FIREBIRD1982

After reading over the forums, I have noticed that most people seem to like 350 Chevys. I was wondering is there is anyone else on here who doesn't like them? If you don't what do you prefer? I prefer Pontiacs

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

Sorry but I like the chevy 350. One of the most versatile engines ever built. Easy to make handle high RPM, stock strong forged stock rods, good balance between low/mid/high rpm power. Easy to get parts for, cheap to build.

It's almost the perfect do anything engine

Codyvette

Get a rope.

nhgator

I like Pontiac motors too,but putting one in a 3rd gen is not the most efficient or cost effective way to make a 3rd gen go fast..............

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

I sorta like the 350.

"Last fall marked the 60th anniversary of the General Motors (primarily Chevrolet), produced small block V8 engine, one of the most successful and mass produced engines in automotive history AND its the most successful engine and was literally the building block for Chevrolet and is still used to this day.

How successful you ask? Three years ago General Motors built the 100th million small block V8. And Ward's Autoworld named it one of the ten best engines of the 20th century.

When I say small block, we are talking 350 cubic inches and smaller (and yes anything larger is a "big block"), hence you hear car guys talk about a 327 engine (a popular Corvette Engine in the 1960's, or the venerable 350 (easily the popular of the GM small blocks and has been in everything from Corvettes to pick up trucks), or even a 305.

The small block V8 started out as the very small block 265 (4.3 Liter which by the 1980's was reduced to a smaller six cylinder), in 1955 Chevrolet Models and quickly was worked on and led to the powerful 327 and the most popular 350 engine. As proof the best selling Chevrolet Corvette sports car was the 1979 model and its engine was the venerable 350 (5.7 liter), and though it was no where near the hot rod of the 1960's or the supercar the Vette is today, that low torque engine (L48), produced enough power to outsell every other Vette in its over 60 year history.

Now the original small block of the 1950's (and up until the 1970's), was carburated and didn't have the catalytic converter and emissions controls we have today (the more recent small blocks are fuel injected), and one of their best attributes was it made a great racing engine. In fact to this day you can order a "crate engine" as a small block V8 for racing purposes and it has long been a favorite on the drag strip and race track because of the power and like my late dad said, lots of parts and ease of working on it.

The small block V8's versatility is also the key to its longevity. GM put this engine in everything and every GM brand (except Saturn), had a version of it in at least one of their vehicles. But what you see that small block in mostly these days are GM's larger trucks and SUV's. Its perfect for the wear and tear of light duty pick up trucks and popular SUV's.

I'd be remiss to not mention the name of the late great drag racing legend Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins who did more with small block GM engines than any other engine builder in racing. Grumpy started in the mid 1960's with small block GM engines when the rest of the racing world used Dodge engines (famous for the "Hemi", which is a hemispherical combustion chamber which allows bigger valves thus more power), and Grumpy's advancements we use to this day. Grumpy came up with dry sump oil systems and electric water pump fans, he basically did more with less, which is essentially what small block V8 engines do every day and the car world has grown leaps and bounds with this engine and its advancements."
Taken from an article in November by By Charles W. Johnson, November 8, 2014

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

Great write up there BOB...

If you are going to mention Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, then you got to include Smokey Yunick.

Most all of the Small block chevy high-performance developments involved Smokey Yunick during the '50's and '60's. Like the famous DZ 302 engine

He designed or had a hand in the designs of many things like the Reverse cooling system, Extended Tip Spark Plug, Variable Ratio Power Steering

AlkyIROC

Nothing wrong with the 350. When you consider GM started with a 283 back in 1955, the engine design was revolutionary at the time. Boring and stroking the block over the years, they were about to push it out to a very reliable 350 cid. The 400 also fits inside the same external dimensions but required a few internal changes to do it.

Each type of engine has it's own advantages and disadvantages. A Chev 5.0L(305) has nowhere near the performance potential of a Ford 5.0L(302) but the ford engine also has other problems that the chev engine doesn't have.

With the millions of SBC engines produced, parts are relatively inexpensive. If you want to put some other engine into your car then that's your decision.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Night rider.... I read that article just last week! I thought it was fitting. And Smokey.....WHAT A GUY!!!!!!

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

No, they did not.

The BIG motor was introduced in 1957.

The original small block was the 265.

