Tech / General EngineIs your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!
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I've installed several of them over the years in place of tired/worn out stock 305s. Great motor for the money. It'll feel like you strapped a second engine under the hood compared to a stock 305 (45 more cubes make a world of difference in torque). And it runs fine on garbage gas.
If your Camaro has the smaller/low output 2-1/4" cat/intermediate pipe/muffler you should consider upgrading to something bigger/better. That exhaust was restrictive even on a little 305. On a 350 it'll choke the life out of it as RPMs rise. On the cheap, yes, it will bolt up just fine and run OK, but it's not for any kind of performance intentions.
The low output LG4 305 engines came stock with that pea-shooter exhaust. The high output L69 305 came with bigger everything (manifolds, y-pipe, cat, intermediate pipe, muffler), and is acceptable for use with a mild 350 (but even that is just barely acceptable). Shortie headers & y-pipe with a 3" exhaust from there back would be more than enough and still leave you headroom for even more Horsepower/upgrades later.
Im on my second. I had bought a new goodwrench shortblock for $800 for a truck I used to have, but sold the truck. The shortblock ended up in the camaro instead. With the cam and heads its probably somewhere in teh neighborhood of 375 HP at the crank.
My experiences with my first one where generally good. I took it out when the bearings wore out. The quality is ok, but I did find some minor machining defects here and there. Not enough to compromise the engine, though.
Should be interesting to see how long the second one lasts in the current setup. I shift it at about 6k to get teh best performance out of it, and abuse it liberally. I figure if it blows, I can always finish rebuilding teh first one.
