Hey everyone, I'm new here, as you can probably tell. I'm also new to engines, whatsoever. The odds of me answering "What does this part do" or "What is this part called" are slim to none. I know it's sad, but I'm working on it. Really makes me wish that I had taken shop class when I was still in highschool.

Anyways, here's my story. I'm 18, I live on Southern California, and this is my first car. It's a 1991 Chevy Camaro RS, and I've been driving it a little over seven months. It has 167,509 miles on it, as of twenty minutes ago. It had two prior owners, and I'm guessing they weren't engine enthusiasts either, but I walked away with it for only $800, so I've been pretty happy about it. I love my car, even though I don't know much about it. As far as I know, it has a 305 V8 in it, and runs around 170hp. Oh yeah, it's a five speed! Any more than this, I don't know. And I'm just guessing from the little research I've done.


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Anyways, what I need from you guys here at ThirdGen.org is a little bit of guidance, not assitance, I need real help. Like when you're teaching an infant to walk, I need to learn something that seems to be just as significant. Seeing as my car has so many miles on it, and people tell me that it's rather beat up, I figured that rebuilding this engine wouldn't be worth the money, and that I should look into swapping the engine out for something. Here's my problem...I don't know what engines fit in my car! I also don't know how to find out. The car's manual is two inches thick with such overwhelming information, I can't begin to understand it!


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Hopefully these image can clarify what engine I'm running, and tell you that I know very little about engine maintenence I really wish things were different, believe me. Anyways, what I'd like from you guys, is a list of suitable engines that are compatable with my engine mounts, and if possible...prices. Prices aren't the major factor, it's more so the question of what is going to be the easiest and most efficient. I don't need some insane 600 horsepower car, I'd just like to get some experience working on engines, and I figure that swapping out an old beat-up engine out of my Camaro would be a good place to start.

 

Yarga...if you got that for $800, I'd call it a STEAL! Looks pretty good from the pics and if it's been in cali its whole life, I'd assume there's no rust anywhere to be found.

Based in part on the engine info you supplied in your profile, the pics and the Camaro model, it looks like you have the L03 305ci TBI. It's also kind of rare (in my experience) to find one linked to a T5 transmission. GM really liked to use the 700R4 as often as possible in the Camaro.

You may or may not be in luck with the quality of the engine as it is now. I have the same car as you except with the auto tranny. The guy before me let it overheat (~240*) about twice a day for a year or two and I was scared that the engine was really worn out. I did a compression test last Friday and was surprised to see that it looked perfect. Although I only checked cylinder #3, I'd expect that if the engine were crapped out, that all cylinders would be about equally bad.

As for rebuilding or swapping: as long as the block is OK (i.e.: not cracked) then a rebuild should fix any problems you may have...BUT if I were pulling the engine anyway, I'd throw a 350 in there (for an easier swap) or stroke that out to a 383 or 396 and have some fun! The physical swap to a 350 block should be pretty easy, but the wiring will almost definitely have to be repinned to fit the new engine. This is where most of your problems will come in, but there are loads of people on here who can help with that.

The easiest way to get a little power out of a rebuild would probably be to stroke the 305 out to ~335. The wiring would stay the same and the engine would be basically like new.

 

Thanks for the response Phlaxus. As I noted in my first post, I don't have a whole lot of experience with engines, so I've got a question for you. Since you suggested, at least in part, that I could rebuild my engine, what would that cost on average? And I'd assume that if I stroked it out, that it would cost quite a bit more. I'm just wondering so that I can compare it to longblock costs.

 

The pics arn't working!

 

Sorry about that, the host I was using just died, so I replace them with not-so-high resolution pics.

 

If you're going to stay with all cast parts (as opposed to forged), then the extra cost of going stroker really should only be a bit of increased machine work to clearance the block. You can get full rotating assemblies from summitracing.com for something like $600 and then throw in a gasket set and some machine work, a new oil pump, water pump, timing chain, etc...should be around $1200 I'm guessing, but that is off the top top of my head and a lot of it is up to what the machine shop charges you.

It all depends on how far you want to go -- you can start by rebuilding the short block and running a good header-back exhaust and then work on the intake/heads later.

 

Hey welcome!!! I have the same engine as you do but my car has a little more to it. If i were you i would save up and get a 350 engine. That has alot more potential than the 305. But if you want to fix up your 305 you can first put an open element on there. That will free up some power and also breath much better. Get some headers the 2055 they are a direct bolt on and a cat back exhaust, And maybe a full tune up. Spark pulgs, spark plug wires, fuel filter, stuff like that. If you read more you will get more ideas to do to your car. I was just like you when i got my car about 2 years ago, and now i got a fast little 305. Good luck bro

 

He's in California, he can't put an open element on it.

You have to stick with emissions-certified parts. That means upgrading what you have, or replacing everything with everything from a '91-later passenger car engine/system.

You have a throttle body injection system, commonly referred to as TBI. As delivered, it is pretty much imune to upgrades. However, if you spend some time over on the TBI forum, you'll find what you can do to improve it.

If you've been driving it for 7 months, it must not be too bad. If it's had regular maintenance such as oil changes and tune-ups, then it probably is in pretty good shape still. That's about the mileage mine had on it when I pulled it to install a 350 (I don't have the same restrictions to upgrades that you do).

 

Yeah he can, i live in cali too. All you have to do is when you go to get it smoged just put on your factory stuff they sale it at any parts store, I got mine at PepBoys. The headers are cali ready so dont trip on that just hook up all your air stuff.

 

Welcome aboard!

Take some of your time and read through the stickies at the top of the TBI forum. They will go into great detail on what makes these cars ticks. You have a great foundation for a hot rod but certian aspects of the car must be addressed.

LO3 equipt cars were really the step children of GM's camaro fleet. They were plagued with many weak links. Before you swap in any motor you will need to address each one of these weak links.

The first to go is the exhaust. You have wimpy 2.25" piping. You need to choose a set of headers (they make legal ones for cali cars), high flow cat and a cat-back of your choice. Choose a system that will be a full 3". A new air intake (open element or custom CAI) should also be on your first mod list. You will also want to consider upgrading the fuel pump as well seeing how the stock unit cannot supply the fuel demands of a more powerfull motor. These simple mods alone will make a huge difference in performance and sound of your car.

At that point you would want to look into some simple suspension mods to help your car handle and plant the power you want to make. A gear and posi swap would also be wise seeing how the the stock open rear (one wheel drive) end isn't the best for traction.

You can later swap another larger cubed small block chevy in place of the 305. Anything that you bolt to your 305 will fit right up to a 350.

You will have to choose if you will retain TBI or go with another form of induction. That choice will be up to you and your power goals. You can stick with TBI but many things need to be considered and understood before the parts catalog is opened. So take some time and read up in the TBI board and get ready to learn! Don't listen to those that say modding your 305 TBI is a waste. As I mentioned before many of the mods you choose now can be used on another motor. There are plenty of TBI guys who have done simple exhaust and chip mods and are into the 14's down the quarter mile.

 

Welcome aboard, looks like you got a killer deal to me.

 

Thanks for all of the replies and all of the information, guys. I'm going to start reading through those TBI threads and start mulling things over, decide what I want to do with my car. I figure that swapping an engine out won't give me a whole lot of hands on experience, and I would learn a lot more if I just started small with what I have right now and just dive in headfirst after I educate myself a bit.

 

Welcome aboard and nice steal on the Camaro. You may want to do some work on the cars suspension. That's the first thing I did on my 86 Z28 (LG4) then went ahead and swapped the 305 to a 350.