The "Other" 350s can be fun too....

Everyone wants the big-block musclecars, but they can be pricey. The fact is if your looking for a GM musclecar that isn't a Chevy-there are a lot of LeMans, Firebird,Ventura, Cutlass, Omega, and Century and Regals out there with 350 cubes under the hood. If you have or can buy one cheap, you don't have to immediately start looking for a 400-425-428-430-455 BOP big block. The 350s can be made to run pretty damn good.  #1. The best of the "other" ( non-Chevrolet ) 350s is the Olds version, for three reasons: they are an oversquare-large bore / small stroke design, the bottom-ends are bulletproof-they converted some to diesel in the late 70's-if they can hold together with 22.5:1 compression required to fire diesel fuel-they can take anything you can throw at it. And third-there was a factory high-performance version-the famous "W31".  Edelbrock claims 397 hp and 400 lbs ft of torque from their "Performer RPM" package. Magazine writers spout numbers flippantly-but 400 honest hp will make any street car a rocket. And-anything that fits a 350 will fit a 403-if your car has a tired 330 or 350 that needs to be pulled and rebuilt anyway-53-73 extra cubes will definitely give you a nice power and torque boost.  # 2. 350 Pontiac. The design that gives them such massive low-end torque is also why they can't make really big power. They are a small-bore / long stroke design. A 400 uses the same stroke. The small bore limits them because the big-port,big-valve heads used on the 400-421-428-455 engines that you need for really big power can't be used-the valves will hit the block. People talk about clearancing the block to use the big heads, but why? Pontiacs are externally identical from a 326-455-so if you have that much money and need that much power-just swap in a 400 or 455. That aside-they do respond well to basic hot rod tricks-headers and dual-exhausts, 4bbl carb and intake, mild cam upgrades. Your just accentuating what Pontiac did stock-make big torque at low rpm. I wouldn't rev one over 5,500. You can make 325-350 hp and 400 lbs of torque pretty easy and still have a good idle and street manners, and people will THINK you swapped in a big block. If you need more power than that, you'll need a 400 or 455.  # 3. 350 Buick. These were used in a lot of cars from 1968-77. The upside is they make a lot more power and torque than the obsolete 300-327-340 engines they replaced. The downside is unlike their Chevy, Olds, and Pontiac cousins-there was never a factory high-performance version, and there isn't much aftermarket support. Edelbrock doesn't even make a manifold for them-and Edelbrock makes manifolds for just about everything from flathead Fords, to AMC's, Cadillacs, even Hondas and Toyotas. There is a company called T/A perfromance that sells intakes, cams, headers etc for 350 Buicks so that's one way to go. If you need really big power-then I'd suggest swapping in a 400-430-455. Edelbrock does make heads and intakes for these, and Crane and Comp Cams and others make cams and valvetrain components for them. Anyhow-you be surprised how well these non-Chcvy small-blocks can run with a little tweaking, and very little dollar investment.  Mastermind