[brought_pain]

Originally Posted by CH6 Well I originally wanted to build a 331 but I only have about 4-5 grand to spend and it seems like it would cost me more than that

I feel like the mountain of dollars is casting a shadow over my build...its a sucky feeling...

I may be out of place here, but if Steveofire is willing, I say take him up on his offer. It's a serious P.I.T.A. handling everything alone.

If you can find somebody whose engine and junkyard savy to help you find, pull and install parts you can build some serious stuff for cheap.

[brought_pain]

The old explorer upper and iron gt40 heads would work. It would be cheap enough to let you save up for a more complete build up, offer enough power to be fun, and work within limits. Mild boost would not be too much for the block either. A tranny upgrade and you shouldnt have any trouble for a while.

[MakeFast]

Just a suggestion.

Instead of going with a vortech why dont you look into a kennebell 2.1L?

I think for your low hp motor, the positive displacement supercharger will give you alot more low end get up and go that most are looking for.

If you were to put a positive displacement blower on a high power motor you would never be able to achieve a succesful launch. BUT on a smaller not as powerful motor you may be able to appreciate the sensation of boost at all rpm.

The only problem with the positive displacement, making boost 100% of the time is managing the heat from both the blower and your motor...
If this is something your interested in I would suggest consulting with someone with experiance with p/d superchargers because I personally have never used one or set one up.

The K/B is a popular blower so I know many people have successfully performed this install so its nothing out of reach of out of mind.

As far as blocks go.. I agree with going with a 351W block.. but sometimes that is not always an option. As far as the 302 BLOCK goes I wouldnt put more then 450-500 HP to it. You could risk your whole build. Its all in the cast, every cast is different. Some people have put 500+ through these blocks, some people crack the blocks at 400hp. Its a roll of the dice. Stock 302 Internals, depending on the year I wouldnt run over 400hp with them. As for the 351W block a 800hp build is about as high as I personally would go.

Keeping in mind its not a direct bolt on procedure. Although the accessory brackets and transmission all bolt up.. There are a few other things you will need to perform this swap.

People have put K/B superchargers on stock blocks and rotating assemblys so I believe you should be safe as long as you dont push your luck with pulley sizes. Run too much boost and the block or rotating assembly could potentially let-go.

As far as head/cam selection goes its all about what you want to do with this motor. The power is generally made in your heads. With the right heads and cam PLUS boost you could crack that block without a doubt. You need to figure out how much power your looking to make. I find when building motors the best way to do it is figure out what you want as an end result and work your way backwards. That way you can make adjustments to somethings to obtain your goal. (Example: You want to run boost through your build, but want to run pump gas, therefore you will need to adjust your compression ratio and your boost through pulley sizes, piston heads and cylinderhead cc's to achieve that).

About your concern about spending 5-6grand. When you put a blower on you will be putting more air into your motor and you will be needing ALOT more fuel. The blower itsself could run you 4 grand bytime its all setup. You will also need to get tuned and all adjusted up. Are you running EFI or Carbed? Although the blower is under 4-5 grand it is pretty costily to get it all setup. Also the year of the vechicle makes a great impact on tuning. SN95 bodystyle... wont be very friendly in this situation.

Sorry for the longwinded speech there is just so much things to consider when engine building (It really keeps you up at night)