Ok, if you guys were going to get a 350 out of the junkyard to put in your 89 TBI Camaro, What would be the best vehicle to get it out of....?????.Also, what would be the best year???.I beleive I want to use TBI, be it on the 350, or the one on my current 305.....I want as close to a drop in swap as possible...I also want to have a roller motor......Given the fact that it WILL be a junkyard motor, what would you guys do?????? Thanks for any opinions on this subject, Tom

 

All-around best would be a 96-99 Chevy truck 350.

Next best would be 87-95 same application (or Caprice); and locate some 081 (tpi 305) heads off of eBay or the classifieds on this board or something.

WHATEVER YOU DO, you DON'T want heads like the ones you've got (187 - if they're the stock ones); or the ones on the 87-up truck motor (193). Those are {make gagging noises here} swirl-ports.

 

Hey sofakingdom, thanks for the info....now you say 305 TPI heads will work well on a 350????? I will look into the truck motors, might be cheap plan of attack...Yes, my heads are stone stock....Tom

 

My last boss had a 2000 1-ton truck with the same vortec 350 small block in it as above and my current service truck has it as well. It's a 3500 (1-ton) GMC Savanna van with the vortec 350. It is definitely the short block of choice from the wrecking yard. It's a set of TPI heads away from being the perfect swapped in engine for your budget.

 

Check the TBI forum for the budget 350 sticky.

 

Five7kid, I will thank you..........I just want to spend the least, and get the most..........Without a lot of trouble............I have read a lot of the stickies, but still am a bit lost......My last thirdgen had a carb, and it was like night, and day when I put the 350 in it..(All Edelbrock motor)...Thank you all for your input.......Tom

 

hey i have that engine (the 87-95 350) and 305 tpi heads on the engine in the car so i am going to swap the 081 heads onto it but i also wanted to swap to the roller cam i know the lifters arnt married to the lobe so itisnt a hastle but will it work the engine here is the number from the engine 14063638 it says it is roller or flat tapped and 2 or 4 bolt main on mortech.com btw it is carbed and i dont think the flat tapped cam is for a carbed moror because of the 187 heads

 

The 638 block is cast with roller lifter provisions, but often is not machined for them, especially when put in a truck. Only way to know is to physically look at the block to see if it has been machined.

Carb doesn't have anything to do with flat vs. roller.

 

Think I am going to go junkyarding this weekend.......96-99 Truck huh??? i will sure look at some..Thanks, Tom

 

keep an eye out for the 96 and present vans as well,my 2003 gmc 2500 work van had a vortec 350 4 bolt.

 

five seven what do i look for to see if the engine was machined for the rollers
oh and i was just pointing out the fact that it was carbed because thats the real reason for switching the cam. wont it run better than the efi cam?
thanks for all the help!

 

I recently built a budget hyd. roller cam engine. The engine I used was a junkyard LO5 ('87+ block, 1 piece rear main). The drawback to this engine is that the cam is garbage in terms of performance. The engine was originally designed with fuel economy in mind. Also, it does have the dreaded swirl port heads, which once again, are intended for economy over performance. There is still a fair ammount that can be done with these heads in terms of porting, but if you have the cash, you will be better off replacing them with performance heads (as I plan to do). You can usually pick these up cheap at a junkyard (mine was $250, and the cylinder walls had barely started to glaze!).

You can find a list of cars the motor was used in here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrol...ock_engine#LO5

 

The nubs in the lifter valley that the hold-down spider bolts to.
Not necessarily. A modern grind like the Comp XE series would be the best way to go.

 

cool jtb it looks like you have the same situation i do except my ngine is a 355 now and i have a set of 081 87+ heads to put on her and a proformer rpm intake 86 back plus an edelbrock 600 cfm carb i will be installing the 305's roller cam for now until i get some money and take the car off of the road this winter then ill port the heads and cam it for the next season what kind of power do you guys think with 1.6 rockers? and the stosk springs take that lift? what should i do to sure up the heads whsat gasket set should i use to retain the stock push rods? where should i put this post?
i'm almost ready to swap but not quite ready i just need to know all the little problams others have run into doing a 305 + th700 to a 350 t5 setup thanks for any help you can provide! i need it!!!
ps. sorry for littering this thread