Rex 360

Hey everyone, my name's Pete and I'm 22 years old(I'll be 23 in November.) I've been into old muscle cars for as long as I can remember. But as my title says, "Absolute Noob!" I know NOTHING about cars. But I've been wanting to learn more about them. For the past few months I've been wanting to rebuild an engine with my older brother. We have a 1976 Tioga RV sitting in our backyard, my brother gave me the brilliant idea to pull the engine out and rebuild it(still in the process of taking it out).

Inside the RV is a 360. I decided to join this forum to learn more about cars, and hopefully get a few pointers for my engine project.

67 GTX

welcome to the forum

what help do you need?

OutlawCuda

You picked a great place to share and find info that will help you with your learning curve. Most of us still learn something every time we read an artical. I have a service manual that should cover most of the specs . If you get to the point where you can't find something just ask.

OutlawCuda

78D200

Welcome.

The second best way to learn is to get a few books. The first is here.

Rex 360

Thank you, thank you everyone.

I'm glad to be here!

My brother came over this past Saturday and we continued getting pieces outta the way to pull it out. He knows what he's doing, he used to have a 71 Chevelle that he used to work on all the time.

I actually have a book that I borrowed from the library and I've been reading that off and on.

The help that I'll need is what I should do first, my brother told me I could do a number of things to the engine. But I forgot what he said, haha.

Again thank you everyone!

78D200

it all depends what you arre comfortable tackling first.

Rex 360

Well see that's the thing, I'm not even sure.

I've been looking up to my bro during this whole process. And like I said, he said I could do a number of things. I'm not sure how mechanic savvy he is, but he's been working on cars(off and on)since he was 16 and he's 35 now. And as you know I don't know too much about cars. Sure I could ask him what we should do first but I'd like the opinions of others.

Right now I'm more concerned with what would be easier for me to start with. I don't wanna be the person who's gonna be kicking back watching my bro do all the work. We both agreed to work on this together, plus I wanna learn all that I can from this.

I'm really trying to be as clear as I can so I'll list the things I wanna do.

I want a manual 5 speed tranny with a short shifter.
(Don't even know what kind of tranny or short shifter I'll need for the 360.)

Put some awesome, nice, clean headers.

Yes, I wanna supercharge it too!

I'll need to get a engine rebuild kit, right? See....I don't even know what kind I should, or need to get.

And I'm not 100% on what boarding out an engine is/does either.... =/

craveman

personally i would stay away from the supercharger for a little while. just build it up first without it and eventually if you decide you do want it then rebuild it again. im not saying it cant be done but thats a lot of money into a first engine build if something goes wrong which seems to happen on the first engine build. luckily i just broke a couple of pushrods. i would say that you should get a rebuild kit from summit ($150-$300). it will have all of the parts necessary to rebuild the motor. if you want better performance then for now i would go with a different cam ($75-250), better valve springs (over $100), maybe some better heads ($100-crapload$), a 4bbl carb ($300) and an intake (175-300) to match. then you may also need the engine work which will vary place to place. if you get into the supercharger you are probably going to need a forged crank, pistons, better connecting rods, top of the line bearings, arp head studs, the supercharger itself, special pistons, a different cam, do some ignition work, get a more expensive carb.... then comes in the tranny and rear end and if they will need to be modified to handle the extra power. good luck with it though.

Rex 360

I writing this down!

You're right about the supercharger though, it'd be nice to have now but even I wanna wait on that. Heh....I don't even have a car to put the engine in yet....

What kind of Tranny and Short Shifter should I get?

And as for the Engine Rebuild kit is there any specific/special kind I should get?

But thank you very much Craveman!

Now time to do some research!

scotts74birds

Do your homework, the Tioga tranny may be a heavy-duty unit to begin with, Score!

Red Devil

welcome aboard.
yeah it depends on what vehicle your going to put the engine in. that will be a better indicator of what tranny you want. Also I think it would depend on what kind of numbers the engine is making once it is built. These guys have all given good advice so far. Take it slow, do your research, don't bite off more than you can chew, ask lots of questions, and find a good teacher, but it sounds like your brother can help you there. good luck and keep us updated

crmzendrgone

welcome to the show, pull up a chair put your feet up and enjoy the ride! Wooo Whoo another Zony!!!! And his was born in a good month!!!!

Rex 360

Well I'm thinking about putting it in a Dart, Demon, or maybe even a Challenger.

lol, and umm....what exactly is a Zony?

Red Devil

deffinitley put it in a demon just don't take a #s matching Demon and ruin it.
I would guess a Zony is someone from Arizona? I live in Wisconsin but my family is from Scottsdale and I'm pretty sure I've heard that term before

Rex 360

Oh wow, I can't believe I didn't think of that before, lol.

But yeah, even if I do find a numbers matching anything I wouldn't want to ruin it. Haha.

crmzendrgone

Yes yes I may have misspelled it but those from AriZONa would know, I would think. Maybe the age has to do with it, to young to be ZONED out. Stop I kill myself.
Hey if you ever need a third pair of hands under the hood I know where some are if I could just get them, . . hold on. . . get them out of my pockets.

Rex 360

Haha, yeah that'd be pretty dang awesome considering I'm just learning. I'm actually thinking about going to Evit for Auto. I heard some good things about them.

But yeah, never hurts to have another helper around.

crmzendrgone

Yah evit is a really good school, but isn't a high school?

Rex 360

It is a high school, but they also have classes for "paying adults". But that's if there are spaces available.

When I was taking an engine diagnostic class at MCC a bunch of people there in my class wore those evit work shorts. Meh....I dropped all my classes at MMC... I should've at least stayed in that class.... =/ I regret that now.

crmzendrgone

Can't learn if ain't form your mistakes. I always like learning hands on myself, kinda sinks in a little more that way.

BuckNeccid

Another thing that helps, and holds interest too... Hot rod magazines. Nice pictures, and every issue has some sort of How To article. Look at the pics, and be sure to read the articles. Every now and then they run a series of issues that show an engine build up or tranny re-do, or even a full refurbishment of a car.

Hit flea markets and other places like that, and you can find piles of them, and maybe buy a few dozen for cheap. It gives you ideas while you build. Most of it is aimed at someone who has a little knowledge, but the pics along with the article will help you figure out what they are saying before you know it. It's a cheap education, and you really don't even realize you're being educated.

I know, I know, some of them are Chevy only, Ford only, Mopar only, and even (ugh) tuners... but the basics of mechanicals are the same, and ideas are ideas. Find one you like, and make it your own.

Rex 360

Well my brother is a big GM fan, he gave me a ton of old "Chevy High Performance" magazines. I wasn't going to read them seeing how they're Chevy mags.... But I didn't even think of that! Thanks! Maybe I'll have to bust all those out and start studying, haha.

Hahaha! I lold at that!

Rex 360

Yeah that's true, 'sides I have a bunch of good teachers(you guys and my bro )to help me with anything I'll need! And I appreciate it a lot! You don't even know! =P