[Guest]

Short of an LT1 or LS1, what would be a good motor swap for a 1985 non-TPI 5.0 Trans Am? Something with at least 350 ponies stock... I'm mostly a tuner guy, but I bought this car as a project to get into the world of "real" cars and "real" power.

 

[Guest]

start out with a good 350 in it those engines have a lot of room in them for improvement there will be no modifications to do on it if you stay with a small block,and the 350 has good potential,you can literally build it to get more than 600 horse power real easy,and their a lot cheaper to build than any other engine also,good luck with it.

 

[Guest]

if you are on a budget, try going with a 350 roller engine, vortec heads and have it worked to accept a high lift cam (do a search on vortec heads.) As far a a cam, an lt4-hot cam or something in the same range of lift would do just fine, roller rockers and maybe an edelbrock air gap manifold. That should get you up in the 350 range. May need to work on your fuel and air.