is there any good bolt ons besides headers and **** that can be bolted on these? and what kind of heads and lifters would i get if i went witha mild cam. Also one last question, would a 4th gen ws6 interior fit in a third gen? like seats fron and rear and side panels?

Interior can be swapped, just do a search.

305TPI heads are decent, could get 1.6 rocker arms and some aftermarket valve springs and youll be good for a cam.
Heads arent really worth it on a 305 unless you find a killer deal.
You could get like some SLP runners for your intake, those are supposed to help.

thanks,

I have an idea for your 305...it's not the "ultimate" engine, no doubt, but you'll lay waste to any stock 350 tpi and even many nicely modded ones, if you build it smart. So many guys just go with the "norm" or the "flow" and say ditch the 305. I say "Horsepower is horsepower is horsepower." Like any engine, the darn 305 CAN be built to be a very formidable street engine, with the right combo of parts. It's a matter of matching stuff up for the displacement (like on any other engine). I've done a ton of research on this, believe me, and I will continue to do so. If you build your 305 properly, it'll have the same or more power than MANY modded 350 tpis. The bigger problem than displacement choice is that some guys don't mod their 350s properly, and they don't get them running to their full potential, with the mods they put on, so it really is a waste of money. Do this build with your 305, and guys will think you have a bad*** 350 in your car, and it'll put a smile on your face, and you will feel like your money is well spent. Probably the best thing to do, if you're short on cash and cannot build an entire engine right now, is this: get the following parts--that you can eventually transfer to a 350 block, so, if you want more power, it's available to you (and you don't have to buy new parts again) if and when you get a 350 block. Buy the assembled vortec style heads from Enginequest (1.94/1.50 valves-180cc runners-60cc cc-have them milled down .030" for a final comb. chamber volume of 60cc)-no, you don't need the beehive springs put on them, but they wouldn't hinder anything, an aftermarket fuel injection system that is VORTEC specific for manifold fitment or just stick with the stock tpi and mount it atop a new VORTEC style manifold (Edelbrock has one), and a comp cam or pretty much any cam with 112 to 115 degree lobe separation (the closer it is to 115, the easier it is to tune and keep running happy, trust me) and around 224/230 duration and .477/.480 lift (I'd go ahead and spring for new pushrods and lifters, too, since you'll have the top unassembled). You can get a chip burned for these mods that will get you close to optimal running conditions, and you will make around 350+ fwhp, depending on your fuel setup and if the people doing your custom tune know what they are doing-make sure you find someone who does know what they're doing. You will really notice a change in power after 3500 rpm hits. This is when the little 305 really starts to enjoy gobbling up the air. Or you can go carbureted (then do 110 lsa on your cam, with the same lift as mentioned above, a 650cfm carb, and an Edelbrock rpm airgap manifold for VORTEC heads), but then you'll have a few headaches, swapping from tpi to carb. You can get 150+ horsepower added, for around $2500 (not too shabby), and this includes the cost of some decent headers, to let the engine breathe. A 2000+ stall converter would help a lot, too, assuming you have an auto tranny (which will have to be modded to lock if swapping to carb). In my opinion, it's never a waste of time or money to add horsepower to ANY engine, ESPECIALLY the 305, since the parts can be used in a 350, if a guy ever wants to go that route.

Wow, I think that's the longest post I've ever put up on here, but, at least, the information is good and might help someone who wants to build a decent engine.

WOW, Its refreshing to hear a knowlegable person here that says, yes a 305 can make power.. Most of the sheep,,, i mean people on here just repeat what they hear and say 305 is a boat anchor and not worth building.. BTW, my 305ci's lay waste L98's, LT1's and bolt on LSX's too. But then again my whole car is built soup to nuts, from intake to rear. + a bit of boost

It's good to know someone else agrees that the 305 doesn't have to be a DOG. You can build power with any engine, especially a V-8. Thanks for your reply!

yeah i just got the vortec heads in and was breaking in my new comp cam: Xtreme Energy 262H Hydraulic Flat Tappet Camshaft Complete Kit
Lift: .462/.469''
Duration: 262/270°
RPM Range: 1300-5600 well i almost broke it in but 12 min at 2k-2.5k rpm the fan wasnt turning on and began to overheat so i turned it off. any one know if 12 min was enough? or should i do it over? also about the vortec tpi intake, there is a small water outlet by the distributor where is it supposed to go? we just plugged it with a bolt. there is also another one by the thermostat which we teed off to another hose.

The Comp website has the procedure for breaking in this kind of cam.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with Timothayyy. A good set of Vortec heads, along with a cam, headers, and some tuning, would be well worthwhile on a 305. You can swap the Vortecs onto a 350 later, if you want to build a more powerful engine.

If you put vortec heads on a 305... Depending on which ones you use, youre either going to have a low compression 305 or a high compression 350. You really have to do some math and check what youre compression ratio's will be.

Yes sir, I have done my math. What do you consider low compression? It depends on what 305 you have, too. Older Camaros, like the 84s or older, have the 8.6:1 305, but the newer ones (mine's an 86) have the 9.5:1 305 because these use flat top pistons, and milling the 64cc Vortec heads, which is an excellent idea, will allow you to achieve whatever compression ratio you want, within reason, depending upon your power goals and what kind of fuel you want to buy. I'm going to run 9.8:1 compression on my 305 build, which will be fine with quality 91 octane or 92 octane fuel, and I'll be making plenty of power for spanking most Mustangs off the road. If you swap the Vortecs to a 350, then you can mill the heads again for higher compression or just keep them the way they are, depending on what you want.

