I'm new to the first gen sbc. I know more about the ls series but have been more working on 4 cylinders for most of my car life. I'm looking at doing a first gen sbc and tranny budget build in a 240sx. When I say budget I mean I want to have the car on the road for under 5k which I feel is possible if I wait for deals. This includes the McKinney pan and mounts and also whatever wiring and small stuff that I need. I also understand that budgets get broken on a lot of builds.

Now that that's done lol what would be a good sbc/tranny combo for me. I've always had manuals but I think I want to do an auto and make it a fun car for me. I don't do drifting never have but enjoy drag racing and autox. I am not to wrapped up in numbers but want a strong combo that can handle 100 shot at the track. Also, I have access to e85 everywhere around me if that would be a good option.

Thanks in advance for all the noob comments/questions

 

Just about any early 350 with a decent cam and a good TH350 with a mild stall should get you started and work up from there. A dime a dozen, so parts are way more than plentiful.

 

A 383, forged slugs, flat tappet cam, Vortec heads and a single plane intake if budget is important.

A 383, forged slugs, roller valvetrain, 195cc aftermarket heads and a 750 cfm carb on a good intake like a victor Jr. if budget isn't that big a concern.

 

Budget is important to me for a few reasons. I appreciate the info guys. I'm hoping to find some deals on craigslist for a th350 and sbc. I've seen people say for my power ratio a stock form th350 should hold. Any truth to that?

 

You can easily get 350 hp out of a 350 ci engine. 1=1

 

im looking at craigslist and found a few sbc for like 300 or so. If I wanted to go 383 on a budget, I see the stroker kits are about 500-600 for a balanced assembly. Is it possible to get the 383 built for under or close to 2k? It's looking like it wont be much more to go 383 than to just do a basic rebuild in the end, which is probably going to be needed for anything that I find.

 

383 is very common, you should be able to get a good price on the kit, anywhere.

 

First off, do you, any of your buddies, neighbors or family members have any small chevy stuff laying around that can had cheap? Or will everything have to be purchased?

 

I'm in Virginia my family is Florida but they do have some stuff that can be had for cheap through my dads good friend that owns a classic car shop back home

 

This should be the cheapest reliable 383 build

Cheapest parts

350 2 or 4 bolt block 2 piece rear main seal. Used
350 5.7 X rods or the heavy duty 0 truck rods Used
383 pistons New
ARP rod bolts New
400 small block cast crank Used
400 harmonic balancer external balance Used
400 flex plate Used
Oil pump New
Oil pan Used
Rings and bearings New

Machining Block and rotating assembly

1. Block hot tanked, cleaned and checked for cracks
2. Bored to whatever diameter that corrects taper and ridge wall so pistons and rings can be ordered.
3. Webbing clearanced so the 5.7 rods clear the block casting during crank rotation.
4. Pistons can be pressed onto the rods and rod bolts can be installed so the rods can be reconditioned.
5. 400 crank ground so mains fit the 350 block and rod journals cleaned up and now rod and main bearings can ordered. Some will say line boring the mains and block decking should be done. I leave will that up to you.
6. Rotating assembly balanced
7. New cam bearings and freeze plugs

Assemble short block

1. Plasigauge the five mains for proper oiling clearance under torque one at a time.
2. Tq main caps for the final time.
3. Check the end movement of the crank or crank walk and that crank spin freely.
4. Check ring end gap on the 2 compression rings for each cylinder grind as needed.
5. Install rings on pistons ensuring end gap of the rings are 120 degree from each other.
6. Install the pistons in the bore holes ensuring pistons are facing proper direction.
7. Plasigauge oiling clearance on the rod bearing. If good torque rod bolts and repeat 8 times.

You now have a 383 short block, cost of parts and machining 1200.00 balancing could add another 200.00

 

You could just call jegs and have your plastic ready, order a zz4 shortblock for $2300 bucks:

http://www.jegs.com/p/Chevrolet-Perf...49884/10002/-1

The sweet part of that is it comes with a 24 month 24,000 mile warrantee back by GM.

Comes with forged internals (well hypereutectic pistons) but forged everything else, 4 bolt mains, and has a 1 pc rear main thats less likely to leak than the 2 pc.

Then get you a trick flow top end kit for another $2200 and your there:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFS-K314-500-450/

Well, then you still need a carb, intake, etc.