HICKL

Hey Grumpy, I just talked to my guy, My heads are ok, just bent one valve. I bought another motor yesterday, will take that block to the shop next week to get it checked out. It is an "010" casting that has never been bored. Do all stroker kits start at .030 over? I still haven't made up my mind on which route to take, I want to do the stroker, just need to find a "deal" on a kit. Jeff

I had to rattle the guys cage yesterday, he promised to get to them today. He feels pretty good about it but will see. I have also secured another 2 bolt main "010" complete 350 for $100. Have not bought it yet pending my head outcome. If my heads are junk, this stroker I found may be worth looking into.

That's kinda how I'm feeling, unless the stuff just totally looks like brand new, I will be extremely cautios.

Should find out today about my heads. I have stumbled accross a motor but am procedding very cautiously. A guy in Houston had a 383 built by some dude named Craig Morrison in Dallas (anybody heard of him?), anyway, he put it in his old street rod and after about 1000 miles it was still burning oil. The guy determined that the rings never seated so he bought a crate motor and set this one aside (dude's got some money I guess). He was trying to sell the complete motor for $1800 bucks. Everything included from distributer to new edelbrock 750 carb on a perfromer rpm air gap intake, dart iron eagle heads, basically the entire motor ready to drop in. Last week, he decided to take it off the marked, tear it apart and re-ring it. I talked to him last night and it is taken apart but he will still sell it for that price. He said it was a steel crank but didn't know who made it. What do you guys think? I think I will at least take a look at it, especially if my heads ar junk. It's a friend of my uncle so I find a little comfort that the guy is honest.

So Doc, your thinkin I "unconsciously" did it on purpose??? He Heee, you may be right.

Ok guys, I should really make up some elaborate story about a 150 shot of NOS killing my motor or something like that but whats the point of being stupid if you can't laugh at yourself. Notice the bent up 1/4 inch bolt in the pile of rubble. Yep, I must have dropped a bolt while removing the tunnel ram. I bet I don't do that again. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=12309&cat=704 The real bummer is that after 2 or so years of abuse all the critical components in of my motor where in great shape. Barely broke in I would say. Anybody lookin for a deal on seven pistons? I'll throw in 7 rods!! Ever heard that song..."If your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough"

I would like to get around 400 hp as a goal. I'm 99% sure my rear end is a 3.54, I am running a G-force built T5 that should handle more power than this. I want to run on super unleaded pump gas. Heads have been dropped off this morning for crack test. I want it to be strong but driveable. I'm looking for that happy medium. It is a street car that I drive to work once a week or so and spend time in stop and go traffic!

Enough crying over spilt milk. Let's talk new build. Hopefully my heads survived, if so, I am considering building a stroker. I have to keep a reasonable budget in mind so here's my questions. Will these sportsman II do feed a decent stroker? New heads are not in the budget. I have easy access to another "010" block but it is a 2 bolt main. Would it be a bad idea to build a stroker around a 2 bolt main? This is and will continue to be a street car with once or twice a year 1/4 mile runs. Should I build a stroker with the above mentioned parts, (might be able to find a 4 bolt) or just another 350 with better internals than I used last time.

Hey Grumpy, they were Hypereutectics. Here's the story, I had decided that I was tired of the tunnel ram for a while, so I dyno'd it friday, drove home (30 miles) and tore it apart. Bolted a perf RPM on it and was doing the initial tuning. It would begin to make a cladder sound if it idled for very long. I jacked around with everything, got the timing set and then this happened. Is is possible that during the intake swap I could have dropped something into the intake port? I don't think I did but who knows. It would have to have been small enough to get by the valve and big enough to destroy my piston. I took the valves out and didn't see any sign of something beating it's way thru there. Thanks Jeff

Have not dropped the pan yet (which has some new dents and holes) but after removing a head, number one piston has vanished. I found traces of it everywhere from stuck in the intake valve to deposited in the number 7 cylinder. Strangly enough, the rod (a bit twisted) is still on the crank with the wrist pin in tact and seems to operate smoothly on the crank itself. Appears to be a piston failure. Block is also broken thru to the water jacket in that cylinder. I will get it on the stand tomorrow and pull the pan, kind of wondering what happened. Once I get thru crying, I will post for advice on build #2. Times a wastin!

