Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Need some help with a 250 project.

I've been piecing together a 250 I got out of a 71 nova, the engine was free so the price was right!

Supposedly had less then 50K on it and I am inclined to believe it, the cylinders still had some cross hatching left on them!

So far I've done a new head gasket set to make sure it's running after I tore the head off to inspect the cylinders. I plan on doing front and rear main seals as well as the timing and oil pan gaskets. Once I have it cleaned and re-gasketed I'll do the spray can engine paint just to get a uniform color on this thing.

This engine is totally stock with all original parts but I am missing several odds and ends and am looking for tips on a few things. Eventually I'll be dropping this motor in my 81 Monte Carlo which should be interesting considering the only G body cars to get an inline 6 were in Mexico and Brazil. My first question is what is the best way to setup the throttle cable? the engine didn't come with any kind of throttle linkage for the carb and I need to find the most efficient way of setting up a throttle cable. Secondly I plan on putting a T-5 transmission in out of a 85 Camaro, I know the bellhousing will physically bolt up but what should I use for a flywheel, clutch, pressure plate? I plan on using a hydraulic throw-out bearing along with a master cylinder so I will have more freedom in routing linkages and a better pedal feel.

And also I won't have the cash to upgrade the intake or exhaust manifolds for quite sometime so what are some decent upgrades? Is a carb from a 80's 292 a good upgrade? I like that these carbs have electric chokes and such but will there be any performance or mileage difference over the original 71 Mono-jet? Would I gain any benefit by trying to port out the exhaust manifold or using a flat flange and gasket instead of the donut gasket in the manifold? Seems to me I could use a slightly larger downpipe and not have the restriction of the donut gasket and flange on the inside of the manifold.

Eventually when money permits I want to rebuild this engine a little hotter, I saved aside a set of 8 .030 over 307 pistons so those will go in to boost compression. I will have 1.84" intake valves installed and 1.6" exhaust valves when I get the valve job done. I will also replace the cam, what would be a good lift and duration for my setup here? I want something that is torquey from idle to no more then 4500 RPM. Should I deck the head or block at all or just enough to true up the mating surfaces?

I've built up a few SBC's, V6 and small block Buicks before so I am not a stranger to any of this other then the fact I have never done any kind of performance mods to a 250-6

Thanks any help would be really appreciated!

Jason

Are you sure you want to put this engine in a 1981 vehicle,,,,,don't you need to smog it then?

If you do,,,,it will have to pass for 1981 emmisions I believe????


MBHD

In Massachusetts we've actually done away with the sniffer test on anything older then a OBDII vehicle (96 and up) so in order to pass on a older car like mine I will just have to pass a visual inspection, that means I will have to suck it up and throw a cat-con on the car. Right now the car is set up or 2.5" duals for the SBC that was in it before so it would be very easy for me to tie the 6's downpipe into the existing driverside exhaust pipe that still has an intact cat-con on it.

Had a thought, I have several throttle cable brackets from V8-6's sitting around, I could technically modify and weld one to the valve cover to use for the throttle setup? maybe get a long 36" Lokar universal cable so that I could give the cable a large enough radius not to bind.

Just throwing some thoughts around like I said any help I can get would be really helpful for me, I have always liked inline 6's so I definitely want to see this project through.