Sbc 350 Rebuild
Today, 08:04 AM
#1
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Sbc 350 Rebuild
Good Morning Everyone,
I have a 26' 86 Nova 2 with twin merc 350s and Alpha 1 Gen 1 drives. I just pulled the starboard engine due to having 0 compression on cyl #2. I pulled the head off last night and found a bent exhaust valve. I am looking for a little guidance as to what others have done. I am toying with the idea of an off the shelf ready to run aluminum heads (AFR or Dart Pro 1) since I don't have the GM Vortec heads. I want to pair this with an aluminum intake manifold and an Edelbrock 1409 600cc carb. My question is, is do you think its worth the money? Any noticeable power gains? Does the extra power affect the reliability of the Alpha one? I read they only are rated to around 300hp. I was planning on leaving the bottom end stock if all looks well, just a hone, cleanup the pistons, new bearings, rings ect. The boat maxs out at 55 mph. Id love to get a little more out of it if I can whiles its out, and then do the same build to the port side engine in the spring. I'm torn between putting a little bit of money into the boat if there's noticeable gains, or just get a head job and slap it back together.
Thanks
Dave
I have a 26' 86 Nova 2 with twin merc 350s and Alpha 1 Gen 1 drives. I just pulled the starboard engine due to having 0 compression on cyl #2. I pulled the head off last night and found a bent exhaust valve. I am looking for a little guidance as to what others have done. I am toying with the idea of an off the shelf ready to run aluminum heads (AFR or Dart Pro 1) since I don't have the GM Vortec heads. I want to pair this with an aluminum intake manifold and an Edelbrock 1409 600cc carb. My question is, is do you think its worth the money? Any noticeable power gains? Does the extra power affect the reliability of the Alpha one? I read they only are rated to around 300hp. I was planning on leaving the bottom end stock if all looks well, just a hone, cleanup the pistons, new bearings, rings ect. The boat maxs out at 55 mph. Id love to get a little more out of it if I can whiles its out, and then do the same build to the port side engine in the spring. I'm torn between putting a little bit of money into the boat if there's noticeable gains, or just get a head job and slap it back together.
Thanks
Dave
Today, 12:44 PM
#2
First thing I would address is why the exhaust valve bent. It is likely from a leaky exhaust manifold which can rust the valve stem causing it to stick, hence PTV contact.
An AFR or Dart Pro 1 head is a lot of money for a stock bottom end. I would not do those heads unless it was a bottom to top build with appropriate cam etc.
An AFR or Dart Pro 1 head is a lot of money for a stock bottom end. I would not do those heads unless it was a bottom to top build with appropriate cam etc.
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TomZ (Today)
Today, 04:35 PM
#3
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Join Date: Jan 2007
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it's a boat so 10 or 15 thousand should net you around 3 or 4 mph gain so to me it is not worth it. best money if you are wanting to change heads is go to a vortec head and aluminum intake. smart money for now would be to just get the heads redone right and go enjoy it.
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87MirageIntruder (Today)
Today, 08:00 PM
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If you are not going to do a camshaft and other upgrades to the bottom end then you will probably be very disappointed. How many hours on the engines ? Are they using oil ? If not I would leave them alone and get the heads rebuilt and get back to boating. And like Trash said the first thing you need to do is find out why the valve stuck open and got bent.
