What do i need to do to get my truck's engine right?

Question

I bought a cam, lifters, and valve springs for the engine which is a 350. i also have a cloyes double roller chain set, victor jr intake, and 750 holley.

the only issue i have is to decide on what to do to the heads. they are stock. i have spoken with a few people and have recommended to buy s/s valves.

i have been buying parts over a period of time and am now getting ready start on the engine.

i was just looking for some more advice on what to do from this point

thanks

Answer 1

if your haveing a shop do your heads they should beable to help you with setting up your engine peformance

Answer 2

So, you say this is for a truck engine huh? Well, unless you are going to be exclusively racing your truck, the first thing you need to do is ditch that Victor Jr. manifold. The rpm range for those is from 3500-8000 rpm. You'll never see more than about 5500 on the street. To see those kind of revs you also need a very long duration, high lift cam and all the other valve train pieces to go with it, including oversized valve springs and fully ported and polished heads. At 8000 rpm you also have to have a bullet proof bottom end with 4 bolt mains a forged crank shaft and most likely aftermarket rods to support those kind of revs. These mods are not cheap. And this doesen't even include the carb, ignition or exhaust system.

That's just what needs to be done to the engine. The transmission, chassis, suspension and rear end will also need to be heavily reworked to run an engine like this. Also high $$

For a street engine, a manifold such a the Edelbrock Performer or Performer RPM will work much better with a lot fewer mods to the engine while still making plenty of power.

Once you have the right manifold, you can just take your stock heads to a machine shop, have them checked for cracks, give them a mild port and polish with a 3 angle valve job and have new valve guides pressed in as well as hardened exhaust seats and you will be good to go. Stainless valves are a good option if you have the $$ but stock replacements are fine for a street engine.

Answer 3

Truck heads are junk, 72cc chambers probably was a low compression motor with dished pistons as well.

The casting number heads you want are 461x/461. X codes flow better and both 461 and 461x have 2.02 1.60 valves. Both castings flow great, I run them in my race car. As for the cam, what are the specs? Lift duration lobe separation. And is it solid lifter or hydraulic lifter?

If you cant find a decent set take the truck heads to be milled and ported. Only thing is when you mill heads valve train geometry changes and  you should give your intake manifold to the shop that does the milling so they can port match the heads to the intake manifold.

What are you trying to build? A hot rod motor? Or a mud machine? or a tow rig?