Want to upgrade to newer motor. 350 vortec. What is the most cost effective way? 1987 Chevrolet R10
I have throttle bodie 305 and want to upgrade to a vortec 350. What is the most cost effective way. Crate engine or used engine and have it rebuilt. I want an every day driver but also want a little more power.
My car has an automatic transmission.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Experienced mechanics share their insights in answering this question :
Hi – this can be a highly argued question – but many find a "crate" motor to be a good way to go. They are available in a variety of configurations and horsepower ratings, have a warranty honored at any GM dealer, and are pretty reasonable overall. Rebuilding an engine is not inexpensive, and risks many "gotchas" you don’t discover until everything is apart, and you already have money in the project. Write the check, install, and enjoy!
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1987 Chevrolet truck advertisement featuring the C10 Silverado half-ton pickup with the available 350-cubic-inch (5.7L) fuel-injected Small Block V-8 engine, rated at 210 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque.
Changing out the stock heads for a pair designed to maximize power can increase the horsepower of any classic 350 engine by up to 20 horsepower over the original engine. Performance heads allow a better air-to-fuel mixture by pulling more air in.
Chevy 350 87-95 TBI Base Engine 290HP.
A GMPP Vortec 350 crate motor is probably good to about 500hp while maintaining reasonable reliability. The turn-key package won`t get you that, you`ll need to change the pistons, heads, or use a power-adder to extract more power.
The Chevy 350 engine is a 350 cubic inch (5.7-liter) small block V8 with a 4.00 and 3.48 inch bore and stroke. Depending on the year, make and model of a car, horsepower ranges from approximately 145 to more than 370.
It`s not easy to make 400 hp with a basic 350 Chevy using stock heads. The advent of modern engines that make 400 hp or more has colored the reality of the past. In our experience, you must have a decent set of cylinder heads in order to make 400 hp on a basic, low-compression 350 c.i.d. small-block Chevy.
With all-new components and modern updates, this General Motors Gen 1 350 V8 puts out a reliable 210 hp and 300 lb. -ft. of torque at a work-friendly 2,800 rpm.
The differences between them are that the TBI had the injectors right in front of the throttle plate, where the Vortec placed the injectors behind the throttle plate; and the TBI was a speed density system, whereas the Vortec used a mass airflow system to manage the fuel-injection system.
However, the original Chevy 350 put out 295 HP and 380 lb-ft of torque. Another fun fact: the engine`s exact displacement is 349.85 cubic inches (5.7 L if you go by metric).
The Vortec heads are based on the same basic design as the original GM 2-valve, pushrod 350 V8 (Vortec engine) cylinder head but with an improved internal valvetrain. Vortec is a name that originates from small engines powering GM trucks.
One easy way to identify the 5.7L Vortec engine is to examine the cylinder heads. The GM Industrial Vortec cylinder head was made by installing LT1 Corvette ports into an iron casting. The intake manifold bolts on with an 8-bolt pattern, unlike most other 5.7 GM heads that bolt on with a 12-bolt pattern.
350 horsepower in a car is rarely not considered fast; the thrills reach roller-coaster levels here.
The 260 cu in (4.3 L), 307 cu in (5.0 L), 330 cu in (5.4 L), 350 cu in (5.7 L) and 403 cu in (6.6 L) engines are commonly called small-blocks.
The bottom line here is simple; no matter what you do to a 327, if you do the same thing to a 350, it WILL make more horsepower and torque than a 327 will, period. The same thing goes with ANY engine when comparing cubic inches and power, especially when you are talking about making more torque with longer strokes.
Extremely reliable. They are one of the most simple, well designed, and long lasting engines ever produced. People routinely get 300k miles on them. GMC and Chevy Suburban SUV`s with these engines will often outlast the frame and transmission.
05. Run with a stock cam and two-barrel Rochester carb, the mild 350 produced 246 hp and 364 lb-ft of torque.
Horsepower refers to how much power your engine can produce in a certain amount of time. So, the more horsepower that your engine has, the faster you will be able to go.
An effective modification that will increase torque significantly is to install a turbo or supercharger. Forced induction forces air into your engine, increasing the power the engine provides. Depending on the torque curve you prefer, a turbocharger will need time to spool before it provides torque benefits.
To an unbiased person, Vortec vs TBI is a no brainier. Vortec wins easily. – TBI has slightly cheaper parts. – TBI is slightly easier to work on.
With a service range of 9 to 13 psi being considered good.
It`s one of the most reliable engines ever
Even if you drive in tough conditions, the Chevy 350 remains very dependable and keeps running. It`s been around since 1967, and Chevy was making small-block engines long before then. Everything about the Chevy 350 stands the test of time.
Yes TBI is speed density based with MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) where the Vortec is based on MAF (Mass Air Flow). The vortec has a crank position sensor which tells the PCM when to fire the plugs. TBI gets its base timing set at the distributor. There`s differences between the water pumps too.
Stretching a 350 to 383 inches has been a common practice for the best part of 20 years. The question here is, can we go more? In terms of bore diameter, there is not much room to go more than 30 over, although a sonic tester can find blocks good for as much as 60 over.
The 350 was the biggest success because you could get the most power out of it. Cubic inches is cubic inches. You can do anything you want to any other small block chevy motor but you can`t get the same cubic inches as the 350. Like the really popular 383 stroker kit.
