Best power gain for the buck?

Question

I've got a 74 chevelle with a 350 bored to a 355. Its already got headers alumminum intake edelbrock carb good exhaust pretty much stock heads flat top pistons an hei distributor platinum plugs accel wires comp cam not sure of the specs on the cam without looking but thats about all the major mods i think. I've got around 1000 bucks to spend right now so what could I get that would gain me the most power for the least money?

I have considered alumminum heads a different cam and roller tip rockers and lifters. and mabey a blower

Answer 1

nitrous will wake it up, but be warned, it's hard on a motor. Maybe your money would be better spent on a good valve train. lighten it up. titanium rockers, pushrods, stainless valves, etc. Longer duration cams with close lobe centerlines would allow a little higher compression too...you can run 11:1 with a 106 or so.... Now the car will idle very poorly, you might not even enjoy it in heavy traffic, but peppier pistons and a healthy cam really do wake an ol 350 up. Or, if you're a glutton for punishment, stick a dual quad tunnel ram on her. It involves a mountain of tuning, and it's a finicky little *****, but if you can find a good used one, you will have yourself a very consistent, highly reactive setup. carbs sized around 450 cfms are ideal for a 350. Do be careful though, that setup is capable of totally outrunning your engine. they are rated at 10000 rpm. i'm sure your stock valvetrain, and rods could never handle it. so basically, use your head if you go that route

Answer 2

It seems like some people dont read the question thuroughly before they answer it. Heads would be good but not the most power for your dollar. They would add strength to it and gain you a moderate increase in power. An engine swap for a grand? Please......New gear ratios wont get you any more power but they might increase 0-60 times while reducing top speed. You may get a few horsepower by switching to EFI but Ive never seen one for 1g. What I suggest is looking into a wet injection nitrous kit. NOS and Edelbrock both offer 250hp shot kits for less than 500 bucks or geta 500!!!!hp fogger system for 850bucks. In the interest of the question, this is the most power for the least money. Run too much nos and you will destroy something but it would be fun.

Answer 3

Fuel injection. Good gains, but more importantly, easy to adjust whenever you decide to do more modifications. Otherwise, re-work the heads for better flow,which should make for more power and a wider power band. Also, make sure your compression ratio is high enough (in Australia, some cars in the early 70s came from the factory with 12:1 compression - but I'm not sure what you can manage with the lower octane fuels available in this country.)

Answer 4

A 373 ratio (or 411) positrac rear axle will really wake this car up. Wide sticky rubber is a must for stuck to the seat sprints.Highway cruising is best with an overdrive tranny.

Answer 5

If you've got 1K to spend, your best bet would be to swap out to a bigger engine. If you can't do that, then see if you could dig up a used blower setup. Of course, if you do that, you're going to have to drop your compression down to take full advantage of it. Unfortunately, in the automotive world like everything else, there's no free lunch.

Answer 6

I'd go for a good set of heads... what do you want to accomplish? do you care about reliability? if so, I wouldn't go the nitrous route without building up the bottom end first.

Answer 7

hi i might want to replace the gearing (sprockets) positioned a more effective rear sproket on for more effective potential !! and a smaller the front sprocket thats what i did i'm replacing my sprockets for all time for various driving situations !! for more effective suitable end positioned a smaller rear and larger the front !!

Answer 8

the aluminum heads are it. I put the on my 69 chev and wow.. go to Jegs or Summit racing. for best deal...