How can I take a 1977 chevy 350 4 bolt main and get at least 425 hp & for cheap money?

Question

I want at least 425 hp in my 350 4 bolt but hopeing for 450 hp in it. How can I get that much easy without blowers, superchargers, and without having it bored? Wanting pure muscle. What kind of intake & size cam should I go with? I'm building a 1982 Chevy C10 short wheel base steet truck with a 400 turbo transmission. Need to know what size wheels & tires to use. How much do you think I probably need to spend?

Answer 1

Once you push a small block past 400HP it can get spendy. If you are willing to go with 400HP it is much cheaper. All you need to do is build a 383 stroker. Everything from the intake up adds HP but everything below is where most will come from. If you are unfamiliar with a 383, I'll tell you what it is. They stared out with a bored 350 block combined with a 400 crank. Now they have become popular enough that many companies make 383 specific parts. I don't know if you know what this kind of power feels like but I do. My first vehicle was a 74 Chevy 4x4 with a 420HP $4000 400ci 4 bolt main. That was enough to beat nearly anything on the road. It would burn all 4 (unless it broke something), and cruised easily at over 100mph and topped out around 140 with a turbo 350 and 410 gears. If you've never driven real American muscle then you don't know. Most built sbc if put on a dyno would probably fall under 325HP at the rear tires.

Answer 2

Check the cc's of your cylinder heads. If you have flat top pistons your in business. If not have your bore sizes checked If standard flat tops can go back in fine. If the clearances are to loose have the block bored to the smallest standard bore size. I don't know weather you have a car or truck 350. Car blocks sometimes have core shift when they're cast. Now to the cylinder heads. Be sure the guides are perfect 1.5 - 2. thousandths clearance. If not have new steel hatched guides installed. Do a top notched 3 angle valve job and check the seats. If your heads have less than 65 cc's in them have them milled to a 23 degree angle. use a dual plane intake from the Chevrolet Performance Catalog. The intake must be re machined to fit the 23 degree change in your cylinder heads. Call Comp. Cams. They 'll assist you for the correct camshaft and complete push rod springs (be-hive). The key here is to get more squeeze in your combustion chambers. That's how to get power. Of course you'll be running 93 octane now. A nice 650 vacuum secondary Holley will get you out of the hole nicely. If you plan to buzz it to 6000 rpm. go with the 780 vacuum secondary carb. You now will be at an honest 475 hp. Pick out rims with the correct back spacing first. The 98 S-10 had 15 X 7 wheels. You may stretch it to 8 wide bit you will be tossing crap on your truck. Any 60 series tire will work.

Answer 3

425 HP is alot for a 82 sw chevy. it is very possible though and you have most the answers on here already. I have an 86 sw Chevy and on the motor I am pushing the 460HP mark with a fairly expensive 383ci motor. now let me tell you the one thing you may not of thought of. traction. those leaf springs need to go. I run a triangulated 3 link suspension and still don't get off the line the way I would like. If you are on a budget here you may want to spend less in motor and more on gears and suspension to get the truck to hook up. The easiest way to add more HP is to add more money.

Answer 4

probably about $2500 i built my trans am 350 for that its got around 525hp. first get the block checked (its probably gonna need boring which is ok, cause you will need new rods and pistons) at the machine shop ask about budget price rod/piston combos for your hp rang, usually around $800 w/rings. get a forged crank gm performance catalog $500. get on ebay and find some hopped up vortec heads w/larger valves that have been cross drilled for old style intakes(about $550), big cam .500+ lift then get some good valves that are .100 longer because vortec heads only clear about .450 lift, get some stronger springs as per required on your cam specs card(comes with cam) get a good intake to match the flow of the heads which can be found with a normal keyword search on yahoo, and finally a nice big carb (edlebrocks are good for bolt on and go, but if you know what you are doing holleys are alot more tuneable) headers too

Answer 5

Steet Chevy

Answer 6

FIRST TAKE THAT TURBO 400 TRANNY AND TRASH IT.IT USES TOO MUCH HORSEPOWER TO OPERATE.REPLACE IT WITH A TURBO 350.YOU ARE GONNA NEED AFTERMARKET HEADS TO STEP UP THE FLOW. YOU WILL NEED AT LEAST A .525 LIFT OR BETTER CAM SO YOU WILL ALSO NEED A STALL CONVERTER.THE CAST PISTONS IN THE STOCK 350 ARENT GOOD ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE POWER YOU WANT SO YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY AFTERMARKET ONES ALONG WITH A NEW SET OF RODS AND CRANK. EAGLE MAKES A REASONABLY PRICED SET.TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT YOU WILL NEED TO SPEND ABOUT $2500-$3500.

Answer 7

i would start with a good set of alum heads brodix, afr,gm vortec and have a custom gound cam that matches the flow and the spring lift of the heads, than match a good carb( is it for street or track only) and manifold, look to spend somewhere in the 2500.00 plus range dont forget a good inj system like a msd 6al box. wheel and tire your on your own for that.

Answer 8

thats alot of hp to try and make on a smog small block, it can be done but not cheap. if you dont want to bore it i would atleats recomend strokin it with a new crank. gonna need cam, lifters, intake, heads, carb, pistons, rods, bearings, fuel supply, ignition.....cooling. 5-6000$ with used partsl, lots of time and if you need to ask you probably cant do it your self.
cheaper to buy a motor already built with the numbers you want.

Answer 9

Get yourself a 400 crank and make that thing a stroker. You will need shorter pistons with those 5.7 rods;)

Answer 10

alum heads hot cam..headers,...look at edelbrock for a all in one package..u tell them what hp you want and they figure out what u need... cheaper if you buy in a package.See Jegs or Summit racing. buy a crate from Jasper.