Relevant Questions and Answers :
the most relevant questions and answers related to your specific issue
Want to upgrade to newer motor. 350 vortec. What is the most cost effective way? 1987 Chevrolet R10
ANSWER : Hi – this can be a highly argued question – but many find a "crate" motor to be a good way to go. They are available in a variety of configurations and horsepower ratings, have a warranty honored at any GM dealer, and are pretty reasonable overall. Rebuilding an engine is not inexpensive, and risks many "gotchas" you don’t discover until everything is apart, and you already have money in the project. Write the check, install, and enjoy!
Pulled motor and put in a newer motor but can’t get motor mounts to line up ?
ANSWER : The first thing to do is to compare the motor mounts on old and new motor to make sure they are the same on each motor and swap them if they are not the same.
Burnt yellow and brown wires at blower motor resistor, is this indicator of bad resistor or bad motor? 2011 Chevrolet Malibu
ANSWER : Hi there – most likely, the problem is the blower motor resistor pack. A quick way to test this is if the blower fan still works in the "Max" position. If it does, that pretty-much rules out the motor as the problem. The resistor pack can get pretty hot while running the fan in lower settings, which could damage the wiring to it just from the heat. If the resistor shorts, increased electrical load could burn the wiring insulation as well. I would suggest an electrical inspection by a mobile, professional mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, who will come to your location, diagnose this problem, give you an accurate assessment of damage and cost estimate for repairs.
when the motor is cold it starts right up, when the motor has been running it won’t start until the motor cools
ANSWER : Hi! Sometimes when electronic components are failing they can be affected by heat. They may work when cool but not when hot. The electronic control module on your Dodge that controls ignition spark is the suspected culprit here. I suggest checking for spark while it’s hot to see if this is causing the no start. If you need help getting this looked at, a certified professional from YourMechanic can come to the location of the car to diagnose the starting problem and have this addressed correctly.
I got a motor for my truck not to long ago and the motor will turn over a little by hand but not all the way around what could it?
ANSWER : There are quite a few issues that will keep an engine from spinning around completely. Something falling into the intake and coming into contact with the top of the piston, a valve hanging open and not allowing the piston to move, a rust ring in the cylinder, a bent connecting rod, a broken piston, broken piston rings, hole in a cylinder, or many other possible causes. The list of possibilities is fairly large, and without doing some inspection, it would be impossible to know what is going on. If this is something you feel you could use a hand with, contact a certified mechanic, like those available at YourMechanic.com.
My car want start and when it do it shut down and want start until 30 minute or so. Now it want do nothing
ANSWER : When a car turns and won’t start, it is called a "crank no start". When this occurs, the first thing you need to do is see what is missing. All internal combustion motors need spark, fuel, injector pulse and camshaft timing to run. If one of these is missing, you have a crank no start. Diagnose the car and see what is missing.
The GM 3.8l motor has been installed in Buicks, Pontiacs and Chevrolets for decades. Particularly during the 90’s and early 00’s, these motors have used an ignition module with three coils mounted to it. This module is prone to just this type of failure. When it gets too hot, it quits working. When it cools off, it starts again. It can also display intermittent no start conditions. This is a pattern failure on this particular motor. Before I would ever replace the module, I would check for spark and injector pulse. If it just lacks spark, I would check for a crank sensor signal and replace the ignition module.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, do a few tests first:
Check fuel pressure. If there is none, check the fuse and the relay.
Check for injector pulse with a noid light. If this is missing, I would suspect a crank sensor. It could be a bad Power Control Module (PCM). (PCM’s are very rare to fail. I have never changed a PCM on one of these cars.)
Check for spark with a spark tester. If it is lacking spark but has injector pulse, suspect the ignition module.
If all these are present, I would take a compression test of all the cylinders. If camshaft timing is off, several of the cylinders will have significantly lower compression. Also, camshaft timing won’t start sometimes then not others; it will either start and run bad or it won’t start at all. It may sound like it is trying to start, but it won’t start.
If all of this sounds to daunting, I recommend booking a car is not starting inspection with YourMechanic
Good luck!
Are the motor mounts touched during a tune up? When are the motor mounts touched?
ANSWER : There is nothing in a basic tune up that would require loosening or touching the motor mounts. If the motor mounts are in fact loose, they could potentially cause damage to the axles if the motor were to shift enough while driving; however, this would take time and there would have been a very distinct vibration and clunk that you would have very likely noticed while driving. I would recommend having a certified technician, such as one from YourMechanic, come take a look at the car to properly diagnose and repair your motor mount problem.
Why would my truck run better without the coolant temp sensor plugged in? 1990 Chevrolet K1500
ANSWER : Hello – coolant temperature sensors are variable resistor devices – the colder the coolant temperature, the greater the electrical resistance value reported to the engine computer. (The warmer the temperature, the less resistance.) An "open" condition, as in an incomplete circuit, or not plugged in for example, would indicate infinite resistance. This would represent the coldest possible condition to the computer, and it would give you a very rich fuel mixture. Some engine management systems are sophisticated enough to recognize a wiring or sensor failure that shows an "open" condition like this, and it plugs in a default value (say 50 degrees Farenheit) arbitrarily. It sounds like in your case, the coolant sensor is either incorrect, or you have two failed sensors – it happens, although not all that often. Plugged in, the sensor is sending a signal for an extremely cold setting, with a very rich mixture as the result. Disconnecting the sensor may be getting you a default setting, and fuel mixture, that is much better for the engine’s performance. I would do some checking with the wiring, and sensor value at various temperature to determine where the fault lies. I would recommend an engine sensor inspection by a mobile, professional mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, who will come to your location, diagnose this problem, give you an accurate assessment of damage and cost estimate for repairs.
