Chevy & GMC Vans

Yes, the Vortec heads are on the list of goodies to get!

The Diamond in the rough.

Shwing!

A bit of an update:
After getting the short block back from the machine shop, I added a few things.
1. Melling High Volume Oil pump
2. Melling steel oil pump drive shaft (without the plastic retainer)
3. New Oil pan from Jegs
4. One Piece Oil Pan gasket (from Napa)
5. Comp Cam and timing gear - Double roller and plenty of assembly lube One thing I did though was stand the engine block on end and dropped the cam in. Worked nice that way.
6. Timing Chain cover (after making sure my dots lined up!)
7. GM Vortec Heads Freshly reworked.
8. installed lifters and push rods (again with plenty of assembly lube) and set pre load.
9. Brand New Water Pump

With the help from the "How to Build a Short Block Chevy with accompanying DVD from Boxwrench.net, I've been able to follow along and go step by step.
Quite Honestly, I was a bit nervous about even attempting this as I've never done anything like this before. I've worked on Jet engines all my life and
Mechanicin' is Mechanicin' but none-the-less, I've never built a 350 before. So far, it's been freakishly easy....I often catch myself thinking "Damn, I must have missed something, cause it's just going to smoothly."

I've preview the next steps in the book, watch that particular section on the DVD then perform that task. Then go back to the book and review what I just assembled making sure I didn't miss anything...So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

One thing I forgot to add is what's next.

I removed the power steering gear box as it was toast. Once I install the new one will be able to turn my shorty around so it faces into the garage. I've got gravel on the outside and want to work on smooth concrete...

My next part is the Flexplate. Once that arrives, I will mate the tranny and engine and slide the two in together. I will put the manifold and headers on after because when I took out the old V6, I had no room to lift...the engine hoist kept hitting the top of the engine compartment...I figure I will have more room if I can get the arm of the hoist down into where the manifold is..I'll get pictures.

Stay tuned!!!

Looking good!

As you know, we can never seem to have enough money or time, but when both come along I can usually find a good reason to spend both on this thing. So here are a few pix.

So far on the Engine I've spent
1. Short Block -Pistons and Crank $700 (Bowtie Performance, Lake Taps WA)
2. Comp Cams 270H Cam Hydraulic lifters, Timing gears chain, and push rods $120
3. Flexplate from Jegs $90
4. GM Vortec Heads rebuilt $400. (Bowtie Performance, Lake Taps WA)
5. Melling Oil pump and new oil pan from Jegs $100
6. Alternator from Autozone $105.
7. Paint, gaskets, cleaner and a bunch of other crap. About 200 bucks.
What is that about 1600 so far...I'm replacing everything as I go.

So, not too bad...Of course, cool ain't cheap and if it were, everyone would be cool. But it's just not the way it is.

More Stuff...It's kinda like Christmas sometimes....

Im Jealously waiting for warmer weather, to give my project it's finishing touches!

shoot, it's 27 degrees and snowing here in Everett........Global warming my a$$

Dry fitting everything up one time before I make the big plunge and shove it all in...After placing my valve covers on and fitting up the Power steering pump and A/C pump, I found the Valve covers to be too Tall...Didn't event think of that....Anyone want to buy them?

Cleaned out the garage and pushed the van out in the driveway. Pulled off all the items on the engine that were temporarily attached and Mated it up to the 700R4. After twisting the torque converter on to the input shaft, it went together quite simple...no binds, no issues. Almost as if it was ment to be. Since my garage isnt' too big, the van will have to sit outside tonight and tomorrow the engine/tranny go in.

It's in! For the most part the install was straight forward. A couple of buddies and some beer and thats all it took. Once we got the assy inplace, I bolted up everything loosly for now. Attaching the headers went ok...Well, put it this way, it's a bitch!. The left ones went in from the bottom and the righ from the forward. Actually the right one was much easier to install. I can now realize how much room there is inside the engine compartment...NOT.

Attached the manifold and called it a night.

Nice.How come you had tall valve covers??.Did you need the clearance because of the valve train??.

Actually, I didn't realize there was a difference when I ordered them. When I put the Valve covers on, the a/c pump wouldn't line up into the bracket holes. I wouldn't be able to use my A/C as the a/c pump wouldn't fit on the bracket due to the height of the valve cover. So I re ordered the smaller ones.