getting more horses from 350 chevy

[Chevelle71]

i have a 71 chevelle with a 350 thats bored 30 and balanced, the heads are casting #487, and a lunati cam, 420/442 lift, 270/280 duration. all i know about the pistons is that they are sealed power, the intake is an edelbrock air gap and 600 carb, distributor is an hei with a curve kit and super coil. ive also got ceramic headers, and th400 trans. im lookin for a way to get more horses without going too far in the engine like heads or pistons. im considering lifters, xe 274 comp cam, rocker arms, aluminum radiator/electric fan, pulleys, anything outside that would aid in freeing up horses, all suggestions welcome.

[molhannah]

Turbo charge it!

[miltystu]

Originally Posted by Chevelle71

i have a 71 chevelle with a 350 thats bored 30 and balanced, the heads are casting #487, and a lunati cam, 420/442 lift, 270/280 duration. all i know about the pistons is that they are sealed power, the intake is an edelbrock air gap and 600 carb, distributor is an hei with a curve kit and super coil. ive also got ceramic headers, and th400 trans. im lookin for a way to get more horses without going too far in the engine like heads or pistons. im considering lifters, xe 274 comp cam, rocker arms, aluminum radiator/electric fan, pulleys, anything outside that would aid in freeing up horses, all suggestions welcome.

If this is for every day driving. I would suggest 1.6 roller rocker arms to start.
If it were mine I would take apart the motor. The head casting you have is most likely a 74 cc chamber smog head with 1.94 int and 1.50 exhaust valves. I would bolt on a set of corvette aluminum 58cc chamber heads. They have the same size valves but a smaller chamber and better flow. They will really improve performance, and are fairly inexpensive too. I had these on a 73 nova pushing 400+hp.
http://www.gmpartsdepot.com/store/pr...Category_ID=76
Then bolt on a 750 vac seconday Demon carb, and 4.10 posi rear.

[MrPbody]

The 487 is a decent head, though "large" chamber, as previously stated. By adding 2.02/1.6 valves, XE274H is a GREAT cam for this. Be advised: Stock springs will NOT work with that cam, especially if you go to the 1.6 rockers. For the 1.5 rockers, we use "Z-28" springs. For anything more, we install larger diameter "dual" springs.
By milling .040" off those heads, compression (static) is right where you want it, in the 9:1 range. This will make the engine "pump gas friendly".
I would also dump the little carb, and get at least a 650 DP. A 700 might even work better. The RPM Air Gap is an excellent intake.
You can do all this without changing anything in the bottom end. A competent machine shop is called for, for the head modifications.

[bigbadbowtie]

what rear gear is in the car/stall converter????

You can put the baddest head/cam/intake/carb combo on an engine with a stock stall and a 2.xx gear and it will still be a turtle. Thats why I am asking.

[Tim81ta]

Keep this in mind, you will need to crank the engine over, by hand, after you modifications are done. You want to make sure that you clearances are good. Too many people go through parts catalogs picking out parts, throw them together, forget to crank it over by hand, then start it up and watch it blow.

Changing one aspect of the engine will change alot.............

[ForcedInduction509]

Originally Posted by molhannah

Turbo charge it!

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=337306

We did it on a camaro........monsterous results , If you want turbo Banks is the way to go.