What to do with a 4.1 NA?

[Kovmat]

Need some advice, I have a 1982 NA 4.1 in a 1952 Willys PU truck. I am sad to say that it has been sitting in my garage for 20 years collection dust. However, I am in the process of getting it going again and am not sure what to do with the Engine. It has a Holley 600, headers, Aluminum intake and moderate cam. The engine has only about 30K miles so I hate to throw it out to start over. I have read some posts about converting it to a turbo but that seems to be a very diffucult task especially since my setup would have to be customized to make it fit.

Would it be possible to get in the 300 HP range without Turbo charging or adding high compression pistons?

Also, I am in the Chicago area, can anyone reccomend a good engine guy in the area to help me with this project?

 

[willitell]

A more radical cam (not nescesserially an option... rough idle and driveability would become an issue), head porting (a good valve job, maybe bigger valves). Port match the intake to the heads. Electric Water pump might free up a couple of HP. Ignition stuff (MSD, advance weights, tune etc).

What type of aluminum intake is it? Offy, Holley, Edelbrock, Weiand? I've heard about Weiand improving HP, but I personally have an Edelbrock on my NA 3.8L.

There isn't much else, you've got all the biggies done, just "little stuff".
I'd be interested to find out how the motor does on the dyno when it's done.

 

[Kovmat]

Thanks, The intake is a Kenne Bell Number 1.

I forgot to mention it does have an Accel High voltage coil but that is the only ignition upgrade it has. I am not very familiar with Ignition options, I will have to do some research there.

I thought about getting the heads ported, how much should I expect to spend to get them ported and valve job?

 

[willitell]

The quote I got to rebuild my heads (3 angle and no porting) was $220 for the pair. Most machine shops (On Long Island) charge around $60-70/hr for labor. Maybe another member could chime in on what it cost them to hae the work done.

If it's not a compuer controlled (and i'm going to make the wild assumption that it isn't), an MSD-6 or exquivalent (MSD, Accel, Pertonix and summit make comprable boxes) would work. That's not really a 'required' mod to make power, but I'm of the school of thought that every little bit helps.

This link might help you, I know it's for a 3.8L, but it gives the basic rundown of what can be done to an NA buick V6.

Buick V6 motor