Wow, I love your question. How do I get the most smiles for 1500 bucks.
This is what I would do. Disassemble the engine. Everything. Check the main bearing surfaces. Are they all copper? Hopefully yes. New main bearings are lead on the outside, copper on the inside, and have a steel support base. If you see a bunch of steel, the crank may need to be turned. If the bearings are all copper just chamfer the oil holes and you should be good to go.
Disassemble the heads, everything and have them hot soaked. If this is an engine you do not know about have the heads checked by a shop for cracks. Now buy a head porting kit. Should run about 50-150 dollars. You can use an electric drill to run the cutters and sand rolls. I use air and a dye grinder.
Buy a set of World Product Cast Iron Victor JR Heads. Purchase a used high rise dual plane intake and the biggest exhaust headers you can find that work with your ground clearance. Keep the primary tubes around 1 5/8 for a street engine and 1.75 or larger for a bracket racer.
Buy ported sized gaskets that work with the intake and exhaust manifold you are using. Mark the opening you need to reach. Cut the ports and blend them back about 1 inch. THAT IS ALL. It will get you at least 15 horsepower and as much as 35. We call this gasket porting.
Use the sand rolls and smooth off any casting flash from the valve pockets and runners. I like to sand the combustion chamber completely smooth and round off any edges in the combustion chamber to eliminate hot spots when running pump gas. DO THIS IT HELPS.
Buy a matching cam kit with springs. I would shoot for about 275 advertised duration and about .480 lift. I like to use a short duration high lift cam. I like 260 to 270 duration at 540 lift. This makes the engine think it is running 11.5 compression and this is why my engines are so much fun to drive. They rev like a rice burner and power up like a 428 cobra jet. You can have your cake and eat it too. If you run over 500 lift PLEASE CHECK HEAD TO VALVE CLEARANCE or you may detonate the engine. You must have at least .08 clearance, and I like to have .10 to .12 for a street engine.
By the way PAW and some other shops can sell you a rebuild kit that has reconditioned cranks, rods, pistons, and everything you need to go, including the heads and cam kits. This may be the least expensive way for you to build.
I like dual plane intakes. Buy one off e-bay. Try to find a high rise if possible. Email me at
jim_howard_pdx@yahoo.com and I will explain how to modify it if you are interested. I gasket port the intake as well and smooth it back as far as my porting tools allow me. I do not polish any part of the intake, in fact I like to leave them rough so they will not pool liquid fuel which will sheet away at higher RPM and leave some cylinders lean and others rich.
Go for a good ignition. Use a distributor from a 79 or newer 302. This will have the magnetic trigger. Use an MSD 6A or Crane HI-6 box and appropriate coil. Use NGK plugs, I like their racing plugs if available for your application. YOU MUST USE A spiral type ignition wire with the multiple spark ignitions. I use the durospark cap, rotor and base. This is 50 bucks well spent.
I spend alot of time modifying carbs. Email me for some tips. I do not like any stock carb. They are useless gas and power wasters. I do like Barry Grant stuff, but you have to be running over 350 hp to need one. I buy Holley 750's on the ebay for 20-50 dollars and modify them. I end up spending about 100 to 150 dollars to set one up, but they will get great mileage, atomize fuel efficiently, and give you AWESOME power. You can do this yourself. I can tell you how.
I like people's advice for using a 2.5 inch exhaust system. A 2.25 would be better under 350 hp. I run a 2.5 at 400 hp. I would need a 3" at about 500 HP. A 2.5 might kill your low end torque. Force the shop to do a crossover tube behind your transmission crossmember. This is good for a free 6 HP and it helps reduce noise.
If running a manual transmission go for a 3.5 or 3.7 gear ratio. If an automatic you will be happy with a 3.25 like mine. You can run 3.5 but the RPMS are high at 80-90 mph on the freeway. The 3.25 is a good balance.
On a strip car run 4.30 to 4.57 gears and a good posi. You need a corresponding clutch or torque converter.
Put some money into good brake pads or shoes. I like Praise Dyno stage one pads. I pay 220.00 for all 4 pads. They are carbon kevlar with brass. Very little rotor wear and they do not fade. I quarter mile at over 100 MPH and have no problem stopping.
Hope this helps.