1971 Skylark

I have a 1971 Skylark Custom dual ext, 350 4 brl coup.Engine runs great 68,000 mi.Can I get much more horsrpower by putting 3 inch pipes,alum intake,maybe bigger cam. Is it worth it? I dont want to win races just a little more kick.I just dont know much about engines.

Thanks

Welcome to AF. Most major cam companies can provide a slightly more aggressive cam, I'd stay with the Q Jet 4bbl, a dual plane aluminum manifold is ok, 3" exh. is too large, maybe 2 1/2. If the engine is untouched I would do a valve job with hardened seats to restore some of the original power and be able to use unleaded, of course this assumes the short block is good. Do a cylinder leak down test to check the rings.

3" exhaust is too much, go with a 2.5" mandrel bent system, with good performance mufflers. Aluminum intake is not much better than the stock 4bbl intake, unless you are upgrading a lot of other areas, such as cam and headers, though it does give good weight savings. The stock 350-4 intake works pretty well. The leading vendors for the 350 Buick are www.taperformance.com (http://www.taperformance.com) and www.postonbuick.com (http://www.postonbuick.com)

Head porting is probably the best bang for the buck upgrade, but is not cheap. There's a TON of knowledge on these engines on v8buick.com