Engine Rebuild

[BAD67FUN]

Hello people... long time no post. The good news is that I'm still wrenching on my 67. The bad news is that I'm out of money. A common occurence amongst us I'm sure. Since I last posted I have been able to make some changes. Most notably Baer discs on all corners. I rebuilt the 8" with a Powertrax and 3.80 gears. The car is shaping up quite nicely for the autocrossing I'm intending to do. I still have three large phases left. Engine, 5 speed, and paint. I know I should do the swap next, but my buddy just took me for a ride in his big block Chevelle. I've got the need for speed bug real bad again now. My budget hopefully next spring will be around $2500, enough for the swap to get that C4 out of there. My question is if I decide to put that money into the engine instead... where should I go with it. I REALLY would like to get a set of AFR's (165 or 185?) to save on weight and get that instant flow capability out of the heads. So that eats up a grand plus right there... what to do with the rest? The car already has a set of Hooker headers along with a Holley carb (600 vac secondary I think) and an old Dominator intake manifold. I'm willing to dump these if recommended. I don't know squat about tuning a carb unfortunately. So anyhow... could I get some machine work done and an overall part upgrade along with the AFR's at my budget? If not... how close? I could BS the wife and maybe spend another $500... ha ha.

 

[LMan]

2500 isnt going to make your small-block pull like a big-block Chevelle (I leave out a blower b/c Im guessing your motor wasnt built for one to start with). Its important not to backtrack on mods...you cant afford it...so dont do something you can see you prob will redo later. Since it doesnt look like you really know yet what motor you want ultimately, I would hold off on that for now.

I personally would do the 5-speed swap (make sure your 5-speed will handle the power of your prospective motor), and spend the time between now and the completion of that project to plan exactly what motor (yeah, I said 'motor' hehe) you want.

This opinion worth every penny you paid for it.

 

[66 BLAKE 96]

I personally would do the 5-speed swap

Agreed. Between the lower first gear and the fact that you are probably not having too much fun on the highway with the 3.80 gears, this should make a huge difference.

 

[BAD67FUN]

I'd have to spend another 10G to keep up with the Chevelle. I know this. That wasn't my thinking though. His car is built for a different purpose.

But dang if it wouldn't be nice to go faster for awhile!!!!!

Reallity says you guys are right.... bummer though...

What if I just bought AFR's?

 

[LMan]

what if? You have to decide what your motor is going to be...are you going to stick with a SB? Go BB? Whats your usage going to be?

For example, you wouldnt want to sink big $$ into AFRs that turn out to be great for a 289, but not so great for a stroked 351......otherwise you'll be flipping em on the classifieds later.

It would be no contest for me. No auto can compare to rowing your own gears, I dont care if its 170 ci Six under the hood. But then opentrack is my game, not dragging. To each his own....

 

[BAD67FUN]

Well my best chance for getting funds for a stroked 351 lies in my handshake with a bud of mine who has lottery tickets.

I really don't see the wife letting me drop 7k on a turn key monster. I'm going to have to go at this in pieces. I like the idea of the AFR's because the could be utilized in just about every configuration I could create with the 289 that I will likely be keeping.

I'm NOT interested in NOS, or turbo.... and I doubt a charger (again, money).

So my thinking now is what size AFR, 165 or 185. Where does the 165 limit out? Could it me massaged if needed to increase it's capability?

I don't want to buy heads twice. But I'm thinking the 185 may be a little much, especially if I just plop it on my stock engine for a year or two.

What do you guys think? Any experience with these?

 

[vrooom]

Here is one around $2500.

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/116_0309_titan/index6.html

Dyno here. http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0311_clash/index4.html

 

[LMan]

well, I'll tell you what I did, and I really only have 1 (minor) regret. Since the 289 block in my car turned out to be cracked (upon inspection), I got a 302 block from Ye Olde Haus de Junque and built a 347. For heads, since I was under an extreme $$$ crunch (and this was 4-5 years ago when the great alum heads around today werent so available), I got DOOE heads with 1.90/1.62 valves and ported them myself, and it has a fairly mild Crane hyd cam. Its got FL headers, rr, yada yada. My only minor regret is that I didnt start with a roller block....besides heads, if I were to redo it today I would make it a hyd solid roller....but thats a job for another day Although I bought my 347 kit years ago when the prices were still up there, I think I have a total of about $2000 in my engine. Saved mucho by being able to reuse parts off my 289 (intake, headers, carb, etc). Is it the most powerful motor out there? Hell no. But its fine until Im able to go up to the next level with heads, induction, etc, and I wont have to backtrack..unless the roller block calls me too often

Like you, power adders dont interest me at all, and regardless of heads Im sure I wont need more than 347 cid.

