My son and I just disassembled our 348 (originally out of a '61 Impala). It is an unmolested motor...never been bored. We want to turn it into a 409 with a stroker kit with a slight overbore and build it up to a moderate race engine with the new Hilborn fuel injection system. We will be installing it in a 1930 Model A hiboy street rod. So here's the question. How do we go about finding out what options play with each other? For example, if we buy the Eagle stroker kit, what do we need to do with the heads and valves? If we buy the new aluminum Edlebrock heads, will they work with the Eagle stroker kit and piston combination? what cam should we buy and how will that affect the valve lift / clearance with the Edlebrock heads, etc, etc. Is there some guide that will tell us what to use with what? And finally, a few months ago, someone suggested a good machine shop in the Seattle area for doing the decking and boring but I forgot the name... anybody remember? THANKS!
Rebuilding my 348
- Thread starter skipandJJ
- Start date
The stroker kits work well with the Edelbrock heads. The only concern is the amount of lift your cam has it might interfear with the pistons to valve clearance.
From all the stuff I have read on here over the years its a pretty staright forward process. You can get roller cams , sold lifter cams hyd. it depends automatic or standard trans. Does the Hilborn have high per ports otr the low perf ports. Sounds like she will be a scream for sure. Do lots of reading here and you will find tons of stuff for what you need. Good luck and happy motoring
There is a good posting now on cam selection
From all the stuff I have read on here over the years its a pretty staright forward process. You can get roller cams , sold lifter cams hyd. it depends automatic or standard trans. Does the Hilborn have high per ports otr the low perf ports. Sounds like she will be a scream for sure. Do lots of reading here and you will find tons of stuff for what you need. Good luck and happy motoring
There is a good posting now on cam selection
If using a 348, then it may be neccessary to deepen ex valve notch in the block.
Richmond Engines in the Vancouver BC area do quite a few 348's and 409's You might be able to get them to do some of the work, like maybe assembling the shortblock. They would have experience with things like piston and block clearance for the valves. I'm sure they would steer you in the right direction for the cam and heads.
http://www.richmondengines.com/
You might find it interesting to read about the 348 stroker built by Joe Sherman.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/hrdp_0911_chevy_w_series_engine_build/index.html
It would probably run on pump gas but it's a little over the top for a street engine. I wouldn't suggest building an engine that makes it's peak horsepower at 6,900 unless you intend to use it strictly for racing. You could easily make a 500 plus horsepower engine that wouldn't have to rev past 6400 rpm. Keep in mind that the Hilborn injection is far better at making big horsepower than the dual plane intake on the Sherman engine. The sky is really the limit when it comes to making power but the 348 block can only take so much. It has lighter main caps and block webbing than the 409 so it's hard to say what the safe horsepower limit would be. The 409 blocks seem to be holding up fine in the 600 to 650hp range with the stock two bolt main caps but many of the guys going for more than that are using aftermarket four bolt mains. I'm not sure if the 348's block webbing is thick enough for four bolt mains so it might be best to keep the power down below 550hp.
My racing partner and I just bought the Sherman engine and we'll be racing it next year so I guess we're going to find out just how strong a 348 block is.
http://www.richmondengines.com/
You might find it interesting to read about the 348 stroker built by Joe Sherman.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/hrdp_0911_chevy_w_series_engine_build/index.html
It would probably run on pump gas but it's a little over the top for a street engine. I wouldn't suggest building an engine that makes it's peak horsepower at 6,900 unless you intend to use it strictly for racing. You could easily make a 500 plus horsepower engine that wouldn't have to rev past 6400 rpm. Keep in mind that the Hilborn injection is far better at making big horsepower than the dual plane intake on the Sherman engine. The sky is really the limit when it comes to making power but the 348 block can only take so much. It has lighter main caps and block webbing than the 409 so it's hard to say what the safe horsepower limit would be. The 409 blocks seem to be holding up fine in the 600 to 650hp range with the stock two bolt main caps but many of the guys going for more than that are using aftermarket four bolt mains. I'm not sure if the 348's block webbing is thick enough for four bolt mains so it might be best to keep the power down below 550hp.
My racing partner and I just bought the Sherman engine and we'll be racing it next year so I guess we're going to find out just how strong a 348 block is.
.............. personally I think a 500 to 550 HP 348 would probably be a bit of a bear to drive on the street........ Unless you're going racing I think anything over about 400 for the street is about the limit....... You'd probably have 450 ft lbs of torque so it would burn the tires anytime you wanted to.....
...... but if you want a racer she'll go there I'm sure.
Just my opinions though.
Dave
...... but if you want a racer she'll go there I'm sure.
Just my opinions though.
