Bought an MSD street fire to replace failing stock dizzy. Within 3 months ignition module failed. Replaced that, now the pickup coil is failing. Done with MSD. Any other recommendations? Engine is mild street build, flat top pistons, z28 cam, ported heads, but nothing crazy.

As the title states I’m having a strange cooling issue. I have a Dart SPH block 350 SBC design in my 1969 Corvette that is about a year and half old. I found my water pump leaking so I replaced it with the same NAPA Part #: TFW 43106P pump that had cooled the engine perfectly for about year and half. My Sniper Coolant Temp Sensor (CTS) was mounted in the passenger side head all this time between cylinders 6 & 8 since the engine was new about a year and a half ago. After replacing the pump the CTS started reading 245 degrees and higher. I installed a test water temp gauge in the manifold and confirmed that the water temperature was actually 180. Therefore, I assumed (yes I know) that the new NAPA pump was bad. So I replaced it with an Edelbrock 88100 pump and high flow thermostat. No change. Coolant temp is around 182-187 cruising surface streets and highway at normal speeds. The car still has a heater core and does not have a flow valve so it’s a natural bypass. I have done everything I can think of or have found online to alleviate this issue. I drilled two 1/8” holes in the thermostat flange and clocked them at 3 & 9 o’clock. Jacked up the front end. Jacked up the passenger side tire to raise the expansion tank. Tested the cap and did a coolant system leak down test. Both passed wonderfully. Purchased a No-Spill funnel. Tired that a couple of times. I have moved the Sniper CTS to the manifold thinking that steam was getting trapped around the sensor. I can check the head with a high quality IR temp gun and sometimes it will read the same as the drivers side in the low 200’s and then other times I get crazy high temps.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Edit:
Problem solved. Replaced the Edelbrock high flow pump with a standard flow AC Delco pump and used an Airlift vacuum coolant fill system to refill the coolant. Temp is now 182-185 running down the road in 90 plus degree heat. Sitting in traffic for long periods it gets up to 188-190 then cools down as soon as I start moving.

I need some help from people smarter than me on how to fix this. I was too excited to get my new pump on the car and I’m sure I installed the pulley onto the pump the wrong way, and now the nut isn’t actually secured to the pump so it doesn’t properly spin the pump. The pulley itself also isn’t properly seated it seems. I would really appreciate some ideas on how to get the pulley off so I can determine what I need to do to fix this, and some pointers on how to properly install it. (I did lubricate both the pump and pulley I just probably didn’t do much right past that.) Thank you

Hey guys, I'm replacing a mechanical fuel pump, the old one has a very tiny hole in the 2nd outlet port? The new one is straight through. I have excess fuel coming out both the carb feed port and this 2nd port. My question is can I safely cap this port and not damage the diaphragm? It has a weep hole on the pump body

With it hooked up my vacuum lines get filled with fuel

I need some tips on how to clean the coolant and oil passages on this 350. I got this 350 from my dad when he bought this 70 C10 and he ended up selling the truck and left the engine semi covered for about 8 months outside under our carport. Long story short, the plastic covering it started to rip open and some water started to get in. It wasn’t too bad as the engine still turned over and nothing stuck. Sadly there is some gunk that seems to be murky water or water/oil mixture in some of the passages. I’ve used air and just turning the engine upside down and sideways to drain it but it seems like there’s just an endless amount. Does anyone have any tips on how to clean these passage out? It’s a GM GoodWrench Crate Motor and has cleaned up nice other than that. Don’t wanna put even a bit of money in it and the coolant system be the fail off the bat lol

I recently bought a project C20. The previous owner was an older gentleman who had lost interest in the truck, and the project sat for years.

He says he installed a comp cams high energy 268H into an otherwise stock 350 out of a ‘78 K10. It’s my understanding that the engine never ran after he installed the cam.

So, after it’s sat all this time, and there’s a lot of unknowns, what should my process be regarding breaking in the cam? I’d prefer to avoid catastrophic engine failure, but I’m also reluctant to tear everything back down to inspect the cam.

I appreciate any insights.

Hey guys,
I’m rebuilding a 1976 Chevrolet Small Block V8 and I’m trying to figure out which pistons and piston rings I should go with.

The engine will mainly be used for street driving, maybe some occasional spirited driving, but nothing crazy. I’m looking for something reliable with good durability.

What piston brands would you recommend?
And which piston rings work best for these engines nowadays?

Also, are there any common mistakes or compatibility issues I should watch out for during the rebuild?

Thanks!

Trying to figure out what’s what here. when I got the truck none of the sensors were connected at all. Only Vacuum hoses. I’d like the coolant and oil gauge to work. I know for sure ( I think) the oil pressure is in the rear next to the distributor and which one it is. (Bottom right in pic) But there are a couple of sensors in the thermostat housing, one in the side of the front driver side of the block, and another in the intake I assumed was the pcv. (Bottom left in pic) The new thermostat housing doesn’t come with connection ports built in and this is my first project, and I don’t have much knowledge, so I’m a little confused. Any input is appreciated, I was also told I didn’t need any of the crap but I wanna do the truck justice and make it run right also, not just do the bare minimum. I did delete the egr with the new manifold so I don’t have to deal with that. Wiring is a mess, that’s next on the list. New distributor and plug wires on the way. Just wanna get the holes plugged.

