My 307 rebuild... yes a 307

[BMSJaX]

So I picked up a 307 outta a '69 c-10. It was stripped down when I got it and 90% of the parts came with it and all for $40! This block is not intended for any major HP so don't worry about cost vs a 350. The block just needs a hone and a clean up and fresh paint job. Heads will need to be rebuilt as the valve seals were leaking and the motor burnt oil bad. Here are some pics of the pistons that i've been cleaning up. They looked unusable at first but after letting them soak in degreaser for a while and a bead blast they look real good. The mold shop behind my work has a hot tank that they're gonna let me put them in to get the last of the glass bead/gunk out of them.

[Corts60]

Nice work! It's good to have something different!

[BMSJaX]

Having something other than a 350(which is already in the truck) doesn't bother me at all, but man some people get all upset when you rebuild something different! Something about cost effectiveness... 90% complete 307 for $40... or 350 bare block for $100(if your lucky)... hhmmm, I'm not great at math but.... hahahaha

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by BMSJaX

but man some people get all upset when you rebuild something different!

I never let people get upset regarding my truck work - if they're willing to pay for their ideas regarding my vehicles.

Mac.

[BMSJaX]

hahahaha, i'm gonna have to remember that one! very nice!

[protrash64]

Had one in a 69 Chevelle and thought it was a great engine....driving from AZ to IL it would get nearly 20mpg with a Holley and headers. One of the original factory 'stroker' motors.

[Chuck78]

The vortec combustion chamber design (shared with the LS1 and fastburn also I believe) is hands down proven to be the most efficient combustion chamber that GM has ever made on a V8, so I'm sure the vortec will get far better milege than the old 307 heads. I think I recall someone stating that they flow better at a street rpm range than the fabled camel hump/double hump heads, which have 2.02 intake valves even compared to the 1.94 vortecs, and they also get much better gas mileage than those.

With gas prices creeping back up, I am really wishing that I had kept that old 307 for such an occasion!

One side note, at the time I had it, I was considering doing an oddball 307 with a longer stroke and 5.7 rods, and I actually found an AMC piston that had a very similar bore and was the correct pin location and piston height to use a longer stroke sbc crank. You couldn't have bored the 307 out .020 or 030, it would have been like .033 or something close (would have been .020 or something for the AMC engine). I browsed a manufacturer's entire catalog of pistons to find that. I think it was a 6 cylinder. It would have worked out to about a 332 or 334 cid I think?