Hi. I just finished a engine rebuilt (350) in my 68 Camaro. Power should be arround 375hp. Cam has .488 lift intake. Its is a Edelbrock recepie I took on the web. Cam and intake is for 1500rpm to 6500rpm. It has the original TH400 trans and 12 bolt rear with 3.08 gears. I wanted to change gears to 3.73 and would like to know what torque I should put in the trans. The problem I got now is timing. It revs reel high in neutral and wants to die when I put it in drive. »I am not building a race car but I hope a real potent street toy. Thanks for any info you might have.  

I'd give someone like TCI a call, tell them what you've got and see what they recommend. This is one of those time's it's best to ask the experts, I can give you all sorts of combos that might work, might not. My first instinct woudl eb to recommend a 3000 stall converter, but not knowing more about your cam specs makes that tough. Give TCI a call, they'll get you set right.

Also, if the car is a 350, you should have a TH350, not a TH400. Which one do you have?  

Thanks for your input Phill. The car had the 396/325horse, but was swap somewhere in time for the 350. Trans is the original TH400 and differential 3:08 is also original to the car. I just want to upgrade to 3:73 gears and the torque. I got the original 396 with the car but is unusable. To bad.  

whats the matter with the 396 block?  

The 396 was left outside and got rained on, snowed on etc for the past 30 years, since 1973 to be exact. It was all there, even the smog line on the exaust manifold. When I got the engine I took one head of and found holes the size of a golf ball in 2 of the four cylinders and the hole engine is very rusty. I have not gone any further with the investigating so its just sitting there waiting for the funds to allow me to go further. It is the original engine so I cant bring myself to get rid of it.
Roch  

i would take to a machine shop and have the look, a good shop should be able to sleeve some masty stuff  

Holes in two of the four cylinders. Do you mean the pistons or cylinder walls? Are the holes mechanical damage or rust damage?

I've seen super rusty, seized engines brought back to life before. A good machine shop can hot tank and shot blast the block parts to get them freed up and clean of corrosion. The crank in that motor is a forged steel piece, the journals can be cleaned up and turned to be as good as new. The heads are the oval port castings, good heavy pieces that make a ton of low-end torque and power.

Post some more details on the engine, if it's original to the car and rebuildable, the car would be worth more (not to mention more fun to drive!) with the 396 in it.