350 small block conversion

[Butters89VN]

I was wondering if anyone knew how much it would cost (i know it will be alot) to install a 350 small block engine with a 700r4 tranny and a ratchet style shifter.
I also plan on replacing everything in the engine bay to newer parts and the exhaust.
Also id like to know what parts would be easier to do myself rather than pay thousands for labor


EDIT: Im pretty sure VNs have a 700r4 tranny if anyone can confirm?

 

[EYY]

Buy a 304.

Stroke it, put a good intake and exhaust on it, a suitable cam, get it tuned and live happily ever after. That way you wouldn't need to get it engineered.

 

[Butters89VN]

Im only 19 at the moment so basically i have about 4 years until i can legally drive it, and i dont know a lot about engines and what not. So on that could you give me the pros and cons of the two? dont include cost because thats not a factor

 

[EYY]

Firstly, you're 19 and you'll easily chew through $10,000 just to get it running which is a lot of money at that time of your life (that you'll never recover, even if you sell the car)

It's not quite as simple as bolting things together and hoping that it'll all work and it will produce xxx kw. But if you take your time with it and make sure you do everything properly it'll be worth it in the end.

A 355 will be much easier since you can get heaps of decent off the shelf parts to suit the holden such as extractors/exhausts, manifolds etc. you won't need to worry about fabricating engine mounts and making everything fit like you would with the 350 chev.

Plus, engineering costs a small fortune.

There's plenty of info if you do a search in the bar in the top right corner of this page.
Here's one of the first results I got by typing in "355 stroker build" with some great info:

http://forums.justcommodores.com.au...-1985/230694-355-stroker-kit-where-start.html

If you're going to modify something enough that it needs engineering, make sure you do it properly (this thing's insane ): http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/vr-vs/215828-vr-senator-lsx454.html

 

[Butters89VN]

Trust me when i say ill never sell the VN. Theres just something about it.
Ill have a look into the 355, thanks man

And yes that VR was the amazing haha

 

[someguy360]

Just to clarify we are talking about the old 350 SBC (60's to 80's era) or are we talking about an LS1 from a later model commodore?

Lots of people call the LS1 a 350 chev.

If you are thinking of an LS1 conversion thats a little more sensible it can be done for a reasonable price and be legal.


If you are thinking an old 350 SBC into a VN I wouldn't bother you will pay thousands in labour to get it all to fit and work then thousands more to get it engineered and even then its more than likely not going to happen because legally you can't fit an older engine into a car it has to be an engine that was available in that car or newer, you are also going to need to irreversibly hack parts of the car up to fit which means when you get defected the car is essentially a write off and the car is scrap.

304/355 is your best option.

350 Chev's are slugs of an engine in comparison to an LS1, not worth the thousands and thousands of $$ to get it all to work.

 

[Butters89VN]

Yes we were talking about the old ones, now im going to have to research more lol had no idea they were illegal

 

[Circlotron]

Just get yourself an old bus with a 304 already fitted. Then you know everything is right there ready to start fiddling with and you won't need to spend half your life and all your money chasing down all these expensive little doodads. e.g. just a custom sump will probably cost half of what you would pay for a complete (unregistered) V8 car.

Never sell the VN huh? I got my first V8 (Pontiac) when I was 20 and just one week after I got the car I met a girl just so lovely I married her Suddenly the car was not nearly as exciting as it was the week before. A lot can happen at that age and I hear that there is nothing new under the sun. Yeah, yeah, about forty years on and I'm driving another V8 now for the last 3 years but whoop-de-doo. You have to tell yourself that once you get used to it things are exactly the same as before you got the car or whatever. Only you are probably a lot poorer.

/philosophical rant over.

 

[hi_ryder]

Just get yourself an old bus with a 304 already fitted. Then you know everything is right there ready to start fiddling with and you won't need to spend half your life and all your money chasing down all these expensive little doodads. e.g. just a custom sump will probably cost half of what you would pay for a complete (unregistered) V8 car.

Never sell the VN huh? I got my first V8 (Pontiac) when I was 20 and just one week after I got the car I met a girl just so lovely I married her Suddenly the car was not nearly as exciting as it was the week before. A lot can happen at that age and I hear that there is nothing new under the sun. Yeah, yeah, about forty years on and I'm driving another V8 now for the last 3 years but whoop-de-doo. You have to tell yourself that once you get used to it things are exactly the same as before you got the car or whatever. Only you are probably a lot poorer.

/philosophical rant over.

wait what? you married a girl you only knew for a week? she must be able to suck the chrome off a trailer hitch....

 

[Butters89VN]

Im probably going to do the ls1 conversion its alot easier/cheaper