IIWY I would rebuild that sucker (or get a roller block) and build a 331 or a 347. The 185s would work well there, and a nicely-built 331/347 is a very strong engine. The kits are common and sig cheaper than when I bought. You can build a stroker for *about* the same cost as stock, so why stay stock?

 

[Mosse]

This is an interesting topic... We all have been there: Thinking whats the most fun for the money... What I currently have is pretty mild 351 in front of Toploader, which I like (although it lacks the 5th;( ) I have 3.00 gears on my 8 ".

Currently I have perf. 600 cfm, perf intake, -69 heads, hedman swap headers, the car is 1320kg,-66 daily driver, build to corner, crower cam mech. 212-216.

I´ve been also thinking about investing to AFR 165´s. I know, you are all thinking: Go for 185´s, but...

I like my engine pulling hard from 1500-5500, and I don´t think I need 185´s due to the fact that I´m not gonna have a cam with more than 0,500 lift. 165 and 185 flow almost similar figures between 0,200-0,500 lift...

Or am I missing something here? If AFR 165 can produce 400 hp´s in 5.0 , it´splenty enough for me. Or what do you think.

 

[70XR7ConvertCat]

...I rebuilt the 8" with a Powertrax and 3.80 gears. The car is shaping up quite nicely for the autocrossing I'm intending to do...

Dude, isn't the Powertrax a locker? Are you certain you want a locker for autocross?

Steve C.

 

[BAD67FUN]

It should be fine.

 

[L8knight]

I've really been wanting to do a 347 stroker on my 67 289, but the cost is keeping me away. I don't need something completely radical and I don't want to go crazy with aftermarket parts... I'd like to keep it as stock looking as possible but gain as much HP as I can within those limitations. I figure with the 347 stroker kit, good port job to stock heads, solid cam... should be a good foundation. I'm not sure how the stock intake would perform, I'll probably have to bite the bullet on that one and go with something aftermarket.

Do you think upper 12's is out of range with those limitations? Rear-end will have to be done also... looking for something in the range of 3.5-3.7 I'm thinking.

Just been brainstorming, haven't done alot of research and I'm not an engine builder by any means... I've only built one 390 before.

Ohhhh, If I were a rich man

 

[bnickel]

my opinion, with some smart shopping on ebay, you could pick up a set of slightly used afr 185's and a good used tremec or t-5 (even if they needed a rebuild) and still have some monet left over for a new intake and carb, especially if you can convince the wife to let you spend that other 500 bucks. if you can't swing both i'd go for the 5-speed and keep saving for the motor until you have enough to build what you really want.

 

[67GTA-FB429]

If you want it to feel like a Big Block Chevelle, either A) get a Big Block Chevelle or B)put in a Big Block 429/460. Trust me, that will make a 67 move like no tomorrow.

 

[BAD67FUN]

Well if it moved like a big block Chevelle.... I certainly wouldn't be autocrossing. My truck handles better turning than that thing did.

 

[LMan]

I've really been wanting to do a 347 stroker on my 67 289, but the cost is keeping me away......<snip> .......
Do you think upper 12's is out of range with those limitations? ....... .<snip>
Ohhhh, If I were a rich man

Whats your cost limit? Cost to one guy is change to another....

I think 12s are well within your reach with what you describe.

 

[L8knight]

I'd like to stay under $2,500 all together (closer to $2k would be better), including machine shop charges. The stroker kits I've seen vary, but with 9.1-9.5 compression looks like $1k - $1,300k is the average. I don't know/haven't researched any shops in my area for the pricing to port my heads. I need to start looking at the possibilities though, it may be possible with some penny pinching to make this my project this winter while the car is being stored.

 

[LMan]

...port your heads yourself. Its not that hard, just takes some time and reasonable attention to detail. The info is out there, I'll dig up a few links if you want. You'll save hundreds right there.