Building a beast...doing a 391

[EvanZR1]

A few months ago I had a head gasket fail on my 91 Steel Blue that I bought end of last year update: turns out it was way worse.
At some point in its life a hose clamp had been dropped in the intake.
It apparently sat there for years and then one day, the wife says she hasn't ridden in my new Corvette. So I back it out of the garage (starts fine), she gets in and shuts the door and it suddenly stumbles and start running really rough (not that I'm saying this is all her fault ). So instead of just replacing the head gaskets, I decided I might as well have a 391 build with cams done by Pete.

I know, how the heck do I go from needing a head gasket to building a 391?!?! Well, it all starts with the little statement of "while you're in there...". I'd already been planning to have the top end ported, but since the heads were going to come of for gaskets, that turned into let's port those too. Which was quickly followed by: it's not that much more to build a 391. Which of course was followed by, let's talk about cams since the motor is already going to be out.

Pete will also be doing a little other work for me at the same time:
installing OBX long tubes, DRM coilovers and a few other little odds and ends. Should make for an absolute beast of a car once it's done!

[Demps]

Nicely done! You'll love it.

Balance ride height with clearance v stance & put urethane bushings on lower rear shocks (at a minimum).

Ted

[Flyman 27]

Sounds like a real Beast!
Can you keep us updated on progress and rough costs? I know that many of us would be interested.
Do you know what caused the head gasket problem?

[gtcollins@maxnet.co.nz]

Sounds like a cool plan

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Paul Workman]

Wuz hopin' to do that very thing last winter. BUT! Mr. tax man and a wedding teamed up to put it on hold for another season.

DO let us know how you like it!

[efnfast]

What does it take to turn a 350 into a 391?
What is the expected hp?

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by efnfast

What does it take to turn a 350 into a 391?
What is the expected hp?

Crank, rods and pistons

And lots of money 💰

[Karl]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Crank, rods and pistons

And lots of money 💰

Actually just new pistons and a newly sleeved block. Pete's 391 retains the factory rods and crankshaft.

I gotta get another Z soon!

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Karl

Actually just new pistons and a newly sleeved block. Pete's 391 retains the factory rods and crankshaft.

I gotta get another Z soon!

Cool that would save increased piston speed
Stroked engines have increased piston speed in the cylinders

[XfireZ51]

If u already have cams, ported top end and heads, Dr. Greekenstein’s big bore motor is a pretty budget minded way of giving ur LT5 a very healthy boost in hp and torque.