edelbrock crate engines
 

I'm looking at the edelbrock 350 crate engines. Anyone know anything about these engines and quality. I looking at the basis 350 310 HP performer engine. Could someone explain what the "square bore and spread bore carburetor means and which one would you recommend for a basis engine? Or would I be better off buying the GM crate engine 350 HO Deluxe which is about a grand cheaper?

Thanks

Re: edelbrock crate engines (aardvark)
 

IMHO - the Edelbrock engines are way overpriced..

Re: edelbrock crate engines (aardvark)
 

Yep - they are spendy.

Re: edelbrock crate engines (aardvark)
 

As GS said those are overpriced. If you want to go cheap get a GM LM1 eng, might be ablet o get is as a short block but it is about $1,200 for the long block, then add a set of Vortec heads/intake along with a nice cam then you will have a nice eng with jsut about the same specs as that 310 Edel one for about $2,000. HP and torq would depend on the cam but with the vortec heads you would be about 9/1 comp.

Re: edelbrock crate engines (Fevre)
 

And you could raise the compression up closer to 10:1 for a bit more performance.

Also, you asked about the difference between square and spread bore... This determines which carburator you will end up using. Someone will correct me if I've got it backward, but IIRC, square bore is the norm for a Holley 4150 or the like and a spread bore is what the Q-Jet uses. I'd go the Holley route myself as the carbs are very simple to work on. I'm still afraid of the Q-Jet, though they do get a bad rap by some "performance" enthusiasts, I think they are also good carbs myself...

Re: edelbrock crate engines (aardvark)
 

If I'm not mistake, the Edelbrock starts out with a GM LM1 (Goodwrench) short block, and adds their heads and whatnot to it. For the money, I agree the LM1/Vortec heads would be a good route.

Or just do a ZZ4! :yesnod:

Re: edelbrock crate engines (GrandSportC3)
 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

Re: edelbrock crate engines (Stewart's74)
 

is the LM1 engine stock a better/stronger engine then say a L48 or worse?

i was thinking of swaping out my L-48 and throwing in the LM1 but people say i will regret it.

thanks in advance

Re: edelbrock crate engines (1978Vette)
 

My dad was running the goodwrench engine in a 4 wheel drive we had, and it had some serious guts... I think it pulled way better than my 73 L48 did. It had a 1-0-0-something casting number, and it said "Hecho en Mexico" at the back of the block. There was no head symbol. It had an edelbrock performer manifold and a carter AFB and I'm not sure what else had been done but it sure had power.
As I understand it, those engines are a four bolt main block but perhaps with a cast crank? I agree with getting one and some vortec heads and a bigger cam and maybe some of those thin head gaskets that are supposed to give you a half point more...

Re: edelbrock crate engines (1978Vette)
 

I bought a LM1 and put a bigger cam in it right away, 204/214 .424/.444, nice low end all the way up to 4500 then it fell off, pretty much expected with that cam. You might be able to go a little bigger on the cam lift, maybe .460 lift max, but I would not go beyond 214 to 216 duration cuz the heads aren't made to flow that well. If you to the vortec route you could go higher lift and longer duration. For the money the LM1 is a very nice base for a low budget moderate hp, 400 or so, eng. I am running alum heads and roller cam making about 350 to 375 hp with the stock lower end.

BTW The LM1 is 4 bolt and has powdered rods just like the ZZ4 but a cast crank and pistons.


[Modified by Fevre, 8:22 AM 8/26/2003]

Re: edelbrock crate engines (aardvark)
 

Their engine do carry a high price, but there are a lot of expensive parts on it too. A few things to keep in mine are they put some very good parts on it and I would trust hoose guys to build a good engine too.

They have three engine dynos in house to tune them. Also they use red roller rocker arms and an Eldelbrock water pump. One option that I think is cool is the dual carb set up.

Re: edelbrock crate engines (aardvark)
 

I don't know how strongly you feel about the edelbrock crate engine, but if I were you I would look at http://www.enginefactory.com before you buy. I would also recommend looking at american racings website as well.

Also if you decide to go with the shortblock I would look into some edelbrock heads from pace perfomance. Their heads tend to be several hundred dollars cheaper than summit and only slightly more expensive than cast vortec heads.

Re: edelbrock crate engines (aardvark)
 

I believe the performer engine is based on the GM Goodwrench 350, not the ZZ4. I'm not knocking the Goodwrench engine. I have one in my car, but you can get exactly the same power using the Goodwrench engine, a CC XE268H, an Edelbrock Performer intake, and headers. That's the setup I went with, and I have less than $2K in the whole deal.

:cheers:

Re: edelbrock crate engines (e3pres)
 

I ended up buying 12513151 (I think L34 - but I could be way off). I did this because it had the rolled nodular iron crank, pm rods, lt4 pistons/rings, and took a roller cam.

I ended up changing the heads and cam to build a clone of a ZZ430 (without 4 bolt mains or steel crank).

Does anyone know if the LM1 can take a roller cam? How about the hyperutectic pistons? If the answer is yes to both of these - I could have saved myself over $300 - AND - got 4 bolt mains to boot. That would have been great.