Rebuild suggestions

[73K20]

So I have a 73 K20 with a 350. I'm starting to save for a rebuild so I need to price things out and I definitely want to build it up a bit. What I'm looking for is any advice you can give me.

Right now I'm thinking of boring it and probably stroking it.
I definitely want a bigger cam but I'm not quite sure where to go with that, also i believe these are flat tappet? and I'm not sure I want to spend the extra money to swap to a roller set up if I don't need to.
I'm also thinking better heads however I'm not sure what I should be looking for, I don't want to spend a crazy amount on them.
Obviously better/bigger carb but probably not one of the big name mainstream brands, I've heard of a few great performance carbs that are priced a little lower.
I was also thinking upgraded intake manifold and headers.

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.


1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future

 

[Driver4r]

if your 350 is stock. A nice .030 over 350 will make you happy(right now your pistons are dish).
Get you some .030 over flat-tops.
Then find you some vortec heads.
A nice 650 Holley or q-jet.
standard rise dual-plane aluminum intake.
Nice headers
And an Rv cam will make you happy, should be around 350hp(avg.).

 

[Irishman999]

Sounds like you just want something simple and low buck. First off buy a book by David vizard about budget high performance small blocks. Second thing to remember is **** adds up fast, stick to a plan. If you want to go roller valve train find a later model block with the provisions so everything just drops right in.

As much as I absolutely love roller valve parts I'm going to suggest building what you got. Read the book and gain an understanding, tear the engine down and take it to the machine shop. Order some sealed power hypertuetectic flat top pistons and basic sealed power rings. Machine shop will match your bores to the pistons, press in cam bearings, deal with the crank, clean the block and balance your new rotating assembly.

As far as rods go, save a few bucks and re use them, have the machine shop check them out and press in arp fasteners. Or just get some brand new Eagle rods for a couple hundred bucks and not worry about ****.

Heads are a big deal but good aftermarket heads are going to double what you spent on the short block. Spending a couple Grand on some good brodix heads is stupid if you went on the cheap side with the rest of your engine. Do like driver said and get some vortec heads, or just get the ones you have rebuilt.

Every thing comes down to money, that's the big factor with engines. By the way, way to go for not buying a crate engine. It's a special feeling driving around in something powered by your work.

 

[73K20]

Thanks for the responses guys. I feel like I should have added a little more about what I'm looking for. 350hp is ok but honestly I was hoping for more. I was hoping for around $5k to be top number on the engine build but I could save more.
I got this truck for very cheap from my cousin and I promised I'd revive her and then some so it's all gonna be built by me and its never goin anywhere.
Also I've rebuilt a couple engines just never a 350.


1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future

 

[73K20]

if your 350 is stock. A nice .030 over 350 will make you happy(right now your pistons are dish).
Get you some .030 over flat-tops.
Then find you some vortec heads.
A nice 650 Holley or q-jet.
standard rise dual-plane aluminum intake.
Nice headers
And an Rv cam will make you happy, should be around 350hp(avg.).

My 350 is stock. I was planning .030 over and also considering stroking it for some extra power.
Do Flat tops work better with the flat tappet cam set up?
Also I'm planning on bigger than an RV cam. I have one in my 460 and I wish I had gone bigger.
I've heard vortec heads here and there. Would they support more than 350hp?


1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future

 

[Driver4r]

My 350 is stock. I was planning .030 over and also considering stroking it for some extra power.
Do Flat tops work better with the flat tappet cam set up?
Also I'm planning on bigger than an RV cam. I have one in my 460 and I wish I had gone bigger.
I've heard vortec heads here and there. Would they support more than 350hp?


1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future

If you want to go stroker, then Do what you want. I would get a rotating assy and 6" rods are better for upper end power.
Flat tops and flat tappets dont really play a big role with eachother. But i do know that roller cams seems to be less lopey. Ive heard some big rollers that sounded next to stock.
How big of a cam do you want, and where in the power bad do you want to be?? Give me an rpm band where you will mostly be.
Vortecs are "the best flowing factory head" They will support up to around 500hp unported.

All in all, it just depends where you want to make your power, are you wanting more grunt, or more 4k+ power.

I just put a 355 together for my monte, the cam i chose advertised the rpm to be 1800-6200(4deg. adv.) and when i assembled it, I stood it straight up, which moved the power band to around 2000-6400. So it all depends how you want it to perform, Once i get the rpm up she takes off and pulls pretty good. Another thing if its an automatic truck, if you go big cam, youll need a bigger convertor.

 

[73K20]

If you want to go stroker, then Do what you want. I would get a rotating assy and 6" rods are better for upper end power.
Flat tops and flat tappets dont really play a big role with eachother. But i do know that roller cams seems to be less lopey. Ive heard some big rollers that sounded next to stock.
How big of a cam do you want, and where in the power bad do you want to be?? Give me an rpm band where you will mostly be.
Vortecs are "the best flowing factory head" They will support up to around 500hp unported.

All in all, it just depends where you want to make your power, are you wanting more grunt, or more 4k+ power.

Thanks for the suggestions.
Ya I've heard roller cams are better for bigger power but they cost a lot more so of prefer to stay away.

I'm not really sure what size I should be shopping for. I was hoping for at least 400hp and a little more torque. Rpm range uhm I haven't really thought about that. I would be daily driving it mostly with weekend mud trips until I finish my mudder. I should mention I'm a pretty aggressive driver. I have a 3 speed trans right now but thinking about building a trans with overdrive. It will be on 37s Somewhere around 4.10 gears probably. Hopefully all that helps?

I guess I'm hoping for somewhere in between, I love the 700+ torque my ford puts out right away but that's what I built it for. It tows like a dream. I'm wanting a bit more mid to high end out of the Chevy.


1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future

 

[73K20]

I just put a 355 together for my monte, the cam i chose advertised the rpm to be 1800-6200(4deg. adv.) and when i assembled it, I stood it straight up, which moved the power band to around 2000-6400. So it all depends how you want it to perform, Once i get the rpm up she takes off and pulls pretty good. Another thing if its an automatic truck, if you go big cam, youll need a bigger convertor.

I gotcha. I kinda like the sound of what you got there for the Chevy. It is an auto. I was thinking about swapping to a standard but I'm thinking just to much work. I learned my lesson about converters in high school, I did a medium build and larger cam in a truck with the stock converter and it acted really funny driving.


1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future

 

[Driver4r]

Thanks for the suggestions.
Ya I've heard roller cams are better for bigger power but they cost a lot more so of prefer to stay away.

I'm not really sure what size I should be shopping for. I was hoping for at least 400hp and a little more torque. Rpm range uhm I haven't really thought about that. I would be daily driving it mostly with weekend mud trips until I finish my mudder. I should mention I'm a pretty aggressive driver. I have a 3 speed trans right now but thinking about building a trans with overdrive. It will be on 37s Somewhere around 4.10 gears probably. Hopefully all that helps?

That sounds like you would like a 383, they have alot more grunt beings the longer stroke, and they seem to make 400hp all day long pretty well, they just dont like reving to the moon.

I gotcha. I kinda like the sound of what you got there for the Chevy. It is an auto. I was thinking about swapping to a standard but I'm thinking just to much work. I learned my lesson about converters in high school, I did a medium build and larger cam in a truck with the stock converter and it acted really funny driving.

Thanks, Its my first engine I'v completly built for myself. Ive helped dad with others, but this one I picked out all of the parts and Installed most of them. I still need a convertor for mine tho, at idle the convertor is trying to grab and its not very happy. So I need to get a 2400-2600 stall(Its also gonna be a DD, so i cant get to wild). Ive also kicked around the idea of getting a T-5 or T56 and going to 4.11's. I have the gearset, I just dont wanna cruise at 3500.

 

[73K20]

That sounds like you would like a 383, they have alot more grunt beings the longer stroke, and they seem to make 400hp all day long pretty well, they just dont like reving to the moon.

That's kinda what I was thinking that's why I'm thinking bore and stroke. Little more money but I want to replace most of that anyways and it's still cheaper than buying a whole new engine for the truck that already has one in it.

I've built a couple engines just usually for low end towing never really higher end performance.
Ya that's basically what my ford does with some weird hesitation **** in higher gears.

Ya that sounds nice until you think about cruisin at 3500rpm and 5mpg. Lol
All the things I did to my ford sounded great and it performs great but I almost cried the first time I realized I could actually watch my gas gauge drop as I drove.



1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future

 

[Driver4r]

Ya that sounds nice until you think about cruisin at 3500rpm and 5mpg. Lol
All the things I did to my ford sounded great and it performs great but I almost cried the first time I realized I could actually watch my gas gauge drop as I drove.

My square used to have 4.11's in the axles, and going down the highway I would kick it down to second and watch my gas guage drop. That thing averages around 6mpg.

 

[73K20]

My square used to have 4.11's in the axles, and going down the highway I would kick it down to second and watch my gas guage drop. That thing averages around 6mpg.

Ya it's nuts. I'm not even sure what my fords gearing is right now. After everything I did to the engine it gets about 4mpg. Theres a huge hill by my house and my gas needle always dropped a bit going up then went back up at the top. First pull on the new engine the needle never went back up. thats like a gallon of gas in probably a quarter mile.
But it's a torque monster I broke 2 motor mounts and twisted my shock mount within 2000 miles


1993 F250 3k in the 460-my 1st truck
1973 K20 6" lift-bright future
1967 F250 2x4-diesel swap in its future