Budget engine build

[nkeener]

I do not know a lot about engine work and have never torn down a truck engine before. I have done a complete tear down on a atv engine but im sure that is way easier. I have a 94 chevy 1500 with a 350 tbi that has 210k on it and hasnt had much engine work ever done to it. The engine is getting pretty weak and probably has very low compression and also has oil pressure problems so i am planning to put a new engine in over the summer. I am lookin at putting 3 or 4k into the engine and want to get the most hp for my money. Any ideas on what block and parts i should look at for this price range would be helpful. I was thinking of going with a 383 but maybe i can build more power stickin with a 350.I know this is not the page for it but i was alos looking at putting a 4bt in it if i can build enough power with one. Thanks for your help

[Doober]

For that much you could build quite a healthy 350, a 383 would likely be another $500-1000. On a stock 2-bolt block you're limited to 425-450 before you start stressing the block too much. Splayed caps will help here but the block has to be line bored which adds $. A cam in the 225/230 @ .050" range on a 350 or 230/235 on a 383 will probably make the most street-friendly power, custom tuning will be required for anything you build though, look at dynamicefi.com for a diy setup you can tune yourself with a laptop. The issue with EFI is that stuff adds up fast, a carb is generally cheaper to run installation-wise... Though you could run a carb and convert to EFI down the road. Look in the 170-185cc range for head intake size, Vortecs are the only production head I woukd consider though stock used heads cost more to prep... you'd be better off with aftermarket by that point. There are aftermarket Vortec castings available and those are also good choices (RHS comes to mind, they have them at a reasonable price). Compression I'd say 9.5:1 with iron heads and 10-10.2:1 with aluminum... a well planned engine could probably go to 10.5 or slightly higher. AFR heads are probably the best, but they are also some of the most expensive.

[GreaseDog]

Last I heard the ebl was not compatible with the 7427.

[Doober]

7427 for an E-trans? Way I understand it they just piggyback them to be able to run an EBL... I don't know what all is involved myself.