Thanks for the encouraging words, guys. Rodney - yeah, I painted the block and heads separately prior to ass'y. It looks pretty good, but there's a bunch of touch up I need to do, especially on things like bolt heads. I'll probably end up re-masking everything and spraying it again once the intake is on. As for top end parts my goal is mostly black instead of chrome. You have to use modern center bolt valve covers with the vortec heads. The guy that sold me the heads also sold me some stock valve covers from a late 90's truck (where the heads came from). I've gotten them cleaned up and primed, but I haven't painted them yet. They'll be some shade of black, maybe that crinkle finish stuff. I may even consider having them powder coated, but not sure how much that would cost. I think they'll look pretty good when they're done. They have raised ridges and even a little circular flat spot where the crossed flag badge (like one on an LT-1 or L-82) will fit. As for air cleaner, I may use my stock unit, but I'm concerned that a stock '76 single snorkel will not get enough air. I've also thought about keeping the base unit with the snorkel, but using a lid from a '73-'75 that will open up the top. But, my best option may just be to go with an open element black unit that I've seen on E-bay. I found a repo '69 350/350 air cleaner sticker for it, too. Starting to get exciting!
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1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.
