they change the part number of the head. Buying Vortec heads used is risky unless you know what vehicle they came out of, what part number the head is, and what modifications where made to the head to make it that part number. You can not go by the casting number, as suggested by this article, you have to go by the part number of the head when buying used Vortec heads."
__________________

 

[Veltboy618]

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/howto/97458/index.html

according to the article you should avoid the 906 heads. so check numbers before buying and do lots of reading on vortec heads befopre deciding to buy a pair.

i still want to get a pair but i'm only putting them on a stock or slightly above stock SBC since it would be going into the daily driver, no need for a wild cam with massive lift and all that. they'd flow better than whatever would come on the engine if it's a stock rebuild.

That's what i was thinking. I just want to get a set of those heads to increase the flow'. I'm not going to put a big cam in my engine so I figured they should be fine on my engine. If I'm not changing the springs & other things on them are they a direct bolt on or will I have to do some work to them?

 

[pontiacgp]

they are a direct bolt on....when you get to the intake bolts they only require 11 lbs torque....