If you had a finite amount of money... lets say $2500, what kind of engine would you build up and why / how? The goal is the most power you can get out of it without making it a race dedicated engine.

i think i would go with a sbc 350. Theres such a huge market that parts are pretty cheap, theres more avalable and with so many resorces on them it would be easy.

No question about it. I think everyone would go for the 350. It's the cheapest engine to build up and they have so many parts for it, it'd be the best.

one of my friends just built a 433 HP, 460 ft lb, 350 for that price and put it in his firebird.

one of my friends just built a 433 HP, 460 ft lb, 350 for that price and put it in his firebird.

The 350 is your best bet. Your going to have to do a lot of research on what parts to put on it to get you the most bang for your buck. I recommend going to a library and reading hot rod mag, Super chevy etc.... they have budget motors in there mags all of the time. Also look into a rebuilt motor and rebuilt parts. Heads, cam, carb, exhaust, etc....

I was thinking that too. Then I thought I'd look for things I could do with a Cad500 when I get one, and I figure

$250 for a usable 500 from a junkyard
$250 for an Edelbrock performer intake
$500 for 10:1 pistons
$450 for cam, lifters, valvesprings
$200 for a good set of headers
$200 for a carb, or maybe keep the good old stock Qjet and clean and tune it.

With those mods, I'd expect the Cad to hit around 410-450hp with 500+ torque. The cost would total $1850, so even if it didn't hit my estimated power, there's enough money left over to put a good nitrous system on there for an extra 150-250hp.

I don't know if that setup would be better than a 350 though since I haven't looked into 350s much.

I was thinking that too. Then I thought I'd look for things I could do with a Cad500 when I get one, and I figure

$250 for a usable 500 from a junkyard
$250 for an Edelbrock performer intake
$500 for 10:1 pistons
$450 for cam, lifters, valvesprings
$200 for a good set of headers
$200 for a carb, or maybe keep the good old stock Qjet and clean and tune it.

With those mods, I'd expect the Cad to hit around 410-450hp with 500+ torque. The cost would total $1850, so even if it didn't hit my estimated power, there's enough money left over to put a good nitrous system on there for an extra 150-250hp.

I don't know if that setup would be better than a 350 though since I haven't looked into 350s much.

Q-Jet wouldn't work with your edelbrock performer intake. I suggest getting an edelbrock or demon 850cfm carb for that setup.

I don't get the question. Your asking to modify an engine but not to make it race dedicated :confused: obiously once you start modifying an engine it will be producing more hp/tq which would mean better performance which would be better for racing.

Alright if you want to be a pain about it, I mean an engine that is still useful as a daily/weekend driver. So it doesn't need race gas, doesn't need work after every run, etc. Of course there's no chance of making a pure race engine for $2500 anyway. Also, it's obvious that any performance increase would be better for racing but it's also obvious that performance modifications don't always result in a pure race engine..

wait... how long does the motor have to last?

cus if not long, get a junk yard 350, make a custom turbo kit for it, then blow a 250 shot through it :D

I have to admit I was salivating last night when I was doing 1/8 mile test runs in the Fleetwood I borrowed.

I agree with MM9. The LT1 has a lot of potential with just simple bolt-ons. And it was pretty common, too.

The Fleetwood was scary when I started thinking of all the extra power I could get out of it with just a few hours here and there and a only few hundred dollars spent. I used to spend my Sunday afternoons watching shows like "Crank & Chrome" and being shocked and awed by their dyno runs.

But I think I'm over that after my Honda Prelude/riceboy experiments. They were fun, and they did yield some respectable results, but I don't want to do that kind of stuff to my daily driver anymore.

What deterred me and brought me back down to earth was how I would probably end up spending twice as much on brakes and suspension to counteract the increases in HP. That's not the kind of work I know how to do, or ever want to learn.

Q-Jet wouldn't work with your edelbrock performer intake. I suggest getting an edelbrock or demon 850cfm carb for that setup.

Hmm, that sucks. At Jegs, it says the stock ac compressor won't fit - they should probably warn people that the carb won't work either. Can you tell me why it wouldn't work?

well you might be able to use it if your intake manifold was either built for a q-jet or was all open, instead of the four ccut out circles. The Q-Jet doesn't have equal size for the manifold, the Secondarys are a lot bigger than the primarys, so they wouldn't fit into the manifold. I don't know if that just confused you. I don't really have any better way to explain.