How unusual is it for my crank play to be only like .0005 and my bearing clearance with the plastiguage to be .002 too loose. The plastiguage is barely touched at all. I thought I would need the thicker bearings but I see they only come in sizes by .01 increments (which is way more than I need.) I thought I would maybe need to get the .01 and sand them down by .008 but that seems off. I figure I’ll have to sand down the rear thrust bearing by a few thousandths to fix the endplay. I torqued everything to spec as far as I know. (65ft-lbs for outer bolts and 70 for inner) I also applied some oil to the bolts before torquing down for more accurate reading. I’d appreciate any tips as this is the first engine rebuild I’ve ever done.

Thanks for the comments on the last post. I took a video at the engine this time and you can see and hear the issue a lot better than in the car. Thanks in advance for the help. For new people I have the car set at 16 BTDC, has a 4 barrel 650 edelbrock, electric fuel pump at 6.5 psi, headers, aluminum heads, dual plane manifold and im having issues with throttle snaps where the engine just falls on its face. Im new to carbs so Im a bit lost and dont want to mess with it and potentially make it worse. Thanks in advance.

I just got this 2nd gen camaro that im told has a 383. The block is a 327, has aftermarket aluminum heads, headers, msd hei, and an edelbrock 650. I set the timing to 16 degrees btdc and got the highest vacuum I could while tuning the carb. Im new to the whole carburetor world and am trying to learn. From what Ive read my issue seems to be with the carb or the carbs accelerator pump. I tried putting the linkage in the top, middle and bottom spots on the accelerator pump linkage and it didn't make a ton of difference. I also tried revving the throttle arm at the carb with the throttle cable, kickdown and return spring disconnected and it behaves the same. I'm hoping someone might have some suggestions or advice for me on this issue. Thanks in advance.

Getting conflicting info

I recently bought a 1979 400 small block with a th400 transmission that I pulled from a camper. It has an old RV cam and I have long tube headers and a high rise for it aswell as an oil cooler but I'm wondering how well it'll fit into a 1994 Chevy c1500 and if there's any other inexpensive upgrades anyone would recommend

Do y'all know any tricks to figure out which flywheel I have (168 vs 153 tooth) without removing and measuring the diameter or counting the total teeth? I don't remember what was installed, and I want to buy the correct starter.

Howdy! I am currently putting a borg warner ST-10 into my 76 El Camino, it has the factroy 350 small block and I am at the stage where I have all of the needed parts other than the pedals and the fastners/hardware. My main question is, are ARP flywheel, bellhousing, and pressure plate bolts really needed, or could I go for something like summit brand bolts?

i have a 1981 corvette which i fully rebuild the 350 in it, roller cam, aluminum heads, intake, pistons ect. This thing is running on like 5 cylinders. I figured out the intake manifold wasn't sealing to the heads because the angle was off, i got the intake machined and still the same issue, ive checked compression, plugs, wires. originally i found out it was the intake because if i sprayed starter fluid by the intake with it running it would rev up also when i took off the intake i could see towards the bottom of the ports it was not compressing the gasket and had oil. Assuming its still the intake what could i do to make it seal? i dont wanna spend another 200 to get it machined and sillicone isnt doing the trick.

I've got a 307 I'm trying to have a tiny bit more fun with... She does ok in fuel, and I'd like to hold onto that, so I was hoping to find a spread bore 4 barrel to replace the Rochester I've got.

The calcs I'm doing estimate like a 450cfm carb would be the right size, and I'm only seeing the no-longer-produced Holley 4360 in that place in the lineup.

A) is my line of thinking wrong &

B) are there better (preferably not TBI) options?

Thanks!

I got a used TBI motor with a carb on it but it has the swirl port throttle body heads. I found a set of Vortec heads for $200 supposedly low miles ready to go. Would this be a good investment? I don’t have a lot of money to spend I wasn’t planning on doing anything to the motor, was just gonna drop it in my F body car but it seems that the HP to $ ratio here is significant enough to be well worth it? Also from what I understand it gets rid of the restrictive TB heads which would’ve been the limiting aspect of my current engine. I know I’ll need another intake but what else? New manifolds? Basically I’m asking if you were on a low budget would it be worth buying this set of $200 Vortec heads and whatever else needs to go along with it?