Dave
I'm with you Dave. I was just getting sidetracked and talking about the practical limits of the block itself. But then again SkipandJJ are talking about building a "moderate race engine". It'll be in a light car and it will have a stack injection setup that will allow them to run a bigger cam while still maintaining a good idle. So, if they decide to go with a 4" stroke, (430 plus cubic inches) they may be able to go with more power than normal.
I'm assuming SkipandJJ are thinking about the new electronic fuel injection. It should be really nice but there may be limits on how much cam the computerized setup can handle.
I'm assuming SkipandJJ are thinking about the new electronic fuel injection. It should be really nice but there may be limits on how much cam the computerized setup can handle.
Agreed........ totally.... that Hillborn EFI would be so cool...... but I personally think 400 HP and 450 or so ft lbs would be a handfull in that car....... Man what a ride that would be !!!! And buildit I think is right as well.... a 409 crank in an older 348 is a good thing but if I was going with a 4" stroke I think I'd be looking for a 962 or a 655 block. There is quite a difference in the main webbing as well as the armor steel caps. I have looked closely at a few.
.... again just my opinion..... I see quite a few guys build an engine for all the horse power it can put out. They drive it for a while but they loose interest and pretty soon they won't take it to Mom's house for dinner because it's a bear to drive...... the wife hates it because it's raunchy...... They won't take it on a 250 mile cruise because it drinks gas...... and the car sits..... I've seen it happen........... I have a friend who built a beautiful '55 Chevy with a 640 cu. in. big block..... he wanted 1000 HP and he got it. He hardly drives it because it gets about 2 miles per gallon and he can't race it because he doesn't want to ruin the "stock" appearance of the car with a roll cage.......... so it sits.
Fatride has done very well keeping his car streetable and turning the 1/4 mile times he does..... but I don't know how much more he can go..... I'm sure we'll find out.
Dave
Hey Skip.......great project.......
and even better with your son helping....
There is a lot of good info from members on this sight,
no finer bunch of w-motor heads.........
A good starting point for your 348 build would be to get a
copy of the Nov 2009 Hot Rod.......
On page 84 Marlan Davis goes step by step on a 348
stroker build.......this will give you a lot of info in print.
Any blanks can be filled in by the members here......
bang
good luck
bj
and even better with your son helping....
There is a lot of good info from members on this sight,
no finer bunch of w-motor heads.........
A good starting point for your 348 build would be to get a
copy of the Nov 2009 Hot Rod.......
On page 84 Marlan Davis goes step by step on a 348
stroker build.......this will give you a lot of info in print.
Any blanks can be filled in by the members here......
banggood luck
bj
Thanks, guys!
Just a quick "thank you" to all of you. What great info! As a clarifier, we want it to be a good driver. We are not going to race her. But it would be nice to have a slight lope when she idles and enough power to scare us once in awhile. I see no need to go beyond 500 to 550 HP. We'll check some of the stuff out you all suggested and will post back in a few months with the direction we are going.
Thanks again! JJ is "stoked"!
Just a quick "thank you" to all of you. What great info! As a clarifier, we want it to be a good driver. We are not going to race her. But it would be nice to have a slight lope when she idles and enough power to scare us once in awhile. I see no need to go beyond 500 to 550 HP. We'll check some of the stuff out you all suggested and will post back in a few months with the direction we are going.
Thanks again! JJ is "stoked"!
If you decide to go with the Hilborn Stack Injection system, consider spending a few hundred more $$ and get the FAST XFI Electronics package instead of their Std. Electronics package. In conjuction with a wide band O2 sensor, The FAST system will practically tune itself.
Barry
Barry
348 stroker build
just my 2 cents --- my 348 with 3 and 3/4 stroke and .030 over is a 409 built for the street using a Dimitri Elgin custom cam and 2.06 intakes w/stock 1.68 exhaust valves and pair of 500 edelbrocks on OLD offy manifold will blow the tires off a heavy bubbletop.. I need to get it on a chassis dyno one of these days.....but does seem to drive very well and is VERY streetable. Am running solid linkage and still working out jetting. No black smoke or blubbering, but does use alot of gas.... probably i'm just having too much fun.... Dean
just my 2 cents --- my 348 with 3 and 3/4 stroke and .030 over is a 409 built for the street using a Dimitri Elgin custom cam and 2.06 intakes w/stock 1.68 exhaust valves and pair of 500 edelbrocks on OLD offy manifold will blow the tires off a heavy bubbletop.. I need to get it on a chassis dyno one of these days.....but does seem to drive very well and is VERY streetable. Am running solid linkage and still working out jetting. No black smoke or blubbering, but does use alot of gas.... probably i'm just having too much fun.... Dean