ccowner4life

I just receintly bought an '89 camaro, 305 TBI custom build engine, the whole nine yards, 700 R4 tranny as well. I found out that the coolant was boiling and thought maybe the thermostat was broken or that the radiator had a problem. Last saturday the engine sounded like it blew a piston because I heard a loud boom then about 3 miles later it just went from 65 to 55 then to off. Then I got stranded on the side of the road. Later on that night I got the car (after 3 hours) but anyways when I helped load the car on the back of a dolly, I saw it was the lower radiator hose to the engine that blew up. But by the time after it blew the engine blew up too. After the long story I just told; my question is as follows.

(1) Where can I get a good jenkins rebuilt motor locally in Virginia (I am located in Richmond).
(2) if no answer about the jenkins rebuilt motor; would a 305 TPI work in place of my 305 TBI without having to replace everything.
(3) I was told my uncle who is a license mechanic and that is going to do the swap, said the engine is a metric 5.0L fuel injected engine and I need an exact replacement. But I want something that will replace it but maybe alittle better.

Give me a shout on my email at ccowner4life@gmail.com to discuss things further and I am getting money in two weeks (29th of july) and want to make sure all I have to do is yank the old motor out and install the new one.
Besides taking tranny off and putting it on the new engine.

Forshock 85TA

any 305 from 87+ will work. Even a 350 would work, but would require the TBI be programmed/chip.

Good luck

ccowner4life

I found out the fan was the problem, the radiator wasnt pushing coolant into the engine and that is what caused the engine to blow. Just need a new engine now or atleast something used with under a hundred thousand miles; preferably 75, 000 or less but around 700 bux.
----------
Thanks Forshock 85TA for the info just was trying to find the most cost effective to atleast get my camaro back on the road, I enjoyed the original engine it only had 94 thousand miles on it.

Forshock 85TA

If coolant wasnt flowing, water pump and radiator need to be gone over. Blocked or broken. Check it all anyways, electrical for fan and all mechanical.

Junkyard run

ccowner4life

My uncle checked out the radiator, water pump, everything and found out the fan wasnt turning and I had it in traffic, trying to get home just to rest but it didnt make to my destination
----------
Would you know anyone on here that is local to me to help with finding an engine, I found a few in petersburg va which is about 2 hours away from me south.

Forshock 85TA

Im sure someone can help you out on the regional boards (bottom of list). Electric fan, most likely the relay, check that out.

Green89IROC305

the tpi motor wont be a direct replacement withought changing numrous things like:computer, fuel pump, wiring harnes and a few other things.

ccowner4life

I was going to just replace the fan, motor, and is there anything else I can do to keep the engine cool but since winter does come where I am at, and its cold I want atleast 180 degree thermo.

Thermostat 180, cooling fan; anything else that I add to this so I wont have this issue again (I want to keep the ending around 170 degree/165 degree temp all the time
----------
I was going to replac everything in the whole engine anyways (I was more concerned with the tranny
----------
I was wanting to yank the engine from a junkyard donor car; but I saw the same engine I looked for in on a few junkyard sites is the same engine in a GMC C1500 truck and a Chevy Caprice. Would the engine from a 1995 GMC C1500 truck work in my camaro? the engine was about 850.00 with only 5 thousand miles on it.

Downzero

The engine is a direct swap. The fuel system is obviously not.

Forshock 85TA

Lets clear this up, Any Gen 1 SBC (not LT or LS!) will work.

1987+ had different heads from 86 & earlier.

ANY 305 SBC 1987+ will work. Just bolt on your parts, it works.

Good luck.

ccowner4life

Thank you, I am just getting into actually working on camaros, my first camaro was 97 which is dead sitting in the front yard waiting for my loan company to pick it up (repossessed - filed bankruptcy) and I bought this one straight up. Was a good deal too, the guy was going to sell it to me for 1500 but got it for 800 bux cash. But anyways the 87 on up is metric just so I have it in my head (kinda forgetful, sorry).

Forshock 85TA

Sorry to hear the situation. Could always take the engine out of that ;P
Good deal on the camaro, of course now its a little more than 800 haha

87+ and your set

ccowner4life

the 97 is a v6, which is crap and the engine doesnt even start; battery was replaced and dies; the alternator was replaced and still the engine is dead. I think it might be the wiring in the car because everything else doesnt work either. Its not my problem anymore...hehehe its my loan company's problem but I will take the seats out of the car (I hope) before they take the car.

ccowner4life

I am still looking for a fuel injected 305; I was wondering if the 87+ were just that or carburated?

bluers91

You can find any 305 87+ and just put your intake & TBI on top of it and you should be pretty good to go.

or what I would do:

Find a LO5 350 TBI from a Truck. Will need to change the computer, knock sensor, and 350 TBI. Since your already doing a swap this is probably a better way to go especially if you want more power and plan to do more mods down the road.

ccowner4life

I just want my little girl back on the road so I can have some fun with amount of power it has for a sbc. Anything is better than a V6 engine at this point.....grin

Chadster86S10

Whatever you choose make sure the junkyard warrants it, and even then what is your time worth if it winds up being junk? A lot of people have had good luck with used motors. I just got burned on a used motor and wont waste the time again. I tripped over a dollar to pick up a dime as the saying goes. For what its worth you can get a stock rebuilt 350 for about $1000 and you can get a brand new GM crate 350 motor starting at about $1200. The GM 350 crate motors aren't bad for a daily-driven car. If you talk to a big dealership they buy them in bulk and sell them cheap. I got mine at Jegs and they were about $200 cheaper yet.

Forshock 85TA

I second the GM 350 thing, got mine at jegs <$1400 shipped. that is what i did. Warrany too

ccowner4life

right now I just bought the car for 800 and having to spend around 600 is a deal for me because I am on a budget and I am getting the hypertech 180 fan switch and 180 thermo so this engine wont burn up

Forshock 85TA

I myself would hold on "extras", get the best you can get engone wise first. Running at 230 didnt kill it, running at 260+ killed it. Make sure its working, then make it cooler.

FreeLoader

i'd replace the coolant temp sensor too, being as it also controls when the fan comes on, and it costs two bucks at your local autozone. also, check the connector to it, if it's not properly seated(i.e. the hold down clip is broken) it won't get a reading from it and your fan won't turn on.

I've had similar problems, so i figured i'd let you know.

also, the only time my coolant has ever really boiled(fan or no fan) was when i was dangerously low on oil, so, is that a possible reason?

ccowner4life

I found out it was the cooling fan on the radiator, my uncle looked at it more closely and saw the fan on the radiator was moving very very slowly. Everything checked out fine except for being odd that the coolant reserve was boiling and spewing out.