Our core, purchased from AA Midwest, is a late-model truck Vortec or Gen II small-block 350. GM sufficiently refined the engine package to offer many improvements in quality.

If you're about to jump into the world of turbo-charging your engine, there are a few important things to consider before starting the upgrade.

Part 2: Continuing the quest to build a 300-hp small-block for $500 after initial dyno pulls showed that it was underpowered and over budget. From the August 1999 issue of HOT ROD magazine.