Here is a picture of the Q-Jet Gasket to let you know what i'm talking about

http://www.nardek.com.au/nard040.jpg

Here is a picture of an intake manifold

http://www.boss302.com/intake4.jpg

see what i'm talking about? They're all equal size and secondarys wouldn't fit.


I guess you could just go for a box open intake manifold, but you why do you want to go with a Q-jet so bad? Just get a regular edelbrock or demon carb 850cfm would be nice. q-jets just have a bunch of extra shit on them.

The intake manifold pic you have doesn't look like the Edelbrock one:

http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/edl-2115.jpg
http://www.jegs.com/photos/3502115.jpg

It says the manifold will work with square or spread bore carbs, which doesn't help me cause I don't know what that actually means. With the Jegs pic and the gasket pic, it looks like it could work though.

I'd like to be able to use a QJet because I have one... which is cheaper than buying one. QJets are perfectly good carbs.

I don't mean to get off topic here.....I just wanted to give a little info on carbs and intakes.
There are adapters that will let you mix and match carbs and intakes.
Here's a link that shows some of the adapters Edelbrock has.
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/install1.html
I think I'm going to use the Q-Jet (rebuilt and modified, if needed) on my 500 with the Edelbrock Performer intake.

Wow, I was looking at that about 5 minutes before I saw your post. And yeah this went off topic a while ago.

Can anyone tell me if the edelbrock manifold will fit a QJet without an adapter? If I put it in my 78, the air cleaner assembly I have won't fit under my hood.

I'd buy a 1989 Nissan 240SX throw a turbo on it and throw on some a 100 shot of nitrous and walla! Instant low 13 sec 1/4's!

An Edelbrock performer manifold (2115) can be used with a QJet. Found that out by rereading Cad Companys catalogue.

You really want that q-jet, huh? what cfm is it?

Dave, I think you know my answer..:burn:

Dave, I think you know my answer..:burn:

Yeah I guess so :D What kind of 75 Caddy do ya have?

You really want that q-jet, huh? what cfm is it?

795cfm I believe and I don't see enough differance between a QJet and any other carb to justify spending any money on it.. keeping in mind that I already have the QJet so I won't need to spend any money on it except maybe some carb cleaner.

Yeah, you should rebuild it too, if it's not already rebuilt.

Yeah I guess so :D What kind of 75 Caddy do ya have?



Its a coupe deville:D

Its a coupe deville:D

Hey all who is looking for carbs, rebuilt carbs or to have yours rebuilt. There is a guy down the street from my house (4 doors down) who does that all day long. I know he has stuff on ebay his website is carbdoctor.com He did the carb on my chevelle and it is a work of art. Completely cromed out, and looks/works great

I'd buy a 1989 Nissan 240SX throw a turbo on it and throw on some a 100 shot of nitrous and walla! Instant low 13 sec 1/4's!
Blackout, I've seen several of your posts and I really need to ask a question. I'm not being a jerk so don't get emotional abouthis, it's just curiosity.
People ask questions related to buying or working on a Cadillac and invariably you seem to memtion how you would spend the money on some sort of Asian import. And that wasn't what was asked. Your info descrices you as a "Cadillac fan" but you don't own one and keep telling everyone to buy Jap.
My question is, Why are you here ? Wouldn't you honestly be happier spending your time at a forum dedicated to the cars you seem to love so much ?
Just honest curiosity.
You don't have to own a Cadillac to join this forum, but you don't even seem to like them at all.
Bob

I don't own a Cadillac either. Don't even own an American car. Mine are Japanese, Swedish, and German.

But I'm emotional about the Cadillacs my parents had when I was growing up--I loved those cars (and I loved IN those cars! :histeric: ). Even after my test-drive of an Acura TL Friday I'm still very likely to pick up a DeVille when the time comes.

I don't own a Cadillac either. Don't even own an American car. Mine are Japanese, Swedish, and German.

