Vannin' Home Forums Chevy Performance (GM) Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest?

Hi everyone!

This might seem like a stupid question, but Im pretty new in both Vans, and V8`s so i hope its ok that i ask you guys some questions.:)

Im thinking of buying a 81 chevy G20 van cause the body is just like i want for my project, but the engine is Broken.(it got a big crack in the block. and its a 305)
I want to Put in a 350 engine in it instead. and i also need some interior parts and some body sheetmetal parts. SO i was thinking of buying anouther van as a donorcar.
What year "s" did chevy Vans have the strongest 350 engines? Are the "old" carburettor engine or the newer TBI engines the best? I know that its not just a "yes/no" question, but im wery gratefull for anny tips and replies:o) My thought is that maybe the carburettor engines are easyer and cheaper to tune etc.? But i guess they also use a little bitt more fuel? Or maybe im thinking wrong? My planes arent to have a Dragstrip van or annything like that, but a Nice "alround" van that i can go on hollydays with and chruuse, but also have fun with, and to be able to use it as a tow car for my "racecar". when im going to the track. And of course the most inportant thing! that it is strong enough to do some burnouts to show al the youngsters at carshows that you can have Alot of fun with outher cars than just Toyota supras an BMWs.:) hehe:D

thanks in advance!

Best Regards
Jan Egil

for the price i would buy a new crate motor from chevy. a 4 bolt main block out of a truck is the best. i my self like a carb to keep it simple.. if a new motor is not in the card's i would look for a late 70's truck motor i don't know about smog in you area. you will want to check that out as well.

They claim that the 4 bolt main engines are stronger than the 2 bolt main blocks, but I've know guys to build both with no problems. If you have no issues over there with pollution inspection, I too would go with a carbed set up also for ease. Altho, I'm kinda old school that way too (I can rebuild a carb, but hate puters) As far as fuel economy, I will still bet most carbed engines can get just as good if not better mileage than injected ones. The older the engine, the better as anything newer will start to have less performance features because of pollution standards over here.

A crate motor would be ideal for you, but availability of that in your country may be slim.

Hope this helps.

Hi, and thanks for the answers! everything helps:)
of course a crate motor had been the easyest way to go, but for the first thing, crate motors are Werry hard to come buy her ein norway, and the prices are totaly insaine!:(
And it also going to be werry expensive to get a crate engine shipped over.:( And to be onnest i dont like to buy things "redy to go" I like to build and do everything myself. That way i learn a great deal, and i get a better feeling "inside" my self.:) (i hope you understand what i meen, Its not so easy to explain in english..hehe)
Regarding the pollution inspections that wont be anny problems for me because of the age of the car.:)I also need outher van parts, thats why i want to buy a complete donorvan instead of a engine from another car/truck if i can.:)

Superbeast: I totaly agree with you on the carb. engines. Do you know what year and modell van the 350 4bolt engines was deliverd?

Thanks again!

Best Regards

Jan Egil

I totally understand your views on the crate engines.

Sorry, I'm not really a GM guy, so I can't answer the 2 & 4 bolt main question, but I believe they made them for quite a while. I believe the 4 bolt main blocks were used primarily in heavy duty and performance applications.

I'm sure someone will chime in that knows all of this.

350c.i. 4-bolt main blocks were made from 1968-96...

Sorry don't know anything about Chevys either

the 4 bolts are mostly for torque........they can take a good amount of pulling/ hauling......but for a van it doesnt matter unless your going to be pulling trailers all the time........ the race guyz like em cause you can spin emm hard .

i like carb 2...but i like the bolt on fuel injection units that fit to the carburator...they just have more tuning capabilities when driving high elevation and can improve gas milage when run by a chip.

id pull anything out of anywhere.......throw some main bearings in it and maybe a valve job and put it back together.

I know there must be a few guyz here who spent friday in the junkyard so saturday cruise night happened.

I'll chime in with this, my van with a stock 350 with 4 bbl, and 3 speed transmission presently gets better gas mileage than my dads 89 s-10 with a Four cylinder engine and overdrive transmission. Somehow he gets 12 mpg and I get 14 mpg. Those computers can go nuts and cause all kinds of hard to solve problems in my opinion. Good old carburetor is easier to diagnose and should not be ruled out when talking about fuel economy. Just stick with a 600 or a 650 CFM and you're not overdoing it.

87 was the first year for TBI on chevy vans. From what I've been told the TBI from 87 was not very good either.