i eventually want to swap in a 350 when i get another car but for right now i an thinking a 305. I just bought my v6 camaro for 400 bucks and want to beat my friends gt. Will a 305 due? or will i have to get a 350. My budget is small. My friend still has his 305 i think so any input will help. Thank you

 

small budget = fun car

more budget = race car...

If your car runs now, save the money until you can do what you want.

 

it runs good right now. My friend and i started a club and my car is the slowest one. I was thinking a 305 swap would be cheap and easy and i could at least keep up with him. I want to build it into a drag car when we get a bigger garage.

 

if you are going with a 305 try and get the l69 HO they came in 84 camaros i know for sure not sure what other years that will give you the best chance of beating or keeping up with him depends on his mods but good luck.

 

IMO if you are going to swap it for a 305 then it better be the lb9 if you want to keep up. but if you want something cheap that makes good power then look into a 4.3 v6 swap for now. you should be able to get one real cheap out of a truck and it made as much if not more power then most 305's did. but a 350 would be better just my

 

The problem with engine swaps is that they cost tons of money, especially the "cheap" upgrades and swaps.

It's the little things that kill you. The motor mounts, weird size nuts and bolts, and on and on...

You can get V8 cars really, really cheap if you look hard. That's the place to start. Save your money for a wrecked V8 car and then you will be money ahead.

Anything else puts you money behind in your scenario.

It doesn't matter which V8 you start with; once you have a V8 transplanted in your engine bay, you can easily drop in a 350 or a 400 later when you have more money!

Good hunting!

 

ALLLLL that work to convert from V6 to V8 and you'll only put in a 305? Invest a bit extra and get the 350- doesn't make sense to waste time swapping a 305 in. And if your budget is seriously $400 then don't get your hopes up, that won't get you far. You do realize your tranny won't bolt up to a V8, right? You'd probably want better sway bars- especially for the front end. New springs so the heavier engine doesn't sag? Do you have an engine lift? Your gauge cluster will be off (tach, oil pressure)- going to replace that too? New PROM for the ECM (if you're computer controlled). You may find that getting the engine will be the easiest part of the swap.

 

I bought an entire parts car for $250.

It was a 5 spd 305 carb motor. That ran.

However, I decided to get better exhaust, headers, cam, intake, accessories etc. $2000 later I had a swap.

Forget the 305 idea and get a 350. Save up the money and do it right the first time.

 

thanks guys. Like i said an 87 camaro for $400 bucks isnt bad. I wanted to go 350 because eventually i want to runs 11s. I work at autozone so my budget is small but i can get parts for cheap. Thanks for the input and the two cents. 350 it is!!!
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One more thing Tpi or carburated?

 

It would be a complete waste of money to spend all your effort on he 305 then. Besides Autozone salary is silly and you only get 20% off which is a joke anyways.

If you want drivability get TPI, you want to go fast get carb

 

good running 305 TPI motor will take out that GT. those year stangs are slow! good running modded 305 will take those out.

but since 350's are EVERYWHERE, i'd go for one of those

 

this guy i work with has an 02 gt 5sp and i got my 305 auto i run him hard everytime. and i bought my 88 t/a for $300 with the 305.

 

I Lied 305 it is. My friends dad just gave me a 305 that he has and knows nothing about. So hopefully i can use the block to build a nice motor.

 

Horray for free motors. Use the money your saved to get a decient set of heads.

 

i have heard vortec heads but nova uses vette heads. which is better? I want to run 10's using nos eventually.

 

02 Gt's are a heck of a lot faster than those 98's. whats all done to the 305 to be running a 02 GT stang hard?


running 10's on a nitrous 305 will be very hard to do. you'll need a BIG shot and a motor bottom end that will hold that power. All forged, with good heads such as trick flow 175cc aluminum heads. they are designed for smaller bored motors, 283-350 motors.

With a good intake like an HSR or superam, on a 305 with decent compression and those aluminum heads with a nice sized cam, i can see that motor running VERY hard n/a and very good on nitrous..... but it be alot easier and better off doing a 350 block motor build, and getting a 383 stroker kit. all forged parts for the nitrous is the same cost, 350 or 383 for that matter, so go with more inches.

mild build ups, i'd use the aluminum vette heads which have the 58 cc combustion chambers to keep the 305 compression up. vortecs flow better but 64 cc will drop the compression down if you get stock compression pistons. if you do a complete rebuild, then get pistons that will give the compression you want. I'd shoot for 10-10.5 to 1 on a aluminum headed motor, and near 9.5-10 to 1 with iron heads

 

I would say to get a 350, they go pretty cheap at autowreckers, I myself just bought a mint 350 from ralphs for $904.00, this is without the tranny tho cuz i already have 1. i can see where ur gonna have trouble will most likely be the motormounts. but other then that its pretty much a direct bolt up procedure. and if its carb u dