Red97

I have a mid 70's 350 block, with 14cc dish pistons It was treated to a ring/bearing rebuild less than 10k miles ago but has sat for the last 10 years. I pulled it out of the corner to clean and check it over. I oiled the cylinders and let it sit, It spun over nice after that. I lightly took a hone to it to clean the bores. the bores mic'ed 4.056-.058 all the way around, the deck height is .027. I think I can get away with just doing new cast rings to seat in the old bore better than moly.
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The heads are 69#5 with 1.8? intake and 1.5? exhaust They are at the machiene shop now getting cleaned new valve job, with all new parts, They look like they were surfaced/ milled once before, it is getting done again, I will cc them after they are done. Guessing around 63 to 64 now I did some rough compression calculations should be around 8.6:1 with fel pros.
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The cam I am going with is the comp xe250 hyd flat tappet 206 intake and 212 exhaust @.050 .443 .448 lift 250 260 adv duration 110 lobe centerline

edelbrock performer intake, with a 600 cfm carb. long tube headers and pypes x pipe street pro 2.5" dual exhaust.

It is going in 69 cutlass s The trans is a th350 with 1400-1800 stall. The cam should make really good torque and 250-275 hp around 4300. it will probably run out before 5k but it is just a street car. I would like all opinions that you have with the build?

coppercutlass

I had a similar build 9 to 1 compression with a comp 260 h cam same intake, carb, long tubes, 2300 stall th400. 3.73 gears. ran 13.86 in the 1/4 mile and was really mild mannerd and pulled clean up to 5k. Realistically I think your head cc's will be more.

Red97

Thank you for the info,I believe the heads have been surfaced once, plus they are getting surfaced again. I will cc them when they come back. How many cc do they tend to run? on paper the cam you ran and the one I have are fairly similar. Coppercutlass, did you use stock rocker arms and pushrods?

s i 442

Surface the heads too much and the pushrods are going to be too far up out of the heads. May need new shorter pushrods, better check.

Red97

I plan on checking and double checking everything once I get the heads back. I don't know if the previous owner had them milled enough to restore compression/valvetrain geometry with felpro's when they were done last time. the engine the heads came off from had a iron intake and 2bbl carb. If you look at the picture of the chambers I posted when the heads were surfaced they hit the 5 cast on the bottom of the intake runner, I don't know if that is normal or not.

olds 307 and 403

Why not put on pair of .028" head gaskets instead of the .041" Felpro's? Even the Mr Gasket ones are slightly thinner at .038". Just more compression and better quench.

coppercutlass

Mj proformance sells the shim gaskets. My only issue was getting intouch with smitty.

Red97

I am going to see what the heads cc at first. I dont want too much compression with the little cam. I may go with the Mr gasket ones tho. I might not have to put new guides in the heads either, he checked them with a Chevy valve, the olds valves Mic about .1.5 thousands larger.

455man

I think my heads had been surfaced twice on my 455. Book says 80cc stock. I cc'd at 78. I think the 350 heads are usually closer to 67 cc so you might be looking at 65cc. But checking is a good idea.

Red97

What are your opinions on the adjustable valve train? I have a set of 1.6 comp magnum roller tip rockers all I would need is screw in studs (69$) and guide plates (20$) then check pushrod length? Or are the stock pedestal rockers fine? They don't look very wore.

Red97

I am not sure of the gears. It will have power accessory. I have to wait to cc the heads to know for sure what the compression is. Do steel gaskets seal as good as the composite? The heads are getting surfaced,but not the block. It didn't leak when it was pulled.

coppercutlass

I ran shim gaskets on my 9 to 1 combo with no issues

Red97

The gears are 2.56 very high. I think the cam should work well with them. Do u think the raise in compression with the steel gaskets would even be measurable with such a mild combination? Thank you for the advice.

Kennybill

I did a similar build 20+ years ago in a car for my Son. Reringed 9 to 1 CR 350. Comps cam 268 .456/.456. Small valved #5 heads with the AIR bumps ground down. Stock bridges, Performer intake, small converter, headers, 3.73 posi. Very "peppy" fun combo. I had Felpros on it. Heads were dusted maybe 0.003. No sealing problems. Ken

Red97

Just picked up the heads today, They look so much better, They checked at 65cc Going to start going through the short block soon the "MAW" process. sure makes things add up fast. I should be around 8.6:1 with felpros. Do you think 9:1 would work with a small cam without detonation problems?

bccan

I'm gonna run counter joesw31 - I would try to find a head gasket that will put you right @ 9:1. Won't make any difference in fuel requirement, cost any much more than Fel Pro blues, may give a slightly more responsive engine. If you get the bug for a little more performance you'll wish you had bumped the CR that little bit back when it was really easy! The tighter quench may even help discourage preignition, those pistons are sittin deep.

A 3.08 or 3.23 would really wake that baby up without killing you on the highway. It should be a fun combo but the gears will give it some snap.

I hope you're using a Qjet on it. It will have the potential for some pep & decent mileage if set up nicely.

Red97

I am planning on running a q jet. I am disassembling the short block tomorrow to measure and clean it. Do you have any links with factory torque specs and orders? Depending on what I find in the shortblock might just decide to redo what needs to be done and make sure it is in the 9.1-9.5:1 range.

Red97

Quick update. not a lot of progress lately. I ended up having the block re worked. .030 over, honed, line bored, crank polished, rods checked, all new baring's and freeze plugs.
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installed the heads, new arp bolts, felpro gaskets cam/timing chain. need to find the right bolts for the timing chain cover if any body has any links or pictures that would be great.
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hoping to get back on track with this for spring time.

captjim

What pistons did you end up using? Same cam?

Red97

some plane jane keith black cast pistons I forget the part number. I believe they were only a few .030 cast options. same cam, bought the complete kit it was the cheaper way to finish the heads. pretty much everythin in the engine is new but crank and rods. Now I just need to track down all the bolts to finish it up.

captjim

I hope you did not end up with the de-stroked big-dish versions. Also on the cam, why not more lift? It adds power with no adverse affects on driveability. IMHO

Red97

The pistons looked the same as the ones that came out. I will see if I can find the part number. As for the cam, I completely agree. This is my dads car he is paying for it I am just the builder. I had to fight tooth and nail to get any cam. He just keeps saying he doesn't want a race car. He just wanted to throw that old short block in the car with new heads. I guess ya just have to pick the battles, I would never hear the end of it if I put a lopey cam in.

captjim

I get you. The nice thing about lift is it doesn't affect the manners. Put one in and tell him it is "an RV cam", that will satisfy him! LOL