Somebody somewhere posted a scan of Zora Arkus-Duntov's letter to some muckety-much at GM in the late 50s, about how it would be possible for Chevrolet to end Frod's domination of the hot-rod scene that they had at the time, by creating some factory go-fast parts and selling em for cheeeeep, and actually MARKETING to hobbyists. He got part of what he asked for. The rest, as they say, is history.

I don't see what's not to like about the 350. (besides being kinda .... little) I'd like for the OP to tell us what he thinks is not good about it, instead of merely trying to stir up a s***storm with some vague grumbling.

And for the record, an engine DOESN'T have to be 350 CID or smaller to be a "small block". The factory introduced the 400 CID small block in 1970; all external dimensions the same as the 265/283/302/307/327/350 (and the 262.5/267/305 of the future) with all external parts, and all internals except for the crank rods & pistons, the same and interchangeable.

Cosmik Debris

I prefer the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 it is prettier.

http:///hackedgadgets.com/2011/08/02...he-boeing-787/

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

Myself I already posted what I like about the 350 chevy but I will also say the 1 thing I don't like about them...

In the hot rod world the chevy 350 is flooding the market... Too common. You can see a 350 chevy in everything from a homemade wood chassis car to a T bucket to a grand am body, etc

But on the other hand... You may see 20 chevy 350's at any drag strip at any time and maybe 300 at a large car show... Not a single one will be like the next.

Base91

iTrader: (1)

350 sbc is great. But. I regret missing out on snagging a Pontiac SD455 a long time ago for very little money. The seller didn't know what it was but I had less than very little money at the time so didn't get it. Sticking with the 3.1 for now.

danclemts

iTrader: (1)

I have a Pontiac 400 in my 71 leMans, It's a good motor, for its time. I like the air gap under the intake and a few other design tweeks. I like the TPI 305 in my Volvo also, Its incredible bang for the buck and I like the way the TPI looks. If you don't like SBC's then put the motor of your choice in your car. I agree 350's are everywhere, but there's a very good reason for it. if i won the lottery, I'd probably have a different motor.

cosmick

This now applies to Chevy's LSx engine family also. I'm keeping my LSx, but I'm on the verge of trying a 454. The only bad thing about a 350, is trying to get the emissions controls sorted adequately for any car made after 1980.

danryanm

I think I understand the OP's sentiment, though I wouldn't go so far as to say I don't like the engine. I myself tried to avoid building one for the same reasons mentioned earlier - everybody and their uncle has one, they seem to multiply when you turn the lights off, and I get tired of seeing a sea of Chevy Orange at a meet. My compromise was to try and build a 302 or 327 just to at least be a little different, but cost and versatility won out in the end. I built my 350 for a THIRD of the expense and have more built-in power potential. However, I still refused to paint it orange

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I feel ya. I absolutely HATE that color. Even if it's the "correct" color for the chassis, if I'm not doing a "period resto" motor, I'll paint it something else... 350 or any other CID, big or small block. My fave is actually the Mercury Marine "charcoal" color. I recall one motor that the owner wanted clear, so that it was "natural" cast-iron color; I won't ever do that again.

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

I don't think I have ever painted any of mine chevy orange. I always paint the engine and engine parts to match color paint.

With my 1988 camaro once painted the body will be black with red motion perform style stripes, so the engine was done in red, black, polished alum and chrome.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...c-dscf3536.jpg

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...c-dscf3539.jpg

loopy

iTrader: (1)

Lol, good post,
Over here its still considered a pretty large engine unless your a rodder.


My opinion HP/$ you cant beat Chevy 350.


I once built a 351C for my 73 fairlane and couldnt believe how much cheaper my friends 350 was to build.

FIREBIRD1982

Honestly, my complaint is not that its a bad motor, but rather like you said, they are everywhere.

It is even worse if you are in the south. I have even seen on in a 1968 Dodge Charger. Chevy 350s are great when they are in a Chevy, but even then it is still a little too common in my opinion. I have found myself drooling over a Iron Duke for no reason other that it was something different. It should come as no surprise that I think the decision to go to corporate engines was a mistake. If I am buying a Pontiac, I want a Pontiac, not a Chevy disguised as a Pontiac.

ex-x-fire

Anyone else dislike 350s? Which one, Olds, Buick, Pontiac, or Chevy? All different.

MY87LT

iTrader: (2)

I can honestly say that I dislike the diesel 350's.

Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

I always thought the delineation between a SBC and BBC was the bore spacing? SBC being 4.4". You can bore/stroke a SBC out out to larger than a BBC, but it still wouldn't use BBC parts.

MoJoe

iTrader: (5)

BBC having larger bore spacing is one of the design differences, along with taller deck. Everything is generally bigger to make/support higher power levels. Very little interchanges... block, heads, crank, rods, pistons, intake & exhaust manifolds.
SBC = 4.400", BBC = 4.840"

350 = 4.000" bore +0.060" = 4.060" max (safely).
SOme aftermarket blocks allow 4.125" bore.

Info here...
396 = 4.094" bore
427, 454 = 4.250" bore... can be bore +0.125 = 4.375"
502" = 4.468" + 0.092" = 4.560"

So you can take an aftermarket small block (4.125) and have a larger bore than a stock 396 (4.094). But, that is opposite extremes.

Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

I understand that the bore spacing isn't the only difference. I was justing listing that as one of the things that separates a SBC from a BBC. Something you can't change. And I imagine that bore spacing is something that is set very early on in the design of an engine as so many other parts must be designed to match it.

I just used displacement as an example of things that could be the same, but would still be a different engine.

novaderrik

the blocks are an excellent foundation for a 500+ inch monster that fits in place of every Olds "small block" ever built and looks like it was factory installed there.. i think that's what happened to most of them after they wound up in the junkyards about a week after the warranty expired..

regarding the Chevy 350 that this thread is about: the 350 was factory installed in everything from cars to medium duty trucks starting with the 67 Camaro and ending with some vans and box trucks in 2001 or so. that is a 34 (or so) year model year run of the same engine displacement that really only had minimal changes as time and technology progressed.. while Ford was putting the cams on top of their head and going to smaller displacement, Chevy stayed with the same simple design that they came up with during the early years of the Eisenhower administration with a bore/stroke combination that they came up with in the Johnson administration and still did everything better during the Clinton administration... in factory trim, it made anywhere from 130hp in the darkest days of the 1970's to 370HP in the LT1 Camaros of the 1970 model year, with most of them hovering somewhere around 180-200hp for most of the production run.

in a street application, you can build them to make 400hp and still get 20+ mpg, or build them for torque and get north of 30mpg while spending half as much as a similar build on a similarly sized engine from another manufacturer...

if you don't like them because you see too many of them, well, that's your problem. you see so many of them because they flat out work..

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I don't "dislike" 350s. They were the staple GM powerplant for a few decades. But, they had their "issues", some addressed in the BBC, the rest addressed with the LS series.

An LT1 has been my "good weather" daily for the last year & a half. It was a step up from Gen I SBC, but the Gen III easily and immediately eclipsed it.

As previously mentioned, the SBC was introduced in the 1955 model year. The LS1 was introduced in the 1997 model year, 19 model years ago - that's like SBCs in 1974. And two different big blocks were introduced in those 19 model years after the SBC introduction. So, the LS platform has been around as long as the SBC had been in 1974. Since it has been the bread & butter platform since 2000, while the SBC had to share it with the BBC, I'd say the LS platform has proven itself very well. Yes, Gen IV came out as well, and there have been several different head configurations, but the plain ol' cathedral port LS still holds its own.

Other than the previously-mentioned LT1, and the 6.5 TD Silverado, the rest of my "fleet" (including the wife's car) have LS platform engines in them. So, I guess I'd have to say that's the engine I prefer (although I do contemplate a BBC build every once in awhile...).

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

While I did have a good time building my 350 and driving it (especially the price lol), once I got behind the wheel of an LS1, there was no looking back. The big downside to an LS over a 1st gen SBC is definitely the cost. Pros and cons to everything though. I love the almost infinite options for the 350 out there. Every other person has parts laying around for them or knows someone who does and interchangeability couldn't be better!!

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

We (mom and dad) got 375,000 miles out of ours in the 81 cutlass supreme it was in. great motor for us. We drove ours daily on 45 min 1 way trips which is why it lasted. People that bought them for in town use had all kinds of issues.

kmcn47

i don't dislike the engine per say but i do dislike the misinformation about it that is absolutely rampant in the uneducated masses