Paul Borowski

Went super smooth, had everything disconnected. Slowly hoisted engine/trans up a few inches at a time, rolled car back a few inches, raised motor/trans up a few inches, rolled car back a few inches until the tailshaft of the Turbo 400 was higher than the nose of the car, then rolled the car the rest of the way out from under the whole motor/transmission. Now, the next phase will be to redo all the A-arm bushings and rebuild the power steering power valve and do some cleaning and light painting. Not making a show car, just a nice, clean presentable 147,000mi driver :lol:

R. Bruno

:cheers: Are you rebuilding or replacing?

Paul Borowski

Replacing. Just thought I'd put the "original" L-82 aside for now, bought that '73-'85 GM 350 4bolt main "replacement" engine. Going to put my exhaust manifolds, intake, carb, starter, water pump, distributor & valve covers on this "new" 350. Got it for $1187 "brand new" from GM, so I'll run it for a while, until MAYBE someday I'll rebuild the original engine.

PRNDL

With gas prices going so high you should reconsider and maybe put in a 4 banger! :lol:

Shark Racer

I'd up the cam in that cruiser and put a nice mild modern grind in it. I bet you'd get MUCH better fuel economy. The cam that's in there is a replica of the L-48 cam.

Just my two cents. You could probably just order a cam, no need to change the lifters. I don't think they break those motors in...

-Steve

GTR1999

I have that motor and I would change the cam too and the plastic timing gear. A Comp 260 and roller chain would be good.
Gary


[Modified by gtr1999, 12:50 PM 5/14/2004]

ddecart

What are you doing to drive now that your car is out of service? :D

R. Bruno

I was going to do similar swap at some time in the next year. For the run of the mill car, that GM motor seems like a much better alternative than rebuilding.

Shark Racer

Mine is running 6.2 sec to 60; faster than a lot of L98 Camaros. That's with the stock cam, too.

-Steve

R. Bruno

Mine is running 6.2 sec to 60; faster than a lot of L98 Camaros. That's with the stock cam, too.

-Steve[/QUOTE]

Wow- great. And it passes CA emissions I assume. My motor is running ok, but at 28 years old and never being opened up, it is leaking oil and developing some noises that scream "rebuild or replace " me. I don't beat on it, but if I did, I am sure it wouldn't last. :eek:

Fevre

I put a little bigger cam in mine before I dropped it in, .424/.444 204/214 Summit brand, thing ran great to 4500/5000 rpm's, def not a screamer but it was fun. I then put alum heads and a roller cam it which made it much faster. I have beat on it pretty good and no problems what so ever fron the short block. :beatdeadhorse:

Shark Racer

Yes and no. I'm running a true dual exhaust system which is technically not legal, but the shop I go to knows the car, knows it will pass, and does not mind. After all, the dual cats are set up properly(appropriate distance from the engine) and the car runs practically all zeroes on emissions.

I'd expect if you weren't running true dual exhaust, the engine would probably fall back to 6.5 sec or so. I'm also running 1 5/8" primary headers, but those are smog legal.

-Steve

Paul Borowski

My Orange '74. Just got it back Tues night from the paint shop. Had that new GM Restoration front bumper painted. Installed the grilles, tightened bumper down snug. Just going to cruise this car a while til the '75's done :auto:

burners

I agree that a cam change would be a good idea. Those engines come with a single row roller chain. I put one in our parts hauler station wagon about 2 years ago and I changed the cam to an XE268. I was surprised to find the roller chain. That was pretty cool.

Paul Borowski

I may do this in the future-kinda want to see how it runs "out of the crate" ;)

GTR1999

It will run ok out of the box. I ran the stock cam and just replaced the nylon timing gears. I used a Edelbrock SP2P with Q-jet and stock rams horns with 2" pipes. It was fine with a M-20 & 336's then 373's. If you just want a reliable driver this will work and stil get 18 mpg at 65mph w336's. I think I'm goin gto turn it into a 383 now though :D
Gary

Fevre

Mine came with a single row metal gear, no nylon.

cardo0

Good work Paul and keep us updated on how that crate motor performs. :chevy Mine was a real dog but I found a wiped exh lobe on #4 I'll guess from lack of break-in by installer. Those are realible cheap engines and are not made for high performance mods. By the time you fill'em with strong parts you'll wish you had just started with a fresh block.
Only thing I would recommend is umbrella valves seals (NAPA $10) as those little stock )-rings just don't last. Don't waste money on those wheezer/smog heads. The stock cast pistons are really the weak link - 350 hp max. So maybe a cheap cam and/or high ratio rockers (elongate pushrod slots) for more power. Steel shim head gaskets ($20) for more compression and better quench can help but can take several days labor to install once engine in car.
Good luck. cardo0 :seeya

Bill Oxley

Hi Paul, I'm about to take my 350 engine and 4 speed tranny out of my 74. I was planning to remove engine separately. Did you find it easier to remove both at the same time? I'll be using a cherry picker, and wasn't sure I could get enough heigth to get both out at the same time. Your thoughts?

Bill

Fevre

Not exactly, try 470:

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te...461/index.html