ok like most of you i am on a limited amount of cash for my build up. so with that in mind i'm in the midst of the engine building phase and i looked at buying a crate motor from a machine shop in redding for $1200 +/- then i looked at using the parts i have and building it myself and know i have a lead from a buddy who found one in an old mid 70's motor home(he works for the dealer) he said the odometer has 40k original miles. question is whats your pick? and for the motor guru's if i buy my buddy's find what's the minimum i should do prior to doing the swap. thanks the motor in questrion is a chevy 350

How much is the one in the motorhome? What condition is it in? How complete is the crate motor? What do you have right now? Is there anything wrong with the motor you have now? Need info to make a descision on your fate! :flipoff2:

How much power do you want also? What kind of intake, carb or efi setup do you have? More info needed.

well i just bought a 350 TBI rebuilt w/ 30k on it. I got a sm465 with it and an np208...total cost was $1100 bones. You have some good options, but do you really need all that power from a crate motor?? I guess it depends on the trails your ride. But, im assuming at max. i only have 300 HP...i would probably be lucky to have that much. I think that 250 HP will be more than enough for me...all that money that would be spent on that crate motor can go to a lot of other good things. If that motor ever goes...what did you lose in it?? Probably not much. By the way this drivetrain is not in my Scout...

It's really on preference, if i had my Scout completely done the way i have always wanted it and all i had to do was to pick the motor and i had $1200 bucks...it would have a crate motor.

If i was building it the way i have always wanted, BUT i didn't have any money left over...OR i have to build it on a budget (which i do). I would go the motorhome 350 route.

Also, if the motor home 350 blows...you don't lose much. And also to build a SBC 350 and build it BAD...it doesn't cost much. Probably a very STOUT SBC 350 can be built for $1000-$1500.

comes down to what you wheel, where you wheel...and most of all YOUR budget and what you have to spend.

my only worry would be how big of a motorhome. I bet all of those 40k miles were really HARD miles...

just a thought...

alright what i have is a short block 350 and i have a complete 350 minus the carb(one of the connecting rod bolts was not torqued correctly and thus sheared the other bolt and went thur the pan) both are 4 bolt mains

bro has a complete 350 the oil was watery and the carb also is garbage it's in a truck so i presume it's a 4 bolt

dad picked up a complete 350 on the side of the road also minus carb don't know if it's a 4 bolt or not.

the motorhome motor i haven't got a price on it but it's complete air cleaner to pan.

if i build a motor can i have my crank turned and use the old pistons and connecting rods or due the connecting rods have to be put back on the same journal they came off of. i know i have a good set of heads that can be machined and i'm sure i have a good block. most of the assesories i have ie: starter, alternator

i would have my rods reconditioned turn the crank if needed and run new bearings.

what's the taper on the cylinder bores

Connecting rods don't need to be put back to the same journal if your doing a rebuild. The end caps need to be on the same rod, since they are machined square. Main journals need to be is the same spot. :skull:

I have to agree here.

A 350 weighs alot and you get a ton of power but what do you want to do. a built 350 is great for mud but not a good for crawling. You want something light with less torque early in the band for crawling. Maybe look into a 4.3 which is the samething as a 350 just missing two cylinders. Drivetrains are the same and you can easily buile the 4.3 to get 400 horses if you want all with less weight.

IMHO.

Tim

What kind of wheeling do you do? Mud? Rocks? Sand? Malls?

i plan on wheelin alot of rock. i am going 350 cause thats what i know and have thought about the 6 but really dont know that much about them i heard that the 4 bolt main is alot better than the 2 bolt in the car motors. will have to look into the other motor may be another avenue.

by the way what cars/vehicles would be a good donor:D for a 4.3:D

Originally posted by ironpig70
by the way what cars/vehicles would be a good donor:D for a 4.3:D

Chevy S-10/ GMC S-15 PU and Blazer/ Jimmy. Some full size P.U

i see that these motors come out of trucks so i would presume 4 bolt main. is there a big difference in the 4 bolt main versus the 2 bolt main or is it like the ford vs. chevy thing

For what you want to do a 2bolt is plenty strong. Dont need a 4 unless your going to really wring out the motor.
$1200 sounds pretty good for a rebuilt motor. Thats about what it cost me to rebuild my 350.
As you probably know, built it for torque. The lower it comes in the better.

my only worry would be how big of a motorhome. I bet all of those 40k miles were really HARD miles...
My experiance with 350s is that they are unbreakable. My friend had a LB with 410s but liked to cruse the carpool lane, his dad works for the dealer so he didnt care about breaking it. He used to just floor the thing and let valve float be his rev limiter. He would drove like that on 4 hour trips up the coast all day long for a couple years till he got her sideways on mountain road.

As for the 4bolt vs 2 bolt the 2 bolt mains are suppose to be fine up to about 40-450hp so I wouldnt worry about it. If you are really concerned you can add 2 bolts to the 2bolt main you got for fairly cheap. And those setups are suppose to be stronger than the 4bolts. If you are good with a grinder and have patiance i would build a 383. They can be had for fairly cheap. check www.enginekits.com


Charlo

I have heard that a crate motor from GM, brand new with a warranty is +/- $100 from what you were quoted from the machine shop. I crawl and I built my motor for torque, peaks at 407 ft/lbs @ 2,050 rpm and 340 hp @ 4,500. I've heard and seen 2 bolt motors run hard up to 450 horses and the only way you will get much higher than that is to go 4 bolt splayed caps, standard caps might gain you 50 hp over the 2 bolt. You can get a good rebuild kit for $150 and then it just depends on the machine shop you get the mill work done at. I paid $600 for my motor but there is no one better in town and this guy knows his stuff. Just some costs to weigh.

Originally posted by charlo


As for the 4bolt vs 2 bolt the 2 bolt mains are suppose to be fine up to about 40-450hp [/url]


Charlo


I heard 600 HP