[mikentosh]

It came time to decide on an engine for this build. I've only done LS swaps in all previous Square builds so its comfortable territory. But for the resto-mod theme of this build I want to keep the engine compartment looking stock; also, this being a '77 in California, I do have to keep smog regulations in mind. I looked into backdating the LS motors (like a DelS3), and though they give a period vibe, it wasn't close enough for me.

So the decision came back to putting in a traditional gen 1 small block. This truck is going to be a cruiser so I'm not looking for a high horsepower performance setup, and since I'm using cast exhaust manifolds and a factory air intake for the look, I won't be able to support that anyway.

So I settled on a GM Performance Parts "Fast Burn 385" (now called the much more boring SP350/385). This uses the vortec-style aluminum fast burn heads, and is a fresh 4 bolt main block. I had considered a ZZ6, but I'm dumping the intake and valve covers, so it wasn't worth the extra cost to me.