Ever since I was just a young laaitie it has always been a dream to build my own Chevy 350 V8 motor. It never really mattered which car it was going into, just having one would be enough. The sound and beat of a Chevy 350 V8 connects with me on some primal level and really has an indescribably profound effect on my psyche. At idle, it has a calming, soothing sound and the beat is realy relaxing, but as the rev's pick up it is like a torrent of adrenalin is rushing through my veins. There can be only one, no other V8 sounds like it, no other V8 has the same effect on me. This motor did duty in some legendary classics such as the Corvette Stingray and Camaro, two of the best looking and best performing muscle cars of their time. This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Even today it is still being used in many vehicles albeit in a modernised form. Because the 350 was so popular in the USA, "performance enhancing parts" are available off the shelf and are mostly bolt-on. This is also true for spare parts and even in SA terms they are dirt cheap when compared to the same stuff for some other engines.
One fine day about 6 months ago, I was spending some time with Allan at AEW and along came Leon Rooibakkie with his Chevy V8 Hilux and caught me unawares. They made me listen to it, and revved it just a little, and then switched it off. These guys were cruel, they knew exactly what they were doing, they fuelled my hunger and my addiction became an obsession. I started having dreams at night and they werent nightmares, they were sweet.
Shortly after that, Wynand, the owner of a local engineering firm with a passion for American muscle, arrived on the scene with his Chevy V8 Hilux, also revving it up a bit and adding fuel to the fire burning in my belly. Difference is, this guy came bearing gifts in the form of a recently overhauled Turbo400 Automatic gearbox mated to a Hilux 4x4 transfer case. Got me thinking this one did, and before long the 'box was mine. Safely stashed away in the bowels of the parts-bin at AEW until "one day when we get round to it".
Suddenly an urge took hold and the search was on for a LS1 motor. LS1 for several reasons, one of which is EFI. I was not going to settle for a 4 barrel Holley, as I know too many people had too many problems with Holleys and fuel starvation on steep inclines and angles, and they are horribly inefficient. Problem is that second hand LS1 motors are not that freely available on the open market in South Africa, and the guys who have them want exorbitant amounts of money to part with them. This is where the whole V8 dream sort of faded for a while. Not for long, mind, just a while. Surfing the internet kept me going for a while until one day when Allan sent me a link to the Edelbrock website. The clever dudes in white coats at Edelbrock developed an EFI intake manifold that bolts straight onto the old Gen I cast-iron small block Chevy 350 V8. A quick phone call or 2 to the right people and new doors opened up for me and the 350 V8. No need to go LS1, the older cast iron block V8 will do and it is much more readily available. The dreams came back. At about the same time an Oom with a Jeep Waggoneer built on a Land Cruiser chassis with a Chevy 327 V8 entertained us at Dirt & Dust. It was heavy seriously impressive.
Along came the silly season and everybody wanted to go on holiday. Back popped Wynand of the gearbox on the scene. He knew I had an itch that needed scratching and he had just the right thing for me to scratch it with. He knew somebody who needed some money to go on holiday, (the recession is a female dog), and who had something to trade, so one hand could wash the other. That something to trade turned out to be 1 x small block Chevy 350 V8 complete with steel small journal racing crank. There is minor cleaning up work to be done to the block, but I decided it was going to be stripped down and rebuild completely anyway, so that didnt matter really. Off to the engineering shop with the motor, they miked everything up and came back with a "BUY" recommendation. Christmas was early in 2009, I had my V8, and we stashed it together with the gearbox safely in a corner of the AEW workshop until the new year. I could not sleep at night, the dream is alive.
The first 2 weeks of 2010 dragged by slowly and all I could think of was the V8. This in a time when Ewald (V8 Interceptor) was showing off his 302 Ford V8 Interceptor and Henry (Animul) wanted to sell his Big Daddy with the supercharged Lexus V8. And then there was Jurgen (JVT172) with his EFI LS1 Chevy 350 V8. Jealousy ran hot in my veins, but then I also knew what I had and I have learnt a long time ago that patience is a virtue and that all good things come to those who wait. Besides, these guys were all way up North, so no chance of them popping by to stir up the emotions.
Along came the last week in January 2010. I sat Allan down for a serious chat and asked him to get some quotes and to get the block to the engineering shop to do the required machining and bore and polish the cylinders. The crank was already cleaned up and is ready for action and good for 8500 revs. Allan got his "war-chest" on Thursday last week so for the next week or so he will be chasing down spares and odds and sods so that we can start the rebuild process in all earnest. I aim to build the motor myself, with Allan guiding and advising me along the way.
I would like to end up with a completely overhauled, balanced, fuel injected, Chevy 350 V8 motor built and tuned specifically for maximum torque (and some sort of Fuel Management System of unknown origin, but so, Mr T(urbo) let's get one thing straight, I will not be Dicktat(or)ed to about what I can or cannot use, I dont give a Spit(tronics) so Go-Tec(kle) somebody else about that). Roddy will have to build one of his legendary custom cross-over V8 Lumina exhausts to let the gasses out the back, and to make sure nothing spoils the heavenly music of the V8 beat.
I dont have any output figures in mind at the moment, but I am sure the force is going to be strong in this one. We will take LOTS of pictures as we go along, plus I want to keep a detailed record of every cent I spend on the build, right from start to finish. Will it go into Kaspaas? This will be determined closer to the time of completion, which is only supposed to be in Q2 of 2010, but we all know how these things pan out, once you get going you cant stop. Chances are very good that this motor will end up in Kaspaas. Before that can happen there are also some other drive-train mods that will be required to handle the torque that the V8 will produce. But whether it goes into Kaspaas or not, this motor wont be sold, it will find a home in some sort of hot-rod, come what may......
