84 Camaro z28, 305HO with T5 manual.
The car is at a upholstery shop getting a new top, so I can't say what company did the conversion.
I've replaced the third gen seats with 4th gen seats for increased comfort and side bolsters. This is just a cruiser, not a racer, but my engine either needs to be replaced or rebuilt. I can get a 350 SBC for under $400 that needs to be rebuilt.
Since this is not a performance build, but just a bump in power either way, is keeping the 305 ideal for matching numbers, or better just to swap in the 350?

And did I good by changing out the 3rd Gen for 4th gen seats?

Thanks!

 

It matters ONLY on highly collectible cars. People always make a bigger deal out of it than it really is...

 

If the car is completely original, low mileage, in excellent condition, well-optioned and it's going to auction, yes, it matters.

Other than all those conditions, not so much.

 

Response to your list is no, no, no, no, and no.
4th gen seats, different color paint, different intake and induction, different cam, headers, upgraded suspension, lowering springs...

Guess hindsight it was not a good question! Sorry!

 

At this point the value of your car is driven by its condition, not by originality. Just keep it in good condition and enjoy it.

 

if the car has under 10,000 miles, then yes being factory perfect matters.
other than that, unless it is a very rare something, its just a fun car to enjoy.
i have a 91 gta, somewhat low numbers, kinda rare if you want to think that way,
im the second owner, but the body has nearly 200k miles on it.
so its 'rare' but lots of fun miles were had.
So its not really a high value car, even though it was nearly 100% original as the day the owner bought it

 

If the performance boost doesn't mean anything, then I'd just keep the 305HO. I'm always debating on replacing my 305 with a 350, understand your pain! You can probably pick up a 350 that has been rebuilt by the pros for less than what you can do it yourself. of course, that takes all the fun out of it.

 

Nothing wrong with your question; it's not the first time it has come up here.

 

Thank you for your kind words, Ironwill. And LiquidBlue, I think this is the first time someone has not yelled (metaphorically speaking) LS swap.
I know the 305 can't compete with an LS for power, and if I was wanting a drag car, then I would be building something completely different.
For me, this is just a fun car to drive with the top down and a nice rumble from the exhaust. And so far, for the most part, it has been enjoyable!

 

Last question for now...
I searched briefly and couldn't confirm, but if I chose to swap in a 350, one from a 90s Chevy truck would be fine to use, just maybe need a different oil pan and flywheel?
Found one for $300, but it's from a truck so wanna confirm.

 

In my opinion, the best way to educate yourself on this is start looking at block casting numbers. As you research this, you will stumble across all kinds of other info. Find the block casting that an 85 Camaro had in it, and go from there. That said, I'll bet any 350 from that era will bolt up. But if you try to stick with a 350 that was dropped into an 85 Z you will be closer to numbers correct, or should I say, period correct. For a TPI engine, heads become important when I want to swap all my 305 TPI parts over to the 350 block. That forces me to look at L98 heads or something equivalent so that I can move the intake over. Accessories come into play as well.

https://www.snakeeaterperformance.co..._4-L1hA4JD4d-W

https://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm