1979 350 Corvette Engine Explaination

[sa-camaross]

I like the 1979ish body style corvettes and i had a few questions about them. Why did they only come with around 200 hp in the first place? Why does that 350 V-8 produce so little horsepower? That engine is capable of much more than that correct? What would it take to hit 300 hp? Thanks in advance for any input.

[1MileCrash]

emissions and fuel economy

[310stanger]

smog heads my friend. chuck the heads, intake, and cam and the car will feel like a completely different animal. yes the 350 sbc can make more power then you can ever need. 1973 to 1985 or so were dark times for american v8 performance.

[67CamaroRSSS]

200 hp was top o the heap for the times.... And yes, the cam, heads, intake and exhaust choked the engine off. L82 was a 4-bolt main though.

[yellowv]

Something like 8.5:1 compression.

[Jays00ss]

Something like 8.5:1 compression.

yes, coupled with everything else everyone else said. Put some 10:1 compression pistons, Edlebrock performer aluminum heads, an edlebrock Performer RPM Airgap intake and cam combo, A demon 650, headers, and a true duel Magna flow exhaust, now we are talkin. also change the crappy ass gear ratio in the rear.

[yellowv]

smog heads my friend. chuck the heads, intake, and cam and the car will feel like a completely different animal. yes the 350 sbc can make more power then you can ever need. 1973 to 1985 or so were dark times for american v8 performance.

Even with heads and cam you wont get too much. You would need a ridiculously small combustion chamber in the heads. They used dished pistons. Now add pistons and rods to your list and your good to go. Like this
one in my garage. It is a mid-late 70's 4 bolt Vette block. When it had heads and intake on it, it made 512rwhp and that was a budget build.