Need Engine Advice...

[tuekwik]

Built a short block rebuild on a 350 bored .030 over. I need some advice on a cam, intake, carb and dist. combo. Going on a front engine mounted play truggy bolted onto a TH400. One other thing, my fuel cell is in the back, will the mechanical fuel pump be enough to deliver the fuel to the carb or will I also need to install an electric fuel pump? Any input would be great. Thanks.:cool:

[ntsqd]

Well, my '79 carb'd w/ a mech pump Suburban of 129" WB didn't have any trouble drawing fuel from the rear mounted tank up to the engine. Mech pumps are far better at suction than electric pumps.

Were I building an engine for such an application I'd be looking at one of the simple EFI systems. Denied that, I'd use a Q-Jet. Preferably one built by a carb shop with off road history.

Intake, cam, comp ratio, & heads are all inter-related. Can not just choose them randomly and expect to have a good combo. If you don't have servicable heads already, I'd suggest looking at one of the combos offered by Edelbrock & others. At least there you'll get a combo that will give known performance.

[amr126]

It really depends on how much power you want to make/ how much money you want to spend. I looked on summitracing.com and they have a really nice kit offered by edelbrock, Trick Flow, Brodix, and Dart that would really produce a reliable proven engine combo. And considering that they're under $2,000, it wouldn't be too expensive. I've had good luck with edelbrock carbs. Just make sure you get something with vacuum secondaries, or else your heavier vehicle won't be so happy. A 650-700 cfm carb would work perfect with their combos. Most vehicles come stock with the fuel tank in the rear, so the original design of the mech pumps were for longer distance fuel lines and don't any trouble with a long distance fuel pull.