New clapped out ‘87 350

Jonathonmb357 said:

I have a budget of around $500 or so. I may have to get some heads second-hand or get the chinese knock offs from eBay.

Click to expand...

Noooooooo!!!!!! I'm sorry to tell you this 500.00 might! get your crank turned,rod big ends,checked,a 929 cam clone,rings,brgs,solvent check the heads,a junkyard electric fan,and someone's used q jet with manifold.It wouldn't be a bad build to cut your teeth with but it sure isn't ideal.

Ricko1966 said:

Noooooooo!!!!!! I'm sorry to tell you this 500.00 might! get your crank turned,rod big ends,checked,a 929 cam clone,rings,brgs,solvent check the heads,a junkyard electric fan,and someone's used q jet with manifold.It wouldn't be a bad build to cut your teeth with but it sure isn't ideal.

Click to expand...

Haha, I get you. I’m not looking for anything to knock anyone’s socks off. I just want a four barrel V8, dual exhaust and plenty of chrome. Some power would be a bonus!

Save your money for six months, and speak with a machinist...
My aftermarket Vortec heads, direct from my machinist, were $970.00 with stainless valves.
He worked every port by hand on $65,000.00 worth of high end machinery...
The cores have gone up significantly in price since then... add $200.00 easy...


^^^You see Ricko1966 freaking out^^^^


ALMOST ANY HEADS YOU BUY: will still probably need $400-$500 in machine work!

RanchWelder said:

Save your money for six months, and speak with a machinist...
My aftermarket Vortec heads, direct from my machinist, were $970.00 with stainless valves.
He worked every port by hand on $65,000.00 worth of high end machinery...
The cores have gone up significantly in price since then... add $200.00 easy...


^^^You see Ricko1966 freaking out^^^^


ALMOST ANY HEADS YOU BUY: will still probably need $400-$500 in machine work!

Click to expand...

I get you, thanks. I’m not kidding when I say bare bones budget!
Hopefully the block won’t need $500 worth of machine work.

I totally get budget, I'm very budget minded as well. But, buy once cry once.

If in 6-18 months you think youre going to go, man i wish i did x. Best to extend the timeline and save up the $$

I priced out machine work last year, for boring, line hone, deck, and balanced crank was about $1100 without parts…

I ended up buying someone else’s Vortec SBC project that was unassembled for $700, came with machined block, pistons, rods, crank, and bearings. $700 was without heads and took a lot of shopping on Craigslist to find for that price.

You might be better off having the crank turned and reassembling with fresh bearings. Then hope it lasts until your budget is a little better

Good luck Sir

I think for $500, you're going to get away with a stock rebuild and some recommended machine work, that's it. I spent almost $2k on a "budget" 305 for my truck. Not high hp numbers. Just a mild cam, flat top pistons, a slight (.008) head decking job, and quality head work with a valve job. That did include parts, except I already had my dual plane aluminum intake, and a carb I built myself. As you can see, It doesn't take long to spend well over $500 when you're talking about an engine build.

You could also get a set of vortex heads, port and polish them, an aluminum intake and carb., would do a good job.