2 days ago my stock 305 blow a head gasket on the way to the beach (bummer). So I've decided to buy a new 350 to drop in my car. I've never bought an engine before so I'm trying to be very careful with the one I choose. This is the link of the engine I'm looking at http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...21&prmenbr=361 What I want to know is what the pro's an con's are by dropping this in my car? Currently it has a 4bbl 305 with around 150hp (weak). But my car has t-tops and I heard that the car with t-tops have a stronger frame on the bottom to make up for the top. Thanks for the help!

 

I thought you wanted me to build that vortec headed 355 for ya? oh well if not, replacing a blown head gasket isnt all THAT hard. Its not worth trashing the engine over if you dont have the cahs.

 

Check your email

 

I guess I should mention that my 305 seized up and the oil is white now, so I'm pretty sure the engine is toast.

 

The 290 they advertise is not the same 150 that your car is rated at. If you put that engine in your car and don't do anything else, you'll maybe have 180 hp using the same basis against which your 150 is rated.

That isn't a bad base engine, but probably isn't a good choice if performance upgrades are in mind for the future. At any rate, you're going to have to upgrade some things in order to give this poor engine a chance, namely complete exhaust from ports to rear bumper, and a better flowing air cleaner. The good news is that everything else from your 305 will transfer over and work.

 

Thats good to hear, here's why: I just bought a new set of headers, cats and mufflers to have my true duel exhaust redone. But since my engine blew I'm putting the money to have my exhaust redone towards a new engine. So once the engine's dropped in I'll have the exhaust completed. Im sure that will add some good hp. But 180 hp. The 150 (actually 145) rating for my engine is rated if all optional parts are in the car and running (including a/c). I have numerous fiberglass parts and my a/c is disconnected. But would 250 rear wheel hp sound like a reasonable number for this engine?

 

No. You are gonna loose more than that due to drive train loss. Stock rears and tranies has a lot of internal friction loss. I am buying my motor from thebigwelsh. A 500 HP 383. Talk to him if you want to make 300 HP at the wheels on a budget.

 

Everthing optimized, you'd be lucky to get 200 RWHP.

 

So how powerful of an engine would I need to get 300rwhp?

 

About 400 GFWHP.

What's so magic about 300 RWHP?

 

Just about 400 HP engine will give you 300 HP wheels. That is the safe way to play it. If you really wanna calc it perfectly you can ask around for people who have done dyno runs with similar components and stuff, but you might end up loosing more than them in the end, just cuz 2 parts are never the same. When talking aobut HP loss I would rather round up than down, until you have it all bolted togeather and get a dyno pull yourslef. Take the HP from the motor and chop 100 HP off of it, or say 75. I am getting a 500 HP motor, I plan on driving around with 425.

 

Honestly talk to thebigwelsh. I am buying my motor from him. I 100% garontee you will not find a better price. I am getting a motor that is normaly sold for 7 or 8 grand for 6300, turnkey. Not long block of complete.

Great deal.

 

I am talking to bigwelsh I'm waiting for him to get back to me. Ok so my next question is would my 4 speed manual tranny and car body hold an engine with 300rwhp?

 

From what I understand, depends upon which 4 speed you have.

As for the "body", you need subframe connectors at a minimum, and poly suspension bushings preferred. Boxed or tube control arms on the rear for some hope for control.

Next thing to break will be the rear end. You can try beefing up the 10-bolt with gears, axles, welded tubes, and support cover, but if you subject it to any kind of shock loading at all, figure on needing a 12-bolt or 9".

 

So, what's so magical about 300 RWHP?

 

Nothing magical. I'm just use to having slow cars. My last car was a 97 grand am gt with a 155hp. My current car has 145 hp. I want an engine that's worthy of the cars image. At the same time I want an engine that is still capable of being a daily driver. I still might go with the 290hp engine I saw at jegs but I'm not sure if it's going to make a noticable difference in my car.

 

The 290 horse Goodwrench engine would be about a 50% increase in power over your LG4, assuming you did a full exhaust upgrade and did something about the single snorkel air cleaner.

That, I would think, would be noticeable.

With heads, cam, air cleaner and exhaust, I had a 305 with about 250 RWHP. Still with the LG4 induction/control system, still emissions-legal.

Believe me, the difference was noticeable.

However, my LG4 had more compression than yours does, so your results would be about the same if you did the same things since you have a manual transmission vs. my auto.

To itemize:

Exhaust:
Headers, $380 (you can spend less if you don't have emissions issues); cat, $120 (ditto); cat-back, $275-$500.

Cam:
$200 including cam, lifters, and timing set. Computer-compatible type. You can spend less if you don't stay with computer control, but you'll spend more going non-CC.

Heads:
Around $800 for World 305's, which benefit from self-porting, add another $50 for supplies (plus whatever it takes for you to get a die grinder). Or, rebuild your 305 heads with 1.94" intake valves, new springs, pinned rocker studs, and the same self-porting, around $500-$600.

That will get you to about 250 RWHP, assuming your shortblock is in decent shape (I did that stuff to mine with 141k miles on the shortblock).

Or, spend the $1900 on the engine (don't forget freight and the "little things), and the above for exhaust, and get about the same. At least you'll have a new engine. You could also do the cam, but you'd better do valve springs, too.