But I'm emotional about the Cadillacs my parents had when I was growing up--I loved those cars (and I loved IN those cars! :histeric: ). Even after my test-drive of an Acura TL Friday I'm still very likely to pick up a DeVille when the time comes.
I didn't mean to imply you had to own one. But I've yet to read Blackout having any kind of positive comment about Cadillacs. Or any other American car.
Maybe it's because I worked for GM for quite a few years, I don't know.
But you said yourself, you like the cars. That's a major difference.

I didn't mean to imply you had to own one. But I've yet to read Blackout having any kind of positive comment about Cadillacs. Or any other American car.
Maybe it's because I worked for GM for quite a few years, I don't know.
But you said yourself, you like the cars. That's a major difference.
As for the original post about a $2500 dollar build
Some of your prices are a bit high
from me a cam springs and lifters are about $400
pistons are a little under $400
need to add rings $80 or a bit more
youll need gaskets/bearings
what you really left out is machine work and that will add around $1000 to your build if you intend to do it right
something to remember about a SBC build is that the engine will in no way or shape move a 4000 lb caddy like a 472/500 will even in near stock form
if you decide to do something i can steer you in the right direction and save you some money
later

As for the original post about a $2500 dollar build
Some of your prices are a bit high
from me a cam springs and lifters are about $400
pistons are a little under $400
need to add rings $80 or a bit more
youll need gaskets/bearings
what you really left out is machine work and that will add around $1000 to your build if you intend to do it right
something to remember about a SBC build is that the engine will in no way or shape move a 4000 lb caddy like a 472/500 will even in near stock form
if you decide to do something i can steer you in the right direction and save you some money
later
there are alot more parts missing such as pushrods /rod bolts/head and main bolts/header flanges to convert your chevy headers
and on and on

As for the original post about a $2500 dollar build
Some of your prices are a bit high
from me a cam springs and lifters are about $400
pistons are a little under $400
need to add rings $80 or a bit more
youll need gaskets/bearings
what you really left out is machine work and that will add around $1000 to your build if you intend to do it right
something to remember about a SBC build is that the engine will in no way or shape move a 4000 lb caddy like a 472/500 will even in near stock form
if you decide to do something i can steer you in the right direction and save you some money
later

If you were talking about my 500 build up, that was mostly off the top of my head. It doesn't make much differance anyway since I can't afford to do anything other than a pretty much stock engine. I'm hoping I can do it without rebuilding the engine. There's a rusty coupe Deville up the street that I have to ask the person about.. dunno if its a 472 or a 500.

If you were talking about my 500 build up, that was mostly off the top of my head. It doesn't make much differance anyway since I can't afford to do anything other than a pretty much stock engine. I'm hoping I can do it without rebuilding the engine. There's a rusty coupe Deville up the street that I have to ask the person about.. dunno if its a 472 or a 500.
75 & 76 DeVilles had square headlights and came from the factory with 500's. 68-74 DeVilles had 472's.

Dave,
Sorry to find this so late. You were right in the beginning about parts and building up a 500. A STOCK 500 ('71-73) makes 375 hp and 500 ft.lbs. of torque. The best engine, the'70 Eldo, makes 400 hp/550 ft.lbs.. The last of the 500's, the '76, was the lowest at 300 hp and 468 ft.lbs..
The Edelbrock intake is specifically made for the original Q-Jet. Also, the original Q-Jet on all 472/500's is 800 cfm which is good to 500 hp. The STOCK A-6 compressor will not fit. This is what they are refering to. However, the newer style R-4 compressor might. You will have to modify/have made new A/C hoses. At the worst, you would have to build a compressor mounting bracket that raises the R-4 compressor.
While parts cost more for a 472/500, you START with much more and for a lot less. To have the Q-Jet get a performance rebuilt (the Carb Shop for example) is $300. They will professionally rebuild and set the carb up to your car/engine specs.

An Edelbrock performer manifold (2115) can be used with a QJet. Found that out by rereading Cad Companys catalogue.

To have the Q-Jet get a performance rebuilt (the Carb Shop for example) is $300. They will professionally rebuild and set the carb up to your car/engine specs.

I'm glad I went ahead and rebuilt mine myself if it was going to cost me $300.. What do they do to call it a "performance rebuild"? Change jets, metering rods or something?