Of course, adapting an LS to your truck would be expensive and not part of your plan. That’s not what you asked, but that would be the easiest way to achieve 400 hp. Frankly, the easiest way to make 400 to 425 horsepower would be to buy a 5.3L truck engine and put on a carbureted intake manifold, a 750 cfm Holley carb, headers, and stick in a mild hydraulic roller like Summit’s Stage 2 truck cam with 218 degrees of duration. Jeff Smith: Before we get started, let’s just say that the terms “lots of horsepower” and “cheapest” are at opposing ends of the same discussion. I’d like to put this engine in a ’69 C-10 pickup to terrorize the streets. I really don’t know what it was originally in but I’m pretty sure it was a truck. How would I do that? I have a 350 Chevy truck engine short block with a one-piece rear main seal. I want to build the cheapest, least expensive small-block 350 Chevy that can make around 400 to 450 horsepower. Our total investment was a little more than half the cost of a set of aluminum aftermarket heads.
This is a set of Vortec heads we’ve modified by machining the guides, and adding bigger springs, a set of Summit stainless steel valves, and ARP screw-in studs.