There's nothing wrong with modifying a 305 - in the TPI case it's mostly just a matter of less displacement. It is often much easier/less expensive to keep the 305 block in-tact, as opposed to rebuilding a 350 or chancing a used motor.

In some respects the 305 TPI is actually better designed than the 350. Take the sizing of the TB, plenum, runners, exhaust manifolds.. same size right? Well, less displacement requires less air per revolution. I am simply saying that from a design standpoint the 305 is less restricted. lol

Anyhow... modding a TPI motor in general can be a waste when compared to building up a standard SBC motor. More power per dollar going Carbed SBC as opposed to TPI. But, technology is fun

Yes, the tpi intake and plenum are the same for both engines. And less DISPLACEMENT requires less air, but more POWER requires more air. Any engine will make more power with more airflow that is properly supported. In my opinion, the only advantage of a carburetor, over TPI, is you can get higher rpms and pay less. On an engine, good fuel injection (other than TPI) that is optimally tuned blows a carburetor away, given that the engine is the same for both the carbed and fuel injected systems. I mean, you can't really compare, for equality, a carbed 454 that makes 600 horsepower to a well tuned fuel injected 305. Anyway, a well tuned tpi can outperform a poorly running carburetor or a carburetor that isn't right for the application. Also a poorly tuned tpi or fi system won't work as well as a properly tuned carburetor. The simple solution to power is to feed a lot of air into the engine and then supply the correct amount of fuel, as efficiently as possible, to match the amount of air that's flowing. Efficiency will create more power. This is why guys who swap from a great carburetor setup to fuel injection end up making more power, as long as the dang fuel injection system is properly installed.

I tried building up a 305, and was less then satisfied with the results. When you can get a 350 for 200-300$ and rebuild kits are only another 400-500$, ill gladly take the extra 45ci. Plus the bore on 305's isent really conducive to performance.

Also the stock TPI set up is pretty pitiful. Which is why things like the stealthram can add almost 50hp on an otherwise stock motor. The 305tpi heads are decent, I wouldent waste money and time swapping heads.

Im not saying the 305 sucks, or you cant make power out of it. You can make power out of damn near any motor. But with 350's available so cheaply, theres no reason to shun the extra horsepower they will give you.


But whatever you do to youre car, its your car. Theres an infinite amount of ways to get power. Im just telling you the most logical way to go. If youre happy making 240 or 250whp, then a 305 can provide. If you want to make more then that, it makes more sense to get a 350.

What is your elevation in Virginia?...I'm curious. I'm gonna build my 305 and also build a 383 stroker. I want to build the 305 up top and just leave it in the car, to hold me over, while I save some money and slowly build the 383. Then, I'll pull the 305 engine. I don't want to wait forever and drive a stock 305, while I'm waiting for my 383 to be done. The Vortecs are a good and economical way to go for either the 305 or the 350, though.

New2,
"around 224/230 duration"

For a 305 TPI, that seems like too much duration to me... You'd need to be spinning up to 6K RPM for that to work well. TPI doesn't like 6K RPM....

I'm switching my efi system, so I'll be fine and happy. For a guy keeping tpi, wouldn't the longer duration still help it, even though the cam can't max out at the lower tpi rpms?

Here is my 305 TPI setup.....

Trick Flow "305" heads
ZZ4 cam
Comp chromemoly rods
Comp full roller rockers
FAST intake (similiar to a stelth ram)
24oo stall on my 700R4
3:42 gears with an auburn
4th gen alum driveshaft
holley AFPR
comp double roller timing chain
Hooker 2055 headers
3" exhaust with SLP muffler

Tune and custom chip

ran a 13.6 with some traction issues due to track conditions.

What cam are you running?--Never mind.....just saw the ZZ4 cam in your post. Just curious....Have you considered running a cam with more intake duration like around 222-224 perhaps? Just wondering cuz that's the first thing I would consider with your particular setup, in an attempt to get the car closer to the 12s.

I got the cam (NEW) for a case of beer . The 13 sec run was on street tires. I'm sure that with some tweeting I'll be in the 12's.

Fun stuff.

I don't think so. The reason for running a split pattern cam with a longer exhaust duration is because the exhaust valve is smaller than the intake valve. It gives it more time to dump the hot gases which is good because the flow is not as good as it is on the intake side.

If you run 220+ on the intake with TPI you will sacrifice too much low end torque and it will be a dog off the line (unless you are running at least a 3.73 gear). By the time you spin up to get into the beginning of the Cam's peak power band, the TPI will be already nearing it's peak which is around 3600 RPM. So basically the Cam is just late and is missing the first part of the TPI intake system's curve....

The ZZ4 cam is about as big as you can go with a 305 TPI intake and even then you are pushing the power band higher than TPI is tuned for. I'd bet that the ZZ4 cammed 305 TPI would pull well from 3300 to 5500 RPM and then go flat. At least that's basically what my setup does. My car really pulls hard from 3500 to 4800 in second and third gears.

I have very similar durations to the ZZ4, and less lift. Crane Powermax 2032 452/465 214(270)/220(276) 112 deg. I have 1.52 rockers so my lift is 0.458/0.471

13 .6 is a pretty sweet time! But I'm thinkin' that the case of beer you got is talkin' when you say that you can get into the 12's... You have stock pistons right...?

Those Trick Flow Heads do look sweet..... do they have an EGR passage like stock heads do?

Trick flows are good heads but probably more expensive than most....I would guess.

Thanks mnorton, for your reply. That's good information.

Pistons are stock. Heads have had a LOT of work done (valve grind, flow increased). Can't wait to put slicks on the car and launch it (the suspension of done as well (UMI SFC, LCA, torque arm, A-arms, lcarb, panhard rod).

The TFS heads are not cheap but worth the $$.