92 350 Engine Swap

[bigcoconut]

Hey there, I've got a 92 Chevy truck step-side regular cab. It was my dads, he is the original owner, and I bought from him last summer for my son, he just turned 16. Here's the deal, it is in pretty good shape for it's age but everything leaks, tranny, engine and radiator. My plan right now is to get the tranny re-built and then to look at the motor. The original 350 motor, 2 bolt main, packs a whopping 190-200 hp . This is going to be my sons so I'm not looking for killer hp, only about 300-325. What I need is a direction to look into, should I re-build the stock motor or look at a "TBI bolt in" long block?

[mr_mushroom]

do what my dad did.
make your son fix it. i mean, help and all, but, you know.
put him in charge.
let him worry about how much horsepower it's got, and putting more in it.
and getting a job to buy that long block.
et cetera.

[bigcoconut]

Most definitly... I got this truck from my father last summer, he is the original owner, so I know the whole history of it. I figured it would be great for my son, it's big and he can't fit too many friends in it (the cab at least). It would be a great father-son thing for us to do.

[v10_viper]

Why not get a 383 kit for it and some vortec heads/intake manifold? Good power that way, you'll easily achieve your 300 hp mark and probably exceed it. And later down the road if you wanted to swap cams, throw in a chip and work out the heads you'll have 400 horse if he ever feels the need.

[Elbert]

I don't think you can get that kind of HP out of the TBI 350. There's not much you can really do to a TBI 350. I think PACE offers a vortec head swap "kit" for this engine and they claim 30+ hp. If you want that kind of power then you'll have to go with a carb setup, or swap in a vortec 350 along with the ECM and wiring harness.+ fuel pump. I would just leave the TBI motor alone....maybe get a goodwrench replacement long block if you need a new engine.