Looking for tips / recommendations on 350 build.

[King951]

Hey there,

I currently own a 1971 C20. It is my daily driver / work horse truck. It currently has what I believe is an all stock 307 with an unknown amount of miles on it. Rite now the truck is running fairly good. I am looking to get a 350 block, put it on my engine stand, and build it over a long period of time while still using my current engine in the mean time. I am not looking for high performance, just a nice reliable rebuilt 350 that would make a great work truck. The current 307 has a fair amount of torque, but nothing to brag about. It has a 2bbl rochester carb, stock heads, stock exhaust manifolds, etc. I have build a few old Ford engines in the past, but this will be my first SBC. My main questions are regarding what block / heads should I look for? What vehicle(s) has the ideal 350 block / heads if any for rebuild purposes? (Assuming there are differences in 350 blocks.) As you can tell my knowledge of the SBC is very little. I would like to take my time with this build, gather as much knowledge as possible, and at the end have a nice reliable engine to drop in my work truck.

I may be considering putting a TH350 or TH400 behind the engine. I currently have a 3 on the column, and as much as I love it, it has given me nothing but issues. (Mainly linkage problems, etc.) Plus, manual transmissions can get old pretty quick in SoCal traffic.

Like I mentioned, I am not looking for something high performance, but at the same time I am not against standard modifications such as 4bbl, possibly headers / aluminum intake / etc. assuming it is within reason. Something that I can load with flooring and pull my trailer comfortably.

I am not looking to go a fuel injection route.

Any information or points in the rite direction are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.