What is exactly that needs to be done to have a 355? Like porting the STOCK heads and intake, how much can I do? Or should I just buy LE2 heads?

What are some of the best parts you would recommend for a 355? Valve train wise etc.

I know Imight be missing a few other things, but if you could please fill in the blanks that'll be great.

I was thinking in doing a 383 or 396 but I did some money calculations and the funds arent there for a big motor, there going go towards an LS1 car... One for show and one for go.

Thanks,
Josh

 

You can't go wrong with Lloyd Elliott so buy some LT1 cores and send them to him. He also sells cams to go with his heads. He can mill, port, flow, install new valvesprings, retainers etcc... and when you get them back they will be ready to put on. Now for the bottomend you need to have a block bored .030, honed, decked and have the line bore checked out. Now you could buy a new rotating assembly (crank, rods, pistons etc..) or use your stock crank and rods then just buy new pistons. It depnds on what you plan on doing with the engine HP wise or n2o? Later Clint

 

Ha......here we go again.........

You can also use Port Pros for the heads and the short block. Just give him a call. www.portpros.com Best service. Quality work at a fair price. Check him out!!

 

Do I have to have the block bored 0.30 over or can I just do the heads and cam package?
Couldnt I use the stock pistons? Basically what Im saying is I dont want to touch the bottom end.

 

Think about what your asking....stock pistons wouldn't work if you have to bore the cylinder .030.

Spend the coin on what's gonna make ya go faster which is your heads and your cam. If your trying to stay cheap you can put in some KB Hyper's and leave everything else alone.

 

If you don't bore it .030 over then its not a 355. Its still just a stock bottom ended LT1 350. Perfectly fine to do if you don't want to hassle w/ a shortblock. Yes you can do just heads and cam. LE2 heads, or your stock heads ported by Lloyd would be great and are fairly inexpensive. A good choice. Cam choice depends on your personal preference in drivability etc. I personally would go w/ a COMP 230/236 on either a 112 or 114 LSA depending on whether manual or auto car. Looks like you have auto so that would mean my choice would be a 114. That cam really reacts well w/ LT1s and a good set of ported heads on stock motor. I have seen several converter A4 cars put down right at or over 400 rwhp w/ that setup up at TEA when it was still in Bowling Green. If emisions is a question, then you will have to go smaller to pass the sniffer...

 

You've already been told, but just to reiterate:

355 = Stock Stroke(3.48) x 4.030 (.030 Over)
383 = Stroke 3.750 x 4.030
396 = Stroke 3.850 x 4.030

Of course there are other combinations possible, different bores, different strokes, but these are the most common. I see from reading a follow on post that you don't want to touch the bottom end, you don't mention mileage so keeping your stock bottom end is certainly and option. If it was me I would at least rebuild it, new main, rod, cam bearings and rings. Minimal machine costs, (cylinder hone, install freeze plugs and cam bearings) along with a hot tank. To me very minimal cost for basically having a new motor.

Option 1
Just up from that would be a 355 using stock crank and rods. New pistons required of course and you could pick up a set of hypereutics for very reasonable, which is a fine choice if you don't plan on spraying the motor. Add machine costs for balancing and boring, (with a torque plate).

Option 2
Next step up would be a stroker, basically requiring a new rotating assembly, crankshaft, rods and pistons. Increased machine shop costs to clearance block for the longer strokes. Multitude of parts options and prices. Starting at the low end with say Eagle cast cranks, on up to very high end billet parts like Crower and Oliver. Also falling in this category would be different displacement options 383, 396 and larger as long as you've got a fat wallet.

Option 3
More exotic stuff with the capability to make ridiculous power. I'ncluding running converted SBC heads, single plane intakes, aftermarket fuel management systems etc. Probably throw in turbo and blower motors in here as well. Problem in this area is that it's expensive and require either personal knowlege, or paying someone with personal knowledge to put it together correctly.

I really think that you'll find that for just slightly more than a rebuild cost that you could do a 355, using your stock crank and rods fairly cheaply. Summit and others sell their own brand rebuild kits as well as SpeedPro kits for a very reasonable price, I want to say that when I looked you could buy a kit with pistions, rings, bearings gaskets etc for less than 500. Add about 500 dollar in machine shop costs and you've got yourself a 355 for very close to a 1000 bucks.

Of course what does the bottom end get you, mostly just reliability, power is made with the heads and this is where most of your money should go. Many good porters advertise here and over on CZ28, LE, AI, PortPro. A good set of ported LT1 castings work very well with a 355. Generally speaking the larger displacement the motor the more air, (better, more expensive heads), required to fully take advantage. I think it's most important to ensure that your components match. Start with heads and if you can a matching custom cam and associated valvetrain components, then build a block designed to properly support your selection.

Do some more research on these boards, buy a couple of books, "Rebuilding the LT1", Engine Blueprinting", and "Hot Rodding the Small Block Chevy" are a few of the titles that come to mind.