Hey guys. I ran down to a local salvage yard the today looking for some parts for my Camaro, and they had 2- 350 SBC motors that run well and have low miles (under 60k). One's a TBI and the other is Carburated. The TBI is still in a Firebird, and the Carb'd is in a 84 (or so) Chevy Truck.

My 305 has 198,000 miles on it and it's starting to seem a little tired. Basically this car is my daily driver so if the 305 craps-out I'll be SOL.

I'd like to go Carbed, so that I could fix a problem quickly and tinker a little bit. I've heard that I would need to swap out the stock Fuel Pump. Other than that what would I have to do to drop the 350 and get 'er up and running? I've got a 700r4 transmission that should, from everything I've read, bolt right on. What effect will it have on my ECU to not be hooked up to all of those 02 sensors, and knock sensors and all of that other crap?

If I went with TBI I could pull the ECU and Wiring Harness right out of the firebird. Would I be able to just pull the 305 and drop the 350 and install the new ECU? What problems might I run into with this?

The owner of the salvage yard wants $450 for the TBI and $500 for the Carburated. As of right now I'm taking his word for it that both engines run, and well (they were just closing when I got there, I didn't have time to really look at them) Does that seem like a fair price? It would probably cost me about that much for an engine stand and hoist.

Could I get away with completing this swap for under $1200 or so?
I basically plan to rebuild the 350 and run the 305 until it dies, then do the swap. My father has offered no help, he's still pissed I didn't get a nice Volvo or some car like that, so I'm pretty much going from information online. Any help or insight you guys can shed will be greatly appreciated.

As I said I've currently got a more-or-less stock 87 Camaro z28 with a 305 TPI and 700r4 transmission.

 

The prices are a little high, but okay as long as the engine comes with a warranty.

There was no such thing as a Camaro or Firebird with a 350 TBI. It would have to have been put in there by someone, but more likely, you're getting smoke blown you-know-where.

Neither engine would have very good heads on them, from the descriptions. Either one (assuming it's actually a 350) would be okay with your TPI heads rebuilt and stuck on them. But, that would void your JY warranty, for sure.

Personally, I'd stick with the TPI. Since you're planning on rebuilding either 350, get the price down, and plan on doing the block only. Rebuild your 305 heads, have 1.94" intake valves put in them, clean-up porting if you can swing that, put them on the 350 with the TPI. That can be a really good-running combo, and would run circles around either of the 350's with stock heads on it.

Whatever you do, verify without a shadow of a doubt that the engine you buy is a 350. Go to www.mortec.com , see where to find the block casting # (it's above the bell housing casting on the driver's side), compare the # you get off the JY engine with what the above link says, and go from there.