Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 573 addict | addict Joined: Jan 2010 Posts: 573 | I would have to agree with 2Percent on the 383. That's what I plan on for the Lunchbox. You gain the torque the extra cubic inches provides without a mileage penalty if you plan correctly. Don't go too wild with the cam - its not like we're looking for high RPM screamers, right? Add in a 700R4 for the overdrive and lower 1st gear, and you'll be doing your burnouts, getting good highway mileage, and grinning from ear to ear the whole time! | | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 102 Likes: 1 member | member Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 102 Likes: 1 | I would have to agree with 2Percent on the 383. That's what I plan on for the Lunchbox. You gain the torque the extra cubic inches provides without a mileage penalty if you plan correctly. Don't go too wild with the cam - its not like we're looking for high RPM screamers, right? Add in a 700R4 for the overdrive and lower 1st gear, and you'll be doing your burnouts, getting good highway mileage, and grinning from ear to ear the whole time! I have to agree with fatvanman here. I have a 385 (original 2 bolt block at .040 overbore with stroker crank) that is built with good heads, full roller valvetrain and 10 to 1 compression. I backed it with a 700-R4 trans, it has enough power to show a lot of sports cars its' taillights in a stoplight race. It's an aggressive engine, but I can still get 16 to 17 mpg on the highway cruising at 70 with the A/C on. | | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 18,308 Likes: 568 | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 18,308 Likes: 568 | I vote a BB 454 Tonawonda TBI
SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS '93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB '92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB | | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 18,308 Likes: 568 | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 18,308 Likes: 568 | Both of my Chevy's have a 454 Tonawanda motor out of New York (I stand corrected)and they both get 11-14 mpg..so my vote is to put a 454 in your van..same milage and more power..dont know how much more power you need but i still have way more motor than tire even on 35" BFG's. Both my van were built at the GM plant in Canada & they only made 3.
Last edited by frscke1; January 26th 2011 7:03 pm.
SUNSHINE VANS-VAN DIEGO ADRENALIN BY THE GALLON & CHASIN RACIN ONE FOR THE DIRT & ONE FOR THE STREETS '93 CHEVY G30 454 4X4 SPORTVAN EXT 146" WB '92 CHEVY G30 454 BEAUVILLE EXT 146" WB | | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,347 old hand | old hand Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,347 | I'm sorry to correct you, but it's TONAWANDA and it's in BUFFALO ,NEW YORK ! 1978 CHEVY 4X4 VAN - BLUE-GREY 1977 CHEVY 4X4 VAN- BLACK | | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 47 newbie | newbie Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 47 | If you are interested I have a 1983 g-20 lwb doner van. It has a low milage zz4 350 cu in 355hp crate motor in it and an 83 camero 700r4 trans. many extras like new headers, carb.Body is not in great shape but does have black dash and dog house unmolested. crate motor alone is over 5k. ill take 2900 for the project if interested. Its located in newark ohio. | | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 738 old hand | old hand Joined: Jan 2003 Posts: 738 | [quote=swimmster]Vortec heads came out in '97. maybe early 96... The only difference between the truck versions of these heads and the High performance ones is the exhaust seat. the truck seat is a much thicker seat. Put vortec heads on most any 350 and you're adding a min of 75 horsepower...
Swimmster, would a set of '96-'99 VORTEC heads mate up to my '83 350?? What about intake & exhaust??
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| | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: May 2001 Posts: 774 old hand | old hand Joined: May 2001 Posts: 774 | Exhaust will typically work but you need a new intake as the vortec heads use a different bolt arrangment for the intake.
Revew GM's specs for their 330hp 350CI crate motor, you can take a regular 350 engine, add the vortec heads, change the cam to match and get an intake and performer carb from edelbrock and you will have a very nice engine set up with hp to match GM's crate motor if a crate motor is too expensive to ship over to Norway | | | Re: Hi! which 350 van engine is the "best" n strongest? | Joined: Feb 2006 Posts: 208 enthusiast | enthusiast Joined: Feb 2006 Posts: 208 | As stated, a 350 is a 350, cam/compression/2-vs-4 barrel/valve size-head type, those were the differences that made the power changes. Unless you find a 4 bolt block really cheap, or are going to be doing something crazy (notrous, blower, insane redlines) a 2 bolt main block should be fine.
Some other thoughts about Small Block Chevy's...
At some time in the (late I think) 70's, Chevy/GM went to lighter weight castings for Chevy V8 engines, and therefore an earlier heavier 2 bolt engine block may be more desirable than a later lighter 4 bolt block. However, many later blocks have one piece rear seals and provisions for roller cams cast in. For me and what I do, a later light-cast block with the roller/one piece seal would be acceptable.
Same deal with heads, there are early heavy heads and later lighter heads. The later heads have less metal in the deck which can lead to cracking in the combustion chamber and have revised coolant passages that don't allow coolant around the exhaust port. Also, the exhaust crossover/preheater port is cast huge in some late heads to allow for really preheating the carb. However, the last of the late heads (carb, TBI and Vortec) have the centerbolt valve covers, which are bitchin' t o control oil leakage, and as mentioned the Vortec heads are really something special.
For me, I'd find a complete nice clean late 350 motor takeout (TBI is OK, Vortec would be better), ditch the EFI, leave compression/pistons alone, buy the appropriate intake (Vortec heads require Vortec carb intakes which are different from regular 350 Chevy intakes), put a nice cam in it (ZZ4 roller is great) and drive the heck out of it. If you want other available GM factory heads that are nice for this motor, look for a set of the Chevy aluminum Vette heads. An ex-TBI/Vortec motor with these heads could be built to closely match a ZZ4 crate engine.
Another thought is to find a late Corvette/Camaro/Caprice LT1 takeout, ditch the EFI and get the carb conversion intake and an HEI distributor, and run that. Hot Rod magazine got stupidly huge power out of one of these combos back in the 90's.
Good luck on your project, Tom
...what's good fuel mileage got to do with anything???
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