It is not very expensive to build a stout 350. The 350s are very stout, the blocks can handle big power, cranks are solid, the stock heads can make power, the forged parts are nice but only rod and piston upgrades are needed to push over 600 hp. Look at Fox's Den (Guy) he has his 15 year old 350 running strong with no issues after tons of racing.... Build it right once and it will last! Look what Nick A is doing with his stock low comp 350, mid 12s on nitrous and it holds up! Nick is showing that you do not need forged parts to make power, just a good tune. Even with forged parts a bad tune will wreck any engine. If using a power adder, even a 300 hp 350 will make a ton of power with 10 psi! I do not know how much the boosted engines really need the head porting compared to a NA effort. The long stroke and small bore of the 350 just begs for some added cylinder filling via boost. All that said, yes I have spent about $5000 to build a forged piston and rod 350 and plan to run it HARD with the right tune and about 10 psi of boost.
Anyone have a guess as to how much additional power 8psi of booost will add??? I'm going to guestimate that the 350 I'm building will probably be in the 300 hp range with home ported heads and a cam that will be ground specifically for a turbo application. (hyper pistons)Ported intake also with gasket matching too. I figure this application will make at least 450-500 HP and who knows how much TQ..
The funny thing is, have we had anybody test the limits of the stock rods and pistons? Not that I remember.:Brow:
wow...., lots of good info here. I'm pondering the same thing. Invest in my 350, which is in good shape, or buy a 455 to drop in. they are relatively abundant in my neck of new england (southern Maine).
I too have been thinking of going with a 455. cheaper parts (somewhat) and more aftermarket parts. BUT... then again the shock value of a 350 is always nice. And I'd like to keep the original engine in it too... A song comes to mind whenever I think of these things... "Money Money Moneeyyyyyyyyy!" and of course Pink Floyd's "Money"
Jay, I would stray away from hyper pistons if you can swing it. Especially if you're planning on boosting it. Hypers do not take detonation as well as forged or even cast pistons. Tune has to be spot-on with hypers.
If you do not want to pay for Forged pistons then run a stock bottom end with fresh heads and some boost. As stated the cast pistons are way less likely to explode the way the hypers do.
Jim Burek ( PAE ) got 550/550-no power adder- out of a 350 - says he can duplicate it for ~$6k carb to pan. Robert
Here's a picture of the box. The pistons looked much beefier than stock. Anyone know for sure what these are?? I'm thinking now that they are just standard cast. The distance from the top of the piston to the first ring groove is much thicker. All of the stockers seem to chip there..
i am pretty sure those are hyperutectics they are ok but i wouldnt spray them they do hold up better in 350s then in 455s
it will take more than double 6g's to make 550hp out of a 350.... I believe that one of those motors was for sale here last year for in the low teen$
I emailed Jim at PAE a lil while ago about havin my motor rebuilt, he said that id be lookin at 4-5k depending on what we did and said it'd be about 400ish hp for that price range.
If you NA guys are worried about cost then Have Jim B port some heads for you, use a ported intake, add 2" collector headers, all on top of a stock bottom end. The HP is in the heads, the stock bottom end is fine to around 500 HP even with 100,000 miles. For boosted application on a budget smooth the heads yourself, mild cam, stock bottom end without rebuild, add the turbos or nitrous and have fun.... If it blows find another $200 running 350 and go back out there!
we run p/n H522P-30. they are hyper pistons and we run 7500rpm. and i thought they were forged. damn idiot. lol
You are running the single plane intake, Jim B ported heads, 2" headers, TA , TA_290-94H so NA you are letting your 350 breath. The secret is out! A single plane intake and ported heads make the 350 run great in high rpms. Keep up the high RPM charges! Looking forward to your big bore 350 version Johnny!
