I'm ready to replace the old engine in my 68 GS350. I'm looking for a mild street engine around 10:1 with a mild cam and a TH350. Can anyone reccommend a crate engine supplier?
There are none. No one sells crate buick 350s. There are remanufactured long blocks, but they are built of the cheapest parts imaginable. Your only option is to rebuild what you have. Any "crate" 350 you see, it's a chevy. No love even for the Olds or Pontiac crowd.
You can go to trishield performance, it’s not “crate” cheap but it’s done well. And as far as “mild” cam you need to specify purpose of engine, rear end gear ratio and torque converter size,as they go with cam design as a combination. Otherwise your performance will be disappointing for the money your spending on a complete engine.
If you do find one of those "jobber" short or long block supplier places you can get a sbb 350 that is relatively inexpensive, you can have that one reconfigured to be what you want it to be. Have your local machine shop swap out the crap 8:1 pistons(that are more than likely less than 8:1) that are in it for something that will make more compression. Like the "10:1" 340P pistons, but if you want those to be 10:1 you should have the machine shop do the measuring and then the math to know how much to take off the deck or heads to get you there. Or if you want forged pistons, AutoTecs are a good option to swap in. Have your machine shop rebalance the rotating assembly then re-assemble it and TA DA, you have a 10:1 sbb 350. You will probably want to NOT use the cam that comes with the short or long block that you buy because it will probably be the smaller crappy factory replacement cam. If it does come with a cam and lifters, you can use the lifters with a better cam though, because they should be new. This way probably isn't any cheaper than starting with a core engine to rebuild, but should be faster because it already has the machining done to it. If you can get a "replacement sbb 350 long block" for under $2k, the above way wouldn't hurt the wallet to bad. Short block = engine without heads or intake on it. Long block = engine with heads but still no intake. GL
Do you even need a rebuild? Maybe you just need to re ring and add new bearings. Maybe you can just port the heads and put it back together... does it run well now?
Has anyone ever dealt with Carolina Machine Engine? They advertise they have crate engines in a few varieties. I would consider rebuilding what I have, but As Dirty Harry said: "A man's got to know his limitations".
Plenty ask about them. But in the end go a different route. Kinda pricy for what you get, and your really not knowing what your getting quality wise. If they used cheaper parts, any oil modifications, cam degreeed right.
