Ok, I have a 352. It's not exactly a "mega cubes" engine. I have a spare pair of heads that I can have rebuilt and ported to improve their flow numbers. Knowing that the 352 is on the small end of the FE family, hence it moves less air than its bigger brothers, can the stock heads be massaged to support 350 horsepower? I'm not trying to build a race engine, just a decently built motor that can go out and not embarass me on the street (or maybe at the strip once in a while). One website I read stated that simply swapping the stock log manifolds and exhaust for a set of headers and decent flowing exhaust was worth 30 - 60 HP on these cars. I don't know how much stock to put into that statement, but from looking at the manifolds that are on there, maybe 30 HP isn't that far out. Pair that newfound exhaust flow with a better flowing intake and carb setup and a camshaft that takes advantage of it all and 325 - 350 HP definitely shouldn't be too hard to achieve, right?
I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on heads and pistons and connecting rods and all that, I already have one car with a motor that is built that way in my other car. I'm thinking more along these lines:
Used Edelbrock Performer FE intake - $125 (Ebay)
Used Holley carburetor - $150 (Ebay, can possibly get for less from race buddies)
Hooker Super Comp. Headers - $500 (Summit)
Cam/lifters/valvesprings/keepers/timing chain kit - $300 (Ebay - see below)
2.5" dual exhaust with glasspacks: $400 (local shop price estimate)
Here's 2 of the possible cam/lifter kits I'm looking at:
Contestant #1:
Link to Ebay kit 1
Contestant #2 (I like this one, but it claims you need a 2000 RPM stall converter):
Link to Ebay kit 2
There's $1500 worth of upgrading. If I have my spare heads worked over, I'd probably be up to $2000. I'm not opposed to saving cash at the expense of a little sweat, so I don't mind buying a dirty old intake and cleaning it up or buying a used carburetor and rebuilding it. The wrenching time is a good part of what makes this fun for me. I'm also not stuck on brands, I don't have to have a Comp or a Crane camshaft if a Melling or Elgin will do the trick.
Am I crazy, or does this seem like a decent starting point for upgrading this motor?
Matt
