Hopefully coming soon

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa) 08/05/2017 at 20:51 • Filed to: None

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Just went and looked at an engine a friend of a friend had for sale. $300 gets me a Goodwrench GM 350 crate motor with 40k miles on it. Only pulled because the owner wanted a roller block. Four-bolt main, makes around 190-250hp stock depending on accessories and configuration (probably 230 with my headers and intake). Another $40 for all the necessary gaskets to re-do the whole engine, and then I need to decide if I am going to keep the factory cam, put in the slightly lumpy RV cam from my engine (assuming it’s in good shape), or what. These heads look like they’d benefit from a polish but I don’t really have the time for that... ugh.

The goal eventually is to pop Vortec heads and a Lunati Barebones flat-tappet cam, and after that see what needs to happen to reach my 1hp/cu-in specific power goal.

There is a little bit of carbon because the previous owner had their carb tuned super-rich but it’s nothing I can’t take care of with the engine on a stand.

Dat rough-ass sand casting. Mm. These ports look significantly larger than the ones in my car now

MM54 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/05/2017 at 21:05

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Neat! My suggestion would be that once you swap that (or some other replacement if you take that route) in, rebuild the one you’ve pulled out to whatever you want, then when the time comes, swap it back in.

Personally, I’d prefer that sort of thing over constantly changing the engine in the car with incremental upgrades, which means taking time to take a running, driving car off the road... over and over again.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > MM54 08/05/2017 at 21:07

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I’d agree took that route with my boat, don’t regret it.

MM54 > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 08/05/2017 at 21:10

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I’m doing a modified version of that with my chevelle (since long term the original engine isn’t staying in the car) where I’m going to rebuild the engine in it now (hopefully this winter?) and put it back in, then know that it’s good to go for however long it takes me to build the actual engine I want in it.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > MM54 08/05/2017 at 21:17

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I had a choice get it running right away and use it for a month at the end of the season or wait for the custom camshaft I waited. Oh and reverse rotation cam shafts ain’t cheap.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > MM54 08/05/2017 at 21:22

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the only problem with that is I don’t have a garage or someplace to store the old engine.

lone_liberal > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/05/2017 at 21:41

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That looks very familiar. Mine wasn’t a crate, the VIN says it came out of a truck, so it’s orange but otherwise it looks the same as my Camaro’s engine. That too is in dire need of better heads but it already has some kind of larger cam in it that whoever rebuilt it put in. I’m hoping to eventually replace it with a 383 but it will do for now.

crowmolly > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/05/2017 at 21:51

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Yeah, that’s the standard goodwrench engine. I think it’s rated at 260 now.

Don’t bother messing with these heads, it’s probably not worth it. I’d probably just go to a thin head gasket like a Felpro 1094 to grab some extra compression IF the heads and deck are in good enough shape.

And just be aware (if you didn’t know) your intake manifold, valve covers, and rocker arms won’t swap over to a Vortec setup. So if you pop for roller rockers now you won’t be able to use them on the Vortecs later (without some work).

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > crowmolly 08/05/2017 at 22:31

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Yeah, my plan is to get loaded Vortec heads from a salvage yard, clean them up, and get an Edelbrock vortec intake manifold so bolt my carb up to them. I’m hoping that a Lunati Barebones cam combined with Vortec heads will get me above 300hp. I’m kind of sad about the fact my big ‘murican VEE ATE makes so much less power than the factory V12 did.

crowmolly > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/05/2017 at 22:53

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With, say, 9.5:1, an Edelbrock RPM, a decent cam around 244@ 0.50, and a good tune you will have to fuck up to not make above 300. I’m seriously not joking.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > crowmolly 08/05/2017 at 23:05

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What will I need to get my compression ratio that high? Unfortunately the RPM won’t fit under my hood so I’ve been just using a dual plane Performer.

crowmolly > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/05/2017 at 23:36

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Well, if memory serves, the Goodwrench 350 is 8.5:1- but that’s with a ~.030 head gasket and 76cc combustion chambers.

If you go to Vortecs you will be going to 64cc (or as low as 62cc) chambers and you can go with a steel shim head gasket that’s .015 thick.

Play around with this if you have time:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/compcalc.html

I think the pistons are -12cc dished and they are roughly .025/.030 in the hole (but that’s a guess, each engine could be different).

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > crowmolly 08/06/2017 at 12:53

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I found a series of articles yesterday where a performance magazine got 260hp out of a goodwrench on the engine dyno by putting a Performer intake and headers. They got to 320hp with a FelPro .015" head gasket and Vortec heads. What was amazing to me was how far they got with the stock cam.

crowmolly > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/07/2017 at 09:55

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Yeah, I think 260hp was the regular output for one of the GM crates.

Vortec heads are the truth as far as cheap speed with a gen I goes. There’s a ton of write ups and data out there as far as builds go, and they don’t need too much work to be great straight out of the junkyard.

A lot of gen I engines have 76cc heads and low compression so the drop to 64cc brings a nice boost. Plus the combustion chambers are a much better design.

I think PTV clearance is still an issue though. Gotta watch out if you try to use a cam with a lot of lift. But (IMO) you really shouldn’t do that if you don’t have the compression to take advantage of the full profile. Usually something like a 262xe or 268xe (or Lunati equivalent) is perfect.

Party-vi > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/07/2017 at 12:24

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Not sure if you figured it out, but going from 76cc to 64cc would probably get you up to 9.5 static compression.

crowmolly > crowmolly 08/07/2017 at 12:28

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Edit: This was supposed to say 224 @ .050.