The money that was suppose to go toward someone fixing up my 71 skylark has gone to more important things for the past 2 years. I decided that maybe I should do some of the work myself. The motor runs. I just want to make it more reliable and give it more horsepower. I have only change the oil and brakes on previous vehicles. Currently I had a buddy do a tune up and change the coil pack. I would like to start buying stuff and working on it myself a little at a time. What books should i buy to aid me? I have several friends I could call to help if need be. What should I buy and work on first?
So many options, and answers. I suggest, first setting a desired goal for your car, then spend money to reach the goal. And just "more horsepower" doesn't count. You want it to be faster than a ......., you want it to spin the tires....., you want 400 hp....., I had some very good running 350's that were stock, with mild cam, TA intake, quadrajet, headers, and TUNED correctly. Tuning it right will be the biggest gain you have initially, and that's cheap. Read the power timing thread sticky and start there. If you want more, turbo or nitrous adds tons of fun. Sean is the 350 guy, and writing a book, I'm sure he will find this thread and share his information with you also.
HI there!!! Have a look in the Performance section of my area: http://www.v8buick.com/forumdisplay.php?183-Small-Block-Buick-Performance-Book Start with less "buying" and more reading and researching.... Your first move needs to be buying a good set of hand tools including sockets, swivels and extra extensions... Follow that up with a good floor jack, 4 jackstands, and some ramps... Buy a Voltmeter, Battery charger/tender, compression testing kit, cylinder leak down testing kit, small air compressor. Most of this you can get used, and then you can start getting a picture of the condition of the engine, and any issues the engine has.... Lets just say that your engine was performing well in both the compression and leakdown test and your spark plugs are looking good.... Your best bang for the buck is a cam, torque converter, and dual exhaust swap.. Cut the oil filter apart with tin snips and inspect it for bearing material... If it checks out and passed the above test then leave the bottom end alone and rebuild the heads if you want more power than the above basic mods.... The power is in the head porting and oversized valves.. Here you can gain about 100 HP over stock if done well, or if done poorly then loose power vs stock....
Good stuff Sean, I will add one more tool a torque wrench you will need one for engine reassembly work.GL Derek
Post or add location. Its possible someone on the forum is nearby and can help out.biggest part is what level do you want and what can you afford. What has been listed above will improve performance and work with later upgrades. So good dual exhaust with x or H pipe,higher stall convertor,rear gears and a performance tune up
Are you wanting a performance engine or just 20 or so more HP over the 150 ish that you have? What goal do you have. You can get improved feel by adding convertor and gears with some power timing of engine.start by reading some of the sticky at top of small block section.
All the past threads in the small block section. There is a crazy amount of knowledge to be learned there, along with builds and experiences. :beer:
I'm thinking somewhere around 200 HP or a little bit more. I just want something that would get up and go if I wanted it to.
Here is what I did, and was very happy with the 350 performance. Headers and good exhaust. 4 bbl intake and good Quadrajet Recurve distributor and power tune the engine. If money allows, add mild cam, then 3.42 gear and posi. This would make a very respectable driver, and total budget easily under $2000.
you could get a TA 212 cam ,that would help get you up to there. then powertime engine (I think directions are in sticky at top of forum) good dual exhaust with H or X pipe. electronic ignition conversion( can get on that goes in stock dist). 1800-2200 torque convertor. or you could hold of on cam do the rest and see how you like it.
Here is what I'm thinking about buying: 600 edelbrock carb headers intake cam set new exhaust distributor
I wouldn't suggest the edelbrock carb since you have little experience tuning unless you have someone who is. I would a Higher stall convertor like I mentioned or go with a 3 series gear in rear.you can make more power with those parts you mentioned but to get them to work well the rest of the combo needs to be added. The torque converter you can do youself if you have the tools/ jacks. Its just abit messy as some fluid will come out.plus I would do any trans work before headers , makes it abit easier.also converter will be cheaper then headers.Jegs has some for about 125-150 with free shipping. I got a 10 in stall for 200. As far as carb go holley 650-750 or 750 qjet from quadrajetpower.com.
Ok thanks, I said the 600 eldebrook because a buddy of mine said he may have one that I can have for free. I do have several friend that will help out if needed.
I have one laying around also.I did not like how it acted on hi way towing my jet skis. exhaust got too hot. Mpg was not good on hi way. That's just my experience with that carb.rejetting helped some but I went to a qjet since I have more experience there. If you change cam and lifters I suggest pull heads have them shaved .030 to bump compression. TA has nice downpipes for stock manifolds , since headers are costly and depending on cam size you could use the money on other parts.
Ok I'm making my list of parts. Along with my list I need to add a torque converter and sub the 600 for the qjet?
