i have a 1969 5.7 with number 5 heads ,i have 10.1 comp on all the valves ,it came with a 2bbl ,i just up graded to a edelbrock performer intake and performer carb ,stepped up the old points to electric and new plugs wires cap rotor ,so how much power do you think i have now ? and how much more can i get with a mild cam and headers ? what can i do to these heads ?

 

No comment. I just want to tag this thread so I can follow along and learn. I have a motor just like your's.

 

The factory specs for the 1972 350 show a 40 horsepower and 25 pound-feet increase going from 2 bbl single exhaust to 4 bl and dual exhaust, so I imagine there would be a similar increase on your engine. In todays numbers that is probably around 200 to 240 horsepower.

 

I dont think the 2bbl came in a 10 to 1 compression. But you will at best have appx. 8.8 to 1 compression. 69 #5 heads have normally in the range of 68 cc's not the 64 cc's most think. The 2bbl engine came with 14 cc dished pistons. You can build a stout little runner with that engine. I had a 73 350 which also had 14 cc dished pistons and 72 7A heads with a comp 260h cam , headers , edelbrock intake hei distributor th400 and 2200 stall with 3.73 gears power my car to a 13.86. The heads where all stock the short block was all stock minus the cam. Everything was just freshened up.

based off the wheight and mph the car ran in the 1/4 mile with that combination it say's i was making 263 hp at the wheels. i think those online calculators can be a little happy but it was an honest 300 hp to the fly wheel combination i think.

currently engine is appx 370 ish hp but calculator say's 394 hp to the fly .

 

i compression tested the all and they are all 10.1 two valves read at 10.0 hmm im wondering if the revious owner made some engine mods ..

 

The answer to "How much power can you build from this 350?" is the question:
How much money do you have?

 

not trying to shell out a lot of cash ,but really feeling it out to see if its worth putting any cash into

 

Perhaps. These engines have been around long enough to where things could have been changed. If you do have 10 to 1 compression then you will need a healthy cam and need to run 93 octane. My current combo is 10 to 1 compression .,i would not run a cam smaller than 220 duration @ .050 lift. My cam is a 233/241 duration which is about as big as i want to run with my combination.

 

I have less than 4k in my 355 and it runs 12.40's in the 1/4 mile it was built with swap meet parts , left overs and parts some guys would never try out like the prw ford roller rockers i run. Just depends how you wanna go about it. The engine i have would cost over 6k to build normally but i use used parts i know are good and do all my own work minus machining.

 

i am doing a similar budget build ,ive been trading and bartering for parts and doing all my own work

 

Good luck. The quality is all in the details. measure everything and inspect everything.

 

The only 2bbl 350 motor offered in 1969 was the 9.0:1 L65 motor (second column from the right).

 

What does this mean, exactly? How did you determine compression ratio from a PSI number on a compression tester?

 

I'm glad you asked this question,I've been wondering the same thing.

 

I'm guessing the original poster is dividing compression psi results by atmospheric pressure of approximately 14.7, to come up with the 10 to 1. A 147psi compression reading, typical of a low compression stock cam 350, is 10 times atmospheric pressure, could wrongly make him think it has 10to1 compression. Just a guess on my part.........