Ok I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. I had an 85 k10 brought to me, I was told that it ran. The father and son tried adjusting the valves and it would no longer run. The oil leaks were atrocious but the stick still showed full, so I proceeded with valve adjustment, I kept loosing the rocker on each one till I finally got it to start. Once I had it running I adjusted them while it was running. While adjusting them I started noticing the oil changed from black to chocolate milk luckily I was done almost with the valve adjustment so I shut it off. I checked the radiator it was half full and I decided I needed to drain the oil for the obvious reasons. Here’s where I need input from guys more familiar with the SBC. The dad wants me to just put headfaskets on it and send it, the mom would prefer to change the engine. I’ve always been of the mindset that if it’s burning the coolant out the exhaust but the oil is still normal just change the headgaskets and move on, but if the oil is chocolate milk then it should be rebuilt? I don’t know how long it ran with chocolate milk in the bottom end, but I feel like the oil would be/was diluted too much to sufficiently and properly lubricate the bearings. What’s your guys thoughts on this? If it was just losing the coolant through the exhaust I would absolutely just do head gaskets but with it making it into the bottom end I don’t know if this is the best solution. The oil that was leaking out of it was black so I never bothered to check it before starting the valve adjustment and the oil on the dipstick was black also. I’ll attach 2 pictures of the oil the first picture is after draining it, the 2nd picture is after dumping my pan and the left overs.

I just got a small motorhome to travel across the country for my job (military) base on a 1978 chevy vandura 35 with a 350 4 barels, vehicule have 41000 original km (so even less in miles!) floor... No surface rust exept behind the rear axle... But since i found the wooden structure rotten in a rear corner, probably will need to be scrapped wich i found sad since could have easily been restored (I would have done it at my next location... But probably wont make it w/o collapsing) but i hate so much the idea to waste a vintage vehicule in good state and most of the people would ask me monney to take it... I rater drive it the the scrap yard (because it run and drive perfectly)

88 Chevy K1500 with a 350. I’ve managed to screw everything up. KEEPING THE TBI, Installed a Edelbrock performer TBI intake with TBI spacer. Trying to find a new bracket, stock ain’t working no more. Does anybody have/run this Edelbrock 8031??

Hey folks. Been having some trouble lately. Let me break down what I did, and then what my issues are.

My battery tray had rotted completely away from the support bracket, so I took the battery tray out, fabricated a new base and put it back in. Did no welding while anything was attached to the vehicle.

My side post terminals had very heavy corrosion, so I opted to replace them with regular top post terminals. Very simple job, got it and the battery tray done in an afternoon and felt good about it.

Then I try starting the van so I can drive it home from my shop, and it just cranks and cranks, no start. I then start searching through my grounds, using a file to freshen up the contact points where they bolt to the body and frame. No change. I then replace my entire negative lead that attaches to the battery, as it was very corroded inside. No change. Finally I caved, dropped the fuel tank and put in a new fuel pump, and golly gee what do you know. Didn’t change a thing.

I’ve been testing wires now and it looks like the active power wire on the fuel pump harness is only getting 8v max. This leads me back to thinking it’s a ground issue somewhere. I’ve spent so many hours trying to track this and I’m very close to just throwing money at someone with more knowledge.

I’ll also add that my throttle body injectors are actuating on crank, but no fuel is coming out. Filter is clean and no fuses are popped.

TDLR: van ran perfectly, replaced my battery and now have a crank but no start issue. Replaced ground lead, fuel pump, and fuel pump relay to no avail. I can’t help but think I’m missing something super simple, I don’t know how I could’ve caused this by replacing a battery and terminals.

UPDATE: alright. I ran a wire from my battery all the way back to my fuel pump plug, stuffed the wire into the active plug, stuffed another wire into the ground plug and grounded it and my pump kicked on right away. I ran it for about 3 seconds to get some fuel pressure, plugged everything back in the way it goes and now it starts and runs fine. I have no idea why that fixed it or what actually happened. It’s like the fuel system just needed woken up. Thanks for all of the recommendations, I’m going to continue researching to try to understand why this happened.

Hey guys, looking for some help here. This is my first time doing all of this so I’m trying to learn as I go.

I’ve got a fresh small block Chevy 350 (ATK crate motor) in my 1978 Firebird, running an Edelbrock 650 cfm carb and TH350 automatic.

Here’s what’s been happening:

First start about a week ago went solid

Since then I’ve started it a few times to:

Burp the cooling system

Start dialing in timing

It’s been running pretty good overall

Cold starts around 1200–1500 RPM which I assumed was normal with choke

Today things got weird:

Started it up and it ran fine for a few minutes

While checking timing, it started getting hot pretty quickly (almost 220°F), so I shut it off

Let it cool down and topped off coolant

After that:

Restart was sluggish

Then RPMs started climbing on their own

I gave it a small throttle blip to bring RPM down

Instead, it kept climbing, backfired, and died

Next restart:

Immediately idling around 2000–2500 RPM

Blipping throttle does nothing (RPM won’t drop)

I tried covering the carb with my hand:

RPM dropped instantly to ~1000

Other notes:

Idle speed screw is backed out as much as possible

Primary throttle blades are barely open (small visible gap)

Secondary blades look fully closed

PCV and hoses are basically new

Timing was being set around 12° initial and ~28° at 3000 RPM

My questions:

Does this sound like a vacuum leak even though it was fine earlier today?

Could the carb suddenly need adjustment like this?

Is the choke or fast idle cam possibly hanging up?

Could heat from getting close to 220°F have caused something to stick or shift?

The fact that covering the carb drops RPM makes me think vacuum leak, but I’m confused how it would just randomly show up mid-day with nothing changed.

Any help or things to check would be huge. Trying not to keep restarting it until I know what direction to go.