Been reading pretty much all the posts about building a nice streetable 350. My question is can this be done without .30 over pistons. I have a completly disassembled 350 thats gonna be a winter project nothing big just wanna have some fun at cruises.
Sure, no need to bore a block unless your cylinder bores are out of spec. There is really very little power to be gained with a 30 thou bore vs stock bore. You are at a crossroads here: 1. If you just want a good street engine and on a short budget then just order a re-ring kit from "Northern Autoparts" and put it back together with some 68-70 heads which are better for power than the 75 heads you have. Use a TA212 cam and lifters as well as a new timing set as well. 2. Take the engine to a machine shop and have it inspected to see what machine work needs to be done. Have the shop do the required machine work and then order a master rebuild kit from Northern once you know if the engine needs to be bored and also what bearing sizes are needed. Use the TA 212 cam, lifters, and just as northern to delete those two things from the kit and they will cut off a few bucks. Again use the 68-70 heads. Either way find some heads from 68-70, add a TA 212 cam, lifters, and you will have a better running engine as the early heads flow better. You can find a set of heads and have them rebuilt before you even take your engine apart and it would be a quick easy swap. If you want to run regular grade fuel then just have the heads rebuilt but if you are willing to pay for mid grade fuel then have the heads milled about 60 thou and use adjustable pushrods. Be sure to have the machine shop mill the intake manifold to match if you go this route. This milling will raise your compression ratio and boost the power a bit. If you are willing to pay for premium grade fuel then use high compression pistons but you might as well bore it 30 thou at that point just to get a new sealing surface for the piston rings. There really is no measurable gain from a 30 thou bore though in HP. Furthermore if you were more serious about power you could have the heads ported, this is the best way to boost HP with these engines.
