What is there to expect out of a 350 small block? I have heard off 40 hp and 425 ft lbs with a Holley 600 cfm carb, Edelbrock Performer Intake, 30 over and generic rv cam . . . I thought these numbers where over done . . .

What type of numbers ( hp / ft lbs ) did a stock 350 V8 come with in '73?

I hope there is more response here then Car Craft.

Cheers Mack - PISTONS CAR CLUB - Vancouver, Canada

Well, your not exactly telling the whole story. The term "RV Cam" is about worthless, it gives no info on actually what the specs of the camshaft are. Making 400 peak Hp is pretty possible with a good quality dual plane intake but a 600 CFM Holley is pushing it, naturally aspirated anyway. Don't get me wrong though a 350 Chevy has a lot of potential, search CC, CHP, and Hot Rod's websites and you will find many, many 350 builds in all shapes and sizes, you might just find whatever it is you are looking for.

with a 750 an airgap intake 10:1 compression, a healthy cam, and some good heads like some vortecs or some quality aluminum heads should get the job done.

I highly recommend you get a copy of David Vizard's book "How to Build Max Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget", this is an excellent read and will not only answer many questions but he puts the information into perspective so you can see the changes that compression, carb size, cam timing, and displacement changes have on power and reliability.

Another good read and you can get to some of it from here from here is

"Small Block Chevy Engine Build-UPs, How to Build Horsepower for Maximum Street and Racing Performance" by Chevy High Performance Magazine. The following URLs take you to step by step hop up on that book of moving a Mr. Goodwrench 350 from 195 hp to over 400.

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46320/index.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46326/index.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46359/index.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46364/index.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46370/index.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46438/index.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46461/index.html

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/46467/index.html

400 hp and 435 ft pounds is not going to happen with just a 600 cfm Holley and whats usually referred to as an RV cam. An oh thirty overbore is insignificant both to displacement and toward any compression increase. The Performer intake is a step in the right direction. With a 600 cfm carb and the typical RV cam about 195-200 degrees duration and about .4 inch lift, but without a head change to improve breathing and compression, such an engine might make 250 hp. Add a  set of tight chamber heads like earlier camel humps or later L-98s or Vortecs, the power will come up to around 300 ponies. To get beyond that takes some real serious cam timing and lift, a bigger carb 700/750, better piston shape to get rid of the full circle dish that has no resistance to detonation, headers, etc.

The 73 is a year or two into smog engines and shows the hit of insurance costs and the oil imbargo, there are  couple types of 350 built for 73 that range from 145 to 200 horsepower. To get anything out of these engines the heads, cam, carb, and pistons need to go.

Bogie