Dbechtel71

hello again everyone

another question and that is what year 350 should i look to rebuild? was there a certain year that was stock that produced a decent stock HP? reason being there are more 350 out there than 455 and i have the chance to pick up a couple 350 complete engines. the guy told me that one of them has the good head on it? what does he mean good heads?

thanks again for evryones opinions

dale

Impin'

You're going to get a mix of responses. Use the following as a gauge with respect to those "good heads".

http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/oldsfaq.htm

Good luck.

drop top olds

Depends on what you want. I would stay away from the 76-77 years. I think the block casting was lightened up. Generally anything from 68-74 or so would be good. Be advised 68 requires a different flex plate.

There is also the 350D and DX block. Much stouter, more for high performance due to the heavy walls and heavy pan rails. But, it takes $ to convert is to gas application.

2blu442

I'm pretty sure the 1968 flexplate is the same. I think it's the 1964-67 330's that have a different bolt pattern flexplate/flywheel. John

krooser

The best heads are 4-5-6's... smaller combustion chambers for more compression. Look for the number on the front of the head near the exhaust manifold.

captjim

Wow, a fair amount of mis-information in this thread.
#4 heads are 330s. #5, #6, #7, and #7a heads are 68-72 350 heads, similar chamber volume and flow.
All 350 flex plates are the same.
350 blocks from 68-76 had solid webs, 77 and later blocks were windowed with 1/2" head bolts and 3A heads, stay away from these.
What are your goals? Are you changing pistons? If so, the 73-76 block bored with flat tops and #8 heads yields low 9.xx to 1, good street Cr.
71 and 72 350s had big dished pistons and low Cr. Tell us what you want to do and your budget.

Octania

"Generally anything from 68-74 or so would be good. Be advised 68 requires a different flex plate."
=====================
73-76 used #8 heads, large chambers, low compression. Slight advantage to larger xst valve.
CHECK AVAILABILITY of pistons, and cost. A while back, std size flat top dishless W31 pistons were fairly affordable and available- which would make a nice 350 out of a 330 block and #8 heads as set forth above.

#4 heads are 330 issue, 1967

The 330's use a forged crank and different flexplate pattern. '64-67. They would make a GREAT 350, because the bore will be std size 350, and the crank is forged. You will have to verify the cam bank angle on a 330, and procure a cam to suit.

Heads #2 and earlier have valvetrain pcs harder to match/ replace. '64 #1 has shafts, '65 #2 has studs with larger lower thread I believe.

So, your best candidate would be a '66-67 330 #3 or 4 heads. Then a '68-70 350 with #5-6 heads, then 71-2 with 7/7a heads [upper case but teensy "A"]

I have a '65 330 and a '72 350 handy, and numerous other 350's most of which have forgotten about.

captjim

I disagree. Why use a 330 block? It would require a .120" overbore to use standard 350 pistons. A 330 crank is the best, but 95% of the guys on this board will never make enough power to break a 350 crank in a solid block.
For less money bore .068, use 400 SBC stuff, and get more cubes. Or just bore .030 and use the bullet-proof Speed Pro pistons.

Doc350s

I originally planned on rebuilding my 73 350 block. Then I found a 69 350 block with #6 heads, high nickel block (F2) and a nodular crank. Only wanted a cruiser so did a stock rebuild. Turning just shy of 300 HP at 9.5:1. Had always planned to go the #5 or 6 head route.

captjim

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..........

tru-blue 442

I don't know about a high nickel block,
but I had a 69 350 in a Cutlass S with 5's and it ran great stock.
We stuck a 70 350 with 6's and a 350 turbo in place
of my son's tired 330 in his 66 Cutlass with a 2 bbl.
and it is VERY steetable.

Dbechtel71

wow some great info thanks a bunch! doc350s where did you get your 69 350 from? what vehicle would it have been in?

Dbechtel71

well now that i have the block info should i go with an aluminum manifold and holley carb or would the generic quadrajet be sufficient? i guess its how much HP i want out of it would be the greatest question.

Dbechtel71

captjim, its been so long since ive been out of the muscle car game i dont really know what i want ive never really delt with the olds motors until now. what i would truly like as far as HP is around 350-375.

MDchanic

Oh no, not this again...

- Eric

J-(Chicago)

ANY......and I repeat, ANY of the 350 blocks and 85% of olds heads can get you to that horsepower goal.

Avoid head numbers 1, 3A 4A, 5A, and 7A.

in my opinion, 395558-2 blocks are best, and That High-nickel block crap is a myth. Not real.

Doc350s

My block came out of a 69 Cutlass Supreme (block/head combo may place it as a 70 according to Olds FAQ). One of the yards up here was closed for fire code violations and had to scrap out. Block, tranny and front frame dropped out in front of me as they picked the car up. Took it as a sign and grabbed the lot for $300. Motor had been sitting covered for 15 years, still turned no problem and only one exhaust valve stuck open. Only thing I kept were the valve covers and intake from the 73 (we got smog cops up here so the car has to match what it came with - luckily just an EGR). As for the block, casting # is 395558 with F2 stamped on the backside.

Dbechtel71

thanks everybody

Dbechtel71

thats a nice looking engine doc350!! is that on a dyno machine?

Doc350s

Thanks. That was taken when it was rebuilt in November. Easier to run in and test as the car probably won't see the road until at least July. Gotta get paint and interior done before I can get it on the road again.

RetroRanger

I think it's a 7A w characters the same size you want to avoid. The large 7 with a small Capitol A is a induction hardened valve head seat from 72. Same size chambers and flow roughly as earlier heads but w hardened seats.


So 7A (large seven smaller font a) is good but 7A is bad (same size font)

J-(Chicago)

Correct. An untrained eye most likely wouldn't even notice the tiny A on 72 heads.
It is very blatant on the 307 peanut heads.

Seff

7A Is what the '72 heads looks like, while the 307 peanut heads look like 7A.

RetroRanger

thanks SEFF another thing I couldnt do (easily) on the ipad (the two font sizes)

Seff

No problem.

One theory I have is that a cheap way to put together a high compression engine is to put the small-chambered 5-6-7(A) heads on a 73-76 (or 68-70, but those are more desirable and thus more expensive) - that would give you the slightly dished pistons and the small chambers, as well as decently flowing heads.

If you're taking out the rotating assembly, there's no reason to mix and match like that, as you'll find it easier to just put in pistons with less (or no) dish.

Octania

Why the 330 block- because for a while there at least, std -STANDARD- bore W31 pistons were readily available, but not much in oversizes exc. pricey or POS castings 0.040 down in the hole.

Therefore, since your 350 block no longer has a usable std bore, presumably, the 330 makes a better choice for STD-350 pistons.

"So 7A (large seven smaller font "A") is good but 7A is bad (same size font)"

Correct. In the early interweb days, we had text only, and the only good way to denote a capitol "A" as a teensy subscript was "7a" and esily distinguised from the "7A" notation.

captjim

Except that you need to bore 4 times to get it where you need to. The extra 3 boring charges will go a long way to buying good pistons, not to mention potential issues when cutting that much out of the bores. IMHO.