I just Bought my 1982 firebird for 1300 everything works except for airconditioning. i figured what a great deal , since recently learning(like 5 min ago) that stock 305 only put out about 163hp i amready have a perfromerrpm intake on its way as well as a mallory ignition system and a edelbrock 600 cfm carburator on its way from summit and am gonna install that this weekend. besides that i figure the next this is a head and cam swap.....or should i just save up for a 350 since those 305 are such dogs..any advice?

How many miles on the engine?

As soon as I run my 305 into the ground (I'm well over 100,000 miles right now) I'm going to get a 350, or larger.

There is just so much more potential with a 350 than a 305 that spending time and money on the 305 seems like a waste, unless the parts will swap to a 350.

How does it run?

She runs strong really no hesitation at all odometer says she has 148000 but that is always questionable.........the other day we took of the exsition peice of junk quadrajet and looked in the intake manifold and thier was alot of CRUD? and Sludge from what i dont know maybe she moked at one time or another but she doesnt now ...thats the main reason for my intake swap.

I bought my teenager a 1969 Chevelle. Talk about sludge. We pulled the valve covers and it was a mess. I've already run one can of sludge remover through the engine and the next time I change the oil I'm going to use some more sludge remover.

If it is running good now I might hold off on making any major modifications. Do a search under "305" or "LG4" and you can check out the modifications that others have made to that engine. Don't forget, there was the L69, which was a definite improvement over the LG4.

NOthing wrong with working on the 305. Just make sure that the parts you buy will transfer to a 350. The first thing you should do is get it running good before you change anything. There is a good chance that the carb isnt messed up at all. Give it a complete tuneup before you do anything.

When you say ignition, do you mean distributor, or just a "brain box"? If you didnt order a new distributor, you'll need one with the edelbrock carb. (assuming of course your car is stock w/ CC Q-jet)

After getting the car in a proper tune, you should start doing modifications. THe best place to start is the exhaust. YOu need full exhaust. New headers, y-pipe, and catback. Make sure it is a good one (3") so you can transfer it to the 350 later. Get a good dual snorkel intake, or at least an open element. Either one is better than the piece of crap stock ones.

The important thing to remember is not waste money on parts that wont carry over.

305s are virtually indestructible. You can count on another 50,000 miles without question and if you do regular maintenance it will last much longer.

The best first step is 1 5/8" shorty headers and 3" exhaust.

The Performer RPM is a higher profile intake than the LG4 one. Thus you will need a dropped base aircleaner to fit it all under the hood. The QJet is an excellent carb so there is really no reason to go for a different carb. Just rebuild it and adjust it according to the articles in this site's Tech Articles. No kidding, a hoard of us on this board use the factory QJet and we all go like stink. It is all a metter of following the info in the Tech Articles.

If you do mod the 305, only choose parts that will swap over to a 350 when the 305 croaks. The parts in my sig work very nicely together and can serve as a road map for you.

Waste of money. Hope you understand the stock distributor won't work properly with that carb.
Clearly a lack of understanding of the performance potential of a q-jet.

Send the carb back. You may be able to use the Mallory ignition, depending upon what you ordered. The Performer RPM is questionable (if it doesn't mount a spreadbore, don't bother with it).

As ljnowell and Sitting Bull are saying, the 305 doesn't necessarily need to go. But, you're starting at the wrong place to improve performance. Full exhaust starting with headers, cam, and head porting will wake that engine up. I went with a different intake manifold, but it was a "deal". All of that will transfer over to a 350 - if you start thinking about doing anything to the crank/pistons/rings, go find a 350 to build.

Yeah the first things you should be doing are giving it a proper tune up and make sure it runs like it should in its 'stock' configuration.

Then you might want to rebuild the carb (the stock Q-Jet is a really good carb). After that get a whole new exhaust system. Oh and was it mentioned that the stock aircleaner is possibly one of the most restrictive POS's ever made? It barely lets in enough air for anything except the ****tiest of 4-bangers.

Once you're at this stage, start thinking about heads, then maybe take a look at the intake.

If you're into pulling the engine and playing with things more indepth, check out a cam after this. I would suggest a comp cams XE262 or maybe an XE256.

Or do like me and get a 350 short block and work from there

Always the best way, bet not always feasable.

What Five7kid said. Your money would be WAY better spent on exhaust than the intake and carb. Send that stuff back and put that money into parts that will actually make power.

the car had already come with exaust, not yet 3 ' but some kinda aftermarket something, not 3' and not true duals. still has stock exaust manifolds though....and accually now i cant take edelbrock back because my dogs tore up the box in the garage...that a separate problem in its self. well anyways. would a good combo stilll e that carb, the rpm, bigger cam and the H) 58cc heads?

Sounds to me like you still need new exhaust too. If it isnt at least 3" (or 2.5 true duals) you need more. Nothing wrong with the edel carb, you are just going to have to replace the stock distributor with a stock HEI from a junk yard, or order a new one.

The heads on the engine should be the 416's; there is no difference in the heads between the HO (L69) and the LG4.
Your biggest immediate improvement would be a set of headers and y-pipe to let the engine exhale. It's already getting sufficient airflow on the intake side. Work on getting that tuned in, then consider swapping intakes and cams.

My LG4 currently has about 240k miles (389k km) and still running strong. Heads have never been off the block, it has the original cast-iron intake and Quadrajet. The cam was replaced with a (still small) one with .420" lift in/ex, and has a set of Hedman hedders and y-pipe flowing into a Dynomax 2¾" catback.
Last time I was to a track, the car (83 Camaro) ran a 14.49 and 98+ mph.

Yeah from what i can see every one is imputing i should get headers and exaust ok so thats next months project.......... personally i hate quadrajet carbs, and i still figure that if i put this performer rpm intake and edelbrock carb as well as the mallory distributor should still be a good install, do you think i would have good hp gains if i change out those heads and a bigger cam?

You'll get gains from the exhaust and cam. No gains from the carb. The ignition is something that can improve reliability and high RPM performance. No gains from changing out the heads that you couldn't get from porting the current heads and putting in 1.94" intake valves (and springs/retainers to match the cam).

Get over your dislike for q-jets. You're only hurting yourself.

is it required to take the entire motor out to replace the cam...if im gonna go that far a 350 will go back in

depending on your budget, I would say go for at least a 350...not that you can't work with a 305 but you'd have to pour a considerable amount of money into it to get the same amount of power you'd get from even a lightly modified 350 or larger unless you decide to go over the top with the 305.

this is true thats why im just sticking to little stuff like intake exaust carb distrubutar

No, but you must remove the rad and AC condensor if you have one.

Ordinarily I'd agree with you, but I just bought an '84 Z28 L69 for $100!!! My buddy's brother had this car sitting in his side yard for years. I kept asking what he was gonna do with it. A few days ago I got a call saying he wanted $100 for it! SOLD! Granted, it is no beauty queen, but the L69 runs strong and the difference is like night and day compared to my '91 RS's LO3!

Oh yeah, it also features a Flowmaster muffler, rebuilt 700R4 and the unshakable smell of mildew!