Engine SwapEverything about swapping an engine into your Third Gen.....be it V6, V8, LTX/LSX, crate engine, etc. Pictures, questions, answers, and work logs.
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Hi, I'm new to Camaros, and hell, being a car guy all together. I have an 88 305 TBI 5speed manual Camaro and the first thing I wanna do, before any other mechanical upgrades, is to upgrade the 305 to something more powerful. The car is my daily driver and something that I wanna have no trouble blowing away little imports with.
Is 350 the right way to go? It seems like it would be just enough, yet not so big that I'm blowing though my 15 gallon tank every other block. But, like I said, I'm new to this, so that's just speculation as to how gas efficent the bigger engines are.
My uninformed opinion is, Swap the 305 for a 350 because it's the easiest swap, and anything bigger would be too much of a gas hog for a daily driver. Am I wrong? Right? Any ideas? Let me know, thanks!
Are you talking about swapping over your TBI stuff? If I were you, since you're new at this especially, I would just mod the TBI little by little and then eventually swap in an lt or ls motor when the 305 takes a crap.
I was wanting to go straight carb on the 350, but I've yet to gain the knowledge necessary to make that a final decision. Also, my experience level isn't gonna hinder the work, I have friends who will help me, my experience level is just harming my ability to know which way I want to go. I know I want at least a 350, but it's weather or not I should go any bigger that I'm not sure about.
I was going to discourage you from putting the TBI stuff on a 350.
Built for your needs, a 350 should do you just fine.
Right on. So, what would be the best way for me to go about getting a 350? Find a vehicle with one in it? Buy crate engine? I was down at napa and the guy was trying to get me to buy one of their crate engines after I told him about my car. Is going though them something that's okay to do, or would going though someone like hawks online be better?
Ya know, after looking around a bit, I'm thinking it might be best to just start building the engine piece by piece. Then swap it out once I get it all finished.
I just finished my 305 TBi to 357 carb swap today. Wiring is easy as pie as you dont need much at all. Its not as hard as it seems, just make sure to read the stickies and if you have any questions ill be more then happy to help!
__________________ 1988 Trans Am 138,340 miles,(The Project- 357 swapped bored ."40 Carb'd/ Built TH700 R4 w/ Hooker Super Comp headers, Holley 750 DP Mechanical Sec., 98' Vortec 062 Heads Ported and Polished, 7/16" studs, Comp Cam 1.6 Aluminum Roller Rockers, Comp Cam XE285 .508/.512 Lift 262/282 duration, Comp Cam Beehive springs, TCI StreetDemon 2400-2600 Stall, EdelBrock Performer ESP Vortec Intake Port Matched, Aluminum Under Drive pulleys, GM 3.73 gears, Custom True Dual and 3" Cutouts, MSD Ready to Run E-Curve Distributor/Ignition, Edelbrock open element w/ 5" K&N air filter, Redline 700R4 with B&M shift kit w/ Corvette Servo, Hotchkis Subframe Connectors, Nitto 555R Drag Radials) Other cars: 1999 Grand Prix GT, 1992 Camaro RS (roller)
Other cars: 1999 Grand Prix GT, 1992 Camaro RS (roller) 