Excellent guys, thanks for the help. Hey Grumpy, I work in manufacturing and have a level II in L.P. and Mag particle NDE. Will make sure she's good. Thanks for the advice. I was searching my memory to figure out where I got it from. As it turns out, the timing cover I used on this motor has the tab in the right location for this balancer so they must have gone together. I have parts from a 77 vette 350 laying around as well as and a mid 80's chevy truck 350. Any guess as to which one would have used this large balancer?

If you don't know Grumpy, then I don't trust my local machine shop. I don't think they have 1/4 of your knowledge. Maybe it's best I just scrap it and go find another. Jeff

Ok, here it is, no counter weights but has 3 holes drilled in it. What do you think? http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=12183&cat=704 http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=12184&cat=704

Thanks guys, I will take a look at it tonight and see if I can tell. Is there particular 350 applications that would use the larger balancer? Is there any advantages or drawbacks to the larger size?

This is not for my Z, just a generec SBC 350 question. If the motor had a 6.75 dia balancer, can I use this 8" OEM balancer instead? Does it effect anything functionally.

This may be a basic wuestion but I don't know the answer and failed to find it by searching. I have built a basically stock 350 (1969 motor) for a nother application and during break in noticed the harmonic balancer is all wobbly. It is a 6.75 dia, I have an 8" one laying around, not sure where I got it, can I use it on this 350? Will it effect anything? Thanks Jeff

I would build the "box" to mimic the internal dimensions of the sheetmetal plate. As far as the spring knows, nothing has changed. I measured the inside depth of the little cap and it actually has a little cup in it that the spring sits in. I will transfer that cup to the pocket in the adapter. I will make the prototype on a manual machine but it it works like I think, and there is demand, I could set up a CNC machine and make a run of them. Jeff

I've posted this in the downloads section but wanted to add it here also. I am setting up to make some CV adapters and had an idea. Look at this sketch and tell me what you guys think. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=11892&cat=704

Hey Jim, first off, 600's are too much. I am running a dual quad tunnel on mine but have 2 Holley 450's. It does look cool and runs' great at wide open throttle but does take a while to get used to as it looses a ton or power/torque down low. If your motor isn't built to spin high r's you will not see the benifit of it or will blow your motor trying. My 1/4 mile times did drop with mine but it is a trade off for day to day use and expect double the tuning problems. You did not mention your drivetrain, but I would not put this in front of an auto tranny unless you have a huge stall and are doing strip only. I like mine but won't run it forever. Jeff

I went with 4.5's, one of my 8.5's was blown, seems to be running much better (go figure). I set my idle screws per the instructions below and it seemed the happiest at about 1 1/4 turns out. Does this seem right? I also drove it a little with the vacuum gage stuck to the windsheild and while it idles at 7 to 8 lbs, it cruises at 15lbs. I have never watched vacuum except at idle so was wondering if this made sense. Thanks Jeff

sounds logical, I wish I would have done that before I tore both carbs down. I may just split the difference and go with a 4.5 or something. I can always check it later and change them again.

Question guys, I have read to go 2 lbs less on the power valve then my intake vacuum. The Holley web site says to go 1/2 of your intake vacuum. I am at 7 lbs of vacuum, should I buy a 5.0 or 3.5?

What do you guys think I'm some kind of an idiot? Everybody knows to make sure you have the right power valve! OK, here's where I laugh at myself. Months ago, when I set this thing up, I checked the power valves under advice form this board and was satisfied that it was correct. I guess I had my wires crossed because I re-checked it last night and I have 8.5's in there and am pulling 7 lbs max. What a bonehead, I can't tell you hom many people have mentioned this to me and I have responed "yah yah, I already checked that". Will try some 5's in it tonight and start over with the idle circuit tuning. Man I'm stupid.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot. My plugs may be a bit fouled so I may probably need to replace them to get a good read, will play around with it anyway. Jeff

So if Understand you correctly, my base is 2 1/2 out and I will go further out (richer) from there? I figured my starting point would be out 1 turn or so. So the bottom line is I am looking for max Vacuum pull? Thanks a bunch. Jeff