CHEVY 350 ENGINE!...CHEAP PERFORMANCE AND POWER UPGRADES!!...QUICK, CHEAP HORSEPOWER!! PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!?

Question

CHEVY 350 ENGINE!...CHEAP PERFORMANCE AND POWER UPGRADES!!...QUICK, CHEAP HORSEPOWER!! PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!?

Answer 1

Chevies are the easiest to get horsepower out of. They've got the compression but their flow sucks. You can get big horsepower (300-350) with a stock short block. The cheapest fix is a good carb and aluminum intake. You can pick up a good 650 cfm quadrajet from Advance or Auto Zone for around $100-150, the cheapest intake is gonna be an Edelbrock. Another $100-150. I'm not much of an edelbdock fan, and I really hate their carbs. But they're ok. If you want some serious HP, go to a swap meet and get some better heads to go with your carb/intake. For around $300/400 at a swap meet, you can pick up a used pair of complete ready to bolt on 041 or 186 heads with .202" or .194" valves. These are commonly called Fuelie heads or 300HP heads. With those heads and a Victor Jr. Intake, a good cam (another $100-150) and you'll be smoking new camaro's and mustangs like cheap cigars in the comfort of your Cutlass! Those are the most comfortable cars I've ever had the joy of driving. Great choice!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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man am i jealous , i love the ride and style of the cutlass , last one was 83 w/ a 454 anyway.... Get a cam, you can go with a bigger carbuerator, some different heads$$$$ or port your heads, headers and a good flowing exhaust, a spacer plate under the carb, always the NOS but kinda kills the longevity. Have fun!! order yourself a summit racing magazine , they are free and have everything you will ever need for that motor in there.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

RE:

CHEVY 350 ENGINE!...CHEAP PERFORMANCE AND POWER UPGRADES!!...QUICK, CHEAP HORSEPOWER!! PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!?

Hey, i just got an 86 cutlass that has a chevy 350 in it and a 400 trans...i was wondering what are some cheap(as in price, not quality) ways i can upgrade it and get more power and performance out of it. I dont plan on racing it, just want some power on the takeoff and make it feel like a...

Answer 6

GFD

Answer 7

You can do it in stages on the cheap. I'll offer some similar suggestions as to upgrades, but a little bit more towards recent-tech.



First - the one post is spot on - free up your intake side. First off - cold air intake. I've been a proponent for Moroso intakes, but you can craft something cheap and easy with a K&N filter and some 3" plastic duct from the hardware store and get the same result if you're crafty. Price- anywhere from about 70 bucks to 500.



Second, don't go for the old-tech cylinder heads - source yourself some Vortec-style heads (either eBay, or save up some extra pennies and get them new). They flow much better than the old junk, and will flow better with porting. Price - depending on auction, you can get them for about 100 bucks on auction to about 800 for a new set. They'll require a vortec-style intake manifold - go Edelbrock for this. This is about 140 bucks, last time I checked with my local supplier.



I'm a little different than others - I swear by Quadrajet carbs - when prepped correctly they'll flow excellent on a warmed over 350. Their reputation as smog clunkers is undeserved. Look around, and you may score a prepped quadrajet for about 150 from somebody who has caught "Holley-itis" and is looking for a fat double-pumper to kill their stock 350 with.





Next thing - go for a cat-back exhaust, and upgrade your cat to a high-flow type if you have the extra change. Price - depends. It'll set you back about 400 for a decent sounding set up, but you can manage less if you're handy with a welder and have a supplier of cheap 3" exhaust pipe. Add 250 or so for a new cat (don't cheap out here, or you'll kill your flow).



Finally, see if BBK makes a set of headers for your car - cheap and good! I have them on my 95 Camaro and swear by them. About 250 bucks.



Finally, and I'm surprised nobody's said it - upgrade your granny-spec camshaft in that 86 with a suitable Crane cam. Don't ask me or anybody for the cam specs - go right to the Crane dealer's tech line and tell them exactly what you have and what you want to do with it. Don't go crazy and kill all the torque in your big old car with a hairy cam shaft - stay toward the slightly conservative side and you'll be happier, especially with a big heavy beast like your car.

Price - about 200 bucks.



Do it in about that order and when you can afford them, and you'll have a fairly hot car. Put a shift kit in your 400 trans, and you'll improve your e.t.'s, and get a good kick in your pants on every shift.



Good luck, and I'll see ya at the next stop-light.....

Answer 8

If the air filter is stock trash it and put on a K&N or a 13" that is open all around. Hotter plugs and an upgrade on your ignition (ie hotter coil new wires etc.) Will boost performance with out breaking you. Also you can gain hp and fuel economy with a cold air intake system. A B&M Shift kit in your TH400 will help also on your take offs and acceleration.

Answer 9

Get headers, intake, carburetor. To get these in your price range you will need to buy them used on e-bay or something like that.

Answer 10

Well 1st off, your not gonna do much with a couple hundred bucks, but if you want to make it fast, save you up about $1,000-1500 and you'll beable to make alot of good mods.



Now that one guy that told you to put a vic JR intake on it must be smoking some good stuff. LOL The vic JR intake is a single plane race intake made for 4500 rpm and above rpm. I dont even run a single plane on my 500 HP 355.



1st things to do on a cheaper scale is power tuning, and exhaust system.



Hedman or hooker headers (1-5/8" tubes, 3" coll) dual 2.25" pipes, or single 3" pipe, good muffler(s) like dynomax super turbos, summit turbo (same as the dynomax), dynomax ultra flo, etc.



Now get you a $6 HEI dizzy advance curve kit and install the light and med tension springs in place of your stock dizzy mech. advance springs.



Now you have to stop and think what you really want to do. Intake would be next on the list, but heads are where most of your power comes from and what heads you have determans what intake you need ..



Myself I agree with the vortecs. Look for used 1996-2002 chevy/gmc 350 truck/van heads. Those are the vortec heads. You can norm find them used for $250-450 a pair. Also those vortec heads are 62cc heads (most places say 64cc but all the ones I have cc'ed came in at 62).



That will bring your compression up cause most likley you have smogger type (882, 993) heads which is 72-78 cc chambers



Now with those heads you will want a better cam, and intake.



A cam from crane, elgin, howards, summit brand, comp, etc with around 214* intake / 224* exhaust duration @.050" lift on a 112 LSA (I would go with elgin cam kit from compitition products) good cam, great price



For intake you will need one that will bolt up to the vortec heads and work with a 4bl carb. I would look at the pro products crosswinds intake. It's a dual plane intake made like the edelbrock performer RPM intake.



Put you a K&N air filter on it, good plug wires, etc and you'll end up with a nice engine making an honest 300 HP 350.



A few other things thats gonna help you is...

Rear end gears. Most cars came with 2.73 to 3.08 gears. Those are highway gears and suck for fast launchs. You will want a 3.42 or 3.73 gear



Once you do the cam, head swap on engine you will also need a high stall speed torque converter. Something in the 2600 rpm stall range will do you good. Look for house brands as they are just as good for your need and alot cheaper.. Summit brand, jegs brand, etc.