 

I plan on putting a open element air filter on the engine. One with a filter on the top also instead of a chrome plate. I want to get 9:1 compresion on the engine (it has 8 or 8.5:1 right now) but I'm not sure how much that will cost. The computer is ripped out of my car right now. I guess thats part of the reason why my 305 blew without any notice.

As for exhaust, I got new short hooker header 1 5/8" to 3", two 2.25 high flow cats and two 2.25 mufflers for a combined total of $300 off ebay. Unfortunetly the budget that was going towards installing my new exhaust is now going towards my engine. Hence the starting of this post.

On the subject of the cams. First what do you mean by non-cc? Second will it make a big difference beyond what already comes with the engine?

Also how much gross power do you think your 305 puts out to get 250rwhp?

 

Filter tops are useless on our cars. It sticks right up in the hood blanket. If you have a opened cowl induction hood, you can perhaps justify it.

"CC" in this case means "computer compatible". If you already eliminated the computer, and did it properly, no issues needing a computer compatible cam. You'll save fifty bucks. However, it doesn't sound like the system was properly converted to non computer control.

The Goodwrench cams are pretty mild. A good Comp or Crane cam would be much better. You could go with the generic stuff like Summit, Edelbrock, or Elgin (they're all the same things), but idle and driveability will suffer for the same peak power that the Comp or Crane grinds will produce. However, the Goodwrench valve springs aren't up to the task of a good cam, so they should be replaced if the cam is replaced.

The gross output of my 305 was probably in the 325-350 range.

 

Will I need to buy a new computer or will the engine come with one?

 

The engine certainly won't come with a computer.

Your stock computer will handle it just fine.

 

Ok so I need to hook up my computer to this engine. Try to get a new cam, springs and heads. And now I just realized that the engine is for pre-emission vehicles. I could still get it to pass (shhh don't say nothin') but what exactly makes it a pre-emissions engine?

 

Just that it's not made for any specific emissions application.

 

That motor has the same short block as the GMPP 350/330HO just the 290 comes with large! 76cc heads but has a cam almost identical to the cam that cam in the 350hp 327's. But like 5-7 said the 290 is rated with 1 3/4" headers, no exhaust, Edelbrock Performer manifold and 600 CFM carburetor. Also I saw you mentioned hooking the computer to it the cam in this motor is not computer friendly at all! But I think the computer in carbureted cars only advanced timing via the TPS sensor and locked the TC when in 4th gear so I think the cam would be fine unless you have sniffer where you live.

 

Not exactly. The 330 HO is a one-piece rear main seal, roller-ready block. Same PM rods from what I've been able to gather, not sure about the pistons except they're both cast.

 

<p>The engine just came in today Im connecting 1 5/8" to 3" shorty hooker headers. Is it going to reduce the horsepower output by a noticable amount?

 

Tell me how you like the 290 I plan on this motor later down the road cause it’s a cheap performance motor for a street car.

The pistons in the 290 are 12514101 and 330 is 12361371 but both are listed as dish as to how much of a dish I don’t know. But when I said same I meant more like if you bolted a set of Vortecs on this motor it would make right around 330hp at least that’s what Engine analyzer says but we all know how accurate these programs can be.

 

More likely 1-5/8" long tubes.

Shorties and full exhaust will drop it down a little, but so will the water pump, alternator, air cleaner, etc., etc., etc.

I think you will be happy with the results.

 

I'll fill everyone in on the results once I'm done with the swap. I figure it should be done early next week. I am looking to forward to the first week of having the engine since I'm going to run it striaght off the headers until I save up for the exhaust.

 

Finally got the new engine in my car. I can definitly feel the power. I can easily peel out in first gear and feel the boost in power in every gear. My head is killing me right now since I'm running it off open headers but that will change tomorrow. <p>Any tips on how to break in the new engine? I must have about 50 miles on it now.

 

I think this is in the FAQ forum, but, this is what GM has said:


1. Always put safety first. If your car is on the ground, be sure the emergency brake is set, the wheels are chocked, and the transmission cannot fall into gear.
2. Be sure to check the engine's oil level and prime the oil system.
3. Run the engine between 2,000 and 2,500 RPMs, with no-load on the engine for the first 30 minutes.
4. Adjust the distributor timing roughly by hand for a quick start-up and the smoothest idle possible.
5. Adjust the carburetor settings, if necessary.
6. After the engine has been running for 30 minutes, set the ignition timing (see install ignition section for timing specifications).
7. Drive the vehicle with varying speeds and loads on the engine for the first 30 miles. Be sure not to use a lot of throttle or high RPMs.
8. Run five or six medium-throttle accelerations to about 5,000 RPMs (55 to 60 MPH), then let off in gear and coast back down to 20 MPH.
9. Run a couple hard-throttle accelerations up to about 5000 RPMs (55 to 60 MPH), then let off in gear and coast back down to 20 MPH.
10. Change the oil and filter with 10W30SG oil and PF1218 ACDelco oil filter (PN 251605610).
11. Drive the next 500 miles normally, without high RPMs (below 5,000 RPM), hard use, or extended periods of high loading.
12. Change the oil and oil filter again.
13. Your engine is now ready for many happy cruising miles.

The oil rating in #10 is outdated, but just use a good 10W-30 oil.