GM Performance Parts 350 HO Crate Engine

After 2 years with my old trusty L03, I thought it was time for a little more power.  At first I wanted to get the old 305 rebuilt...get it re-bored, nice valve job, bigger cam, etc.  I figured I would try to prove everyone wrong that thought that the 305 was just a boat anchor.  And, even more importantly, I wanted to show that the L03 could hold it's own out there in the streets.  Who says a 305 TBI motor can't run with the big boys???  I think that it definitely can, especially when you get rid of the peanut cam and restrictive exhaust.  If my motor didn't have 115k miles on it, it would have been a different story.  But, it did, so I decided I wanted a new engine.  A new 305 and a new 350 were about the same price, so I had some questions to ask myself about where I wanted to go with the car..and, this is what I found out:

I wanted a 350.  After a lot of hours looking in the internet and through catalogs and magazines, I knew that I wanted to stay with the idea of getting a 350.  Although I didn't stay with the original L03, I did however stick with Throttle Body Injection.  A lot of people ask why, and I ask, why not?

At first I was going to get a GM Goodwrench 350 replacement motor, and put my TBI system on that.  I was looking at the basic 350 "target" motors, which would have been a little cheaper than a crate engine, but also not as powerful.

Then, I thought about it and came up with a better idea.  Why not get GM Performance Part's  350 HO crate engine?  I thought about it for a little while, and after a few long weeks of weighing the options, I came up with the combo you see here.

I opted to keep the TBI because I really don't think it's a bad system.  So, I got the Holley 670 CFM throttle body.  The original intake I chose was the Edelbrock Performer Vortec.  I didn't have much of a choice at the time, because the Vortec heads were relatively new and there weren't too many intakes out yet.  Now there are a lot more available.  I figured while I was doing that, I might as well update a few other things, so at the same time I threw on some Edelbrock TES headers, and an Edelbrock Victor Series aluminum water pump.  I also got a new GM harmonic balancer, a new MSD Blaster GM HEI ignition coil, and all new sensors (oil pressure, water temperature, fan switch, knock sensor, O₂ sensor).  The flex plate was reused, and so were all accessories and accessory brackets at first.

When I put in the engine, I made a few changes.  Some I had to make, other I chose to make.  Since the Performer Vortec intake didn't have a provision for EGR, I couldn't put it back in.  I didn't want to anyways, so this worked out well.  I also removed all of my A.I.R. system.  I capped the A.I.R. tubes on the headers with  brass pipe caps.  Since then though, I have switched to SLP stainless headers that are bigger (1 3/4" compared to 1 5/8" primaries)., and they don't have the A.I.R. tubes, so I didn't have to worry about the caps.

Here is a good shot of the SLP headers.  No A.I.R. tubes looks a lot better!

The new throttle body doesn't have the same exact throttle mounting as the stock throttle body, and the cruise control wouldn't go back on.  I could have (probably) pretty easily got it to work, but I just ripped it out.  I didn't really use it anyways.  Just one less thing under the hood to look bad and take up room.

I had a few problems with the original intake.  It had pretty much TOTALLY different mounting locations for the components that go on it, so I had to do some screwing around to get everything on it right.  The ignition coil mounting holes were too close together, so I had to modify the coil "mounts".  The coolant temperature sensor didn't end up going in the same place, so I sorta just screwed it into another hole.  It works, so I got lucky.  I wasn't sure if the coolant was going to be able to get to it where it was.  The brake booster line went in ok, but not in the original place it did on the old intake.  The main problem I ran into was mounting the throttle bracket.  On the old engine, the rear intake bolt on the driver's side held it in place (I think it was the rear...maybe it was the 2nd from rear?).  On Vortec heads the bolt pattern is different, so that didn't work.  I ended up using one of the coil bolts, and I had to modify the bracket to fit.  The other end isn't bolted to anything, which I thought was going to end up being a problem, but hasn't been.  I also took a piece of galvanized sheet metal and made my own support for the throttle bracket that bolted onto the TBI spacer and the bracket itself.  The final problem I ran into was the locations of the fuel lines.  I had to bend them a few times to get them to reach the new throttle body, but they were ok after that.

After I stuck with that setup for about a year and a half, I redid a few things.  Now I am using an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap intake.  The throttle bracket is working out a lot better now, and I don't have the fuel line problem any more, because now I have braided fuel line.

The new fuel lines.

Throttle Bracket.