ive pondered this idea for some time, my dad has a 98 chevy pu with a 305 vortech engine and it seems to be a decent engine...i figure if i put a 350 vortech in my car or maybe even one of 6.0ltrs that it would potentially be reliable and quick....has anyone done this before and if so how hard was it???just thought it would be different and the engines themselves shouldnt be too expensive from gm...if i was to do this how much could i expect to spend for engine, comp, harness etc? probably not gonna happen for a while but just an idea i was pondering

 

First, it's "Vortec".

The 350's seem to be the preferred configuration. If you already have a 350 in your car, then putting in a 305 would be a step backwards.

The real difference between the Vortec engines and the previous 350's is the heads. You can get those heads, a Vortec intake manifold, and put them on your 350. Probably cheaper and easier than changing the entire engine, but I suppose that's up to you.

17's for a 350 is pretty slow. You've got some issue to address there, and it's probably not the engine. My 305 ran low 17's/high 16's when it was still a plain LG4, and at this altitude. I'd sure want to know what's holding you back before going to the expense of an engine or head change.

 

yea i know my car is a lot slower than i thought it would be, i know a couple of the problems 1. the carb is shot 2. the stock lg4 exhaust isnt letting it breath 3. my rear tires on the wear bar....add all this together and i get crappy times....i know you can swap the vortec heads and all of that but with all the problems i have had with this motor im not sure i wanna tear the top half apart again....it seems like everything you touch on this engine goes bad....not literally but gets frustrating

 

Do something about that exhaust. It chokes an LG4, let alone a 350.

You might find everything else suddenly works a lot better.

 

yea i have noticed the lg4 exhaust isnt exactly the freest flowing exhaust out there...just short on money

 

Dude, I think you have got a nice combo right there. Spend some money on your current setup. My friend has a 360 (350 .060) and he should be hittin the 13's as soon as he gets it to the track. But check it dude. You can buy headers, I know for $150. A carb, maybe $200. Some good traction street tires... $200. So for $550 maybe you could hit 13's. Then you would really be fast86z28. But seriously dude, thats what I would do. One more question.... Do you have posi.... If not, what 60's where you pulling?

 

yea i have posi, my best 60' sucked it was 2.7, but it was bogging really bad off the line, but last night i went out and practiced launches and finally found my sweet spot, rev to 3grand and dump it, yes it spins the tires but it takes off a lot better than when it was bogging so im sorta happy, but i really need to ditch the lg4 exhaust, wish i had some money

 

yeah man, you should practice that, I pulled a 2.4 60' with 2.73 non-posi. I know you can get these right now, and there a good tire. So check it out:

Cool Tires

 

those are pretty nice tires, not a bad price either...a lot better than the cheap pep boys futura tires that are on there now..