engine suggestions

the guy who mowes my yard, well his family owns a junk yard and i dont have much of any idea how an engine works so i was thinkin about usin some money and tryin to get a blown engine to take apart and just look at to see how everything works in conjuction with each other. well a guy i know said i should just get a block w/ alot of miles and just rebuild it...as everyone learning should do once, what do u guys, and girls think. and if u agree w/ him what kinda very reasonably priced engine should i get to rebuild?? i heard suburbans had good strong 350s in them.
a couple of things to remember though: i will not be building this up a whole lot just rebuilding the block, probably borin it to clean up the walls and gettin a rebuild kit for thirty over. i curently own a 91 rs w/ a 305 so i need something that will easily fit and i dont really need more than 300 whp, what do u think i should get block wise ( i know afterward i will need the computer and some other things) and about how much should i look at spendin on one

go with a 350 block, it's a great one to work with whether you're learning for the first time or doing it for your 10th time.

Just find a 350

thanx for the help and im not tryin to be an ass but could u be a lil more specific as u read i kinda already knew id be goin w/ a 350

i'd get an 1987 or newer 350, it'll save headaches when you go to bolt it in. try to find a truck engine, or like you said a suburban engine, most of those are 4 bolt mains. 87 and newer have a roller cam, you can re-use the roller lifters with a new camshaft.

being a first time rebuilder, i wouldn't get too radical with the rebuild. just replace the rings and bearings. unless you really want the engine bored out, measure the cylinder ridge to determine if it needs bored. sometimes you can get away just honing. have your heads rebuilt, and put in a new oil pump. should be good to go

i wanna rebuild my engine. i rebuilt a 350 in automotive class 3 years ago back in high school. I just dont trust myself to do it to my car...

OK here you go. I assume where you live is not is California. If so forget everything you want to do. Outside of California you're fine. Put whatever 350 you want into it. 350s are great and very abundant. Since you have already decided that you want a 350 you can do whatever you wish. I personally think a two piece rear main seal block would work just fine (pre-87). A one piece block would work fine too but will probably be harder to find. Don't get an LT1 cause you'll just get yourself into more crap then what you're after. Again, I personally think a pre-87 350 with either two bolt or four bolt mains. Yes two bolt will work just fine, if you want it to handle more HP then just put in some main studs. Just get the block magnafluxed. If the block checks out then you are good to go. There really isn't much more to it than that. JUST DON'T CUT CORNERS ON IT! You'll regret it later.

One piece = one piece rear main seal. I messed that up.

there's nothing wrong with a pre-87 block except his 305 exhaust manifolds will dump out over the dipstick hole. the only way to get around that is to get older exhaust manifolds and have a custom bent Y pipe or get headers. i've learned that from experience. personally i'd prefer a roller cam with a one peice rear seal, but that's just my preference.

pre-87 dipstick on drivers side

post-87 dipstick on passenger side

honestly, start small. go find a crap lawn mower engine. exact same principles, smaller easier scale. then work your way up to the 350. you will probably learn more and faster, and you might save a few pennies by not destroying a 350 that you jump into with zero experience...