340 advice

[71chally416]

I doubt a 475hp small block would have much left after 30k.  There is no info on what parts he has to make the hp either.  I would question that.

The test motor Edelbrock used for their heads/Intake/Carb/cam kit made less than 420hp, so you can take any claim of an iron head stock rebuild 340 making big HP with a grain of salt. Without a very good cam and some damn good ported heads it probably ain't happenin' unless it's a highly refined 30K NHRA stocker motor.

[moper]

No way it's making 475. The intake alone is a huge problem. I think it's an OK deal, but not great.

[300]

Ya maybe this one is worn out, I,ll just get mine dowe that way i know whats in it. Any suggestions what i should get done to mine The block is good  standard 0 heads etc, i would like to get the max out of it ( with in reason) i don,t drag but i do like  a lumpy cam,  part #,s brand name of componts etc Thanks All

[71chally416]

Just do what they did here. Many choices for camshafts. The one they use here, an MP grind or and Engle. I myself use the MP cams in street motors simply because I've never lost a lobe with one in either mine of any customers motor. Can't say the same with other aftermarket grinds like Comp. Engle seems to have a good rep with the guys here but I don't know cause I haven't used one.
 http://www.compcams.com/Community/Articles/Details.asp?ID=-738676943

[300]

Thanks to all for the info

[moper]

How much money is in the budget and what do you want to do with the car?

[300]

I do have a budget, but i don,t want to go cheap, as far as what a want to do with it,  keep it if that,s what you mean. as far as how far i what to take this project, i ,ll spend hrs cleaning a part if that means anything. Thanks

[moper]

What I was asking was how much money... not if you can flex on the amount... but the amout. Also, what kind of use are you looking to get from the car? You need to know what you want before you buy anything.

[72bluNblu]

Moper is right on, you should decide what you want to do with the car and what's going to make you happy before you start rebuilding or buy something else.

I'm in the middle of a 340 rebuild myself. I'm looking for a slightly more aggressive street build, hopefully in the 400-450 hp range. My 340 is .060 over, with KB 243 pistons, a Lunati 60404 cam (duration 276/ 284, Lift .513/ .533), with stock rods (re-indexed and cleared for ARP bolts) and stock forged crank, with the rotating assembly balanced. Its going to have a set of 308 heads on it, with stage 2 porting, 1 3/4 Hooker super comp headers, edelbrock air gap intake, and probably a 770 cfm street avenger unless it proves to be too much. I also have a set of Harland Sharp rockers, high volume oil and water pump, and a Kevko oil pan for it. So far I'm at about $5,000  , and I don't have the valve springs/retainers, push rods, or head gaskets yet. And of course since I haven't put it together yet I'm sure I'll find some more things I need to buy still.    I suspect that all said and done I'll have around $6k in the engine and accessories  . I believe my initial "budget" for all this was around $5k, although if I check my posts I may find it was a little lower initially. But I also upped my expectations for the build as I went along.

This is keeping in mind also that I bought the complete 340 short block core for $280, the Hooker super comps slightly used for $200 (vs $690), the intake slightly used for $200 (vs $260), the carb mounted only once and ran on a dyno only for $150 (vs $400) and the new Harlands  for $350 (vs $590). That's over $1k less than retail for that stuff.

So I guess what I'm saying is a "flexible" budget gets big fast, and depending on what you want to do the price will vary greatly. I think a complete stock rebuild will cost around $3,500 if you do it right, and probably grab you between 300-350 hp depending on how you set up compression/cam/etc. With the port work I'll have about $1500 into my heads alone (including purchase price), with a few hundred more in parts to go before I'm finished, but realistically you'll probably need head work or aftermarket heads if you want to run over 400 hp.

Here's a bunch of 360 builds with dyno #'s, it helped me make some decisions on my direction as far as my build and some of my parts. http://www.mopar1.us/dyno.html

And of course, keep in mind that no matter what you decide to do you'll probably end up spending more...

[300]

I was thnking around the 5k mark,  might have to get heads mine aren,t the 202,s etc, the block is good but i,ll have to bolt everything else on.

[moper]

What do you want the car to do? Drag race? Cruise? Road/rally stuff? What options do you have? Power brakes, power steering, a/c?

[300]

Just curise, I have p/s p/b, want a nice looking car that sounds good.

[moper]

If you like the lumpy sound, lose the power brakes. If you like the power brakes, lose the idea that a choppy idle sounds good. You can do a nice rebuild on your 340 for $5K. However, the closer you get to 500hp, the further you get from power brakes. Do you have a complete 340, or just the block? I would do a simple performance rebuild on it, use KB hypers at .018 above deck like they recommend. Using iron heads trimmed to 68cc and a stock Fel Pro blue gasket, you're at 9.9:1 static. A cam something like the XE268 will make enough vacuum for you brakes and make solid power. You should be able to get it done for the $5K figure, at least minus carb and ignition.

[matt63]

If you like the lumpy sound, lose the power brakes. If you like the power brakes, lose the idea that a choppy idle sounds good. ...

So true!  If you want to make power w/power brakes look at the Hughes hydraulic roller cams.  This kind of set-up might blow the budget though.  Check out hughengines.com web site for small block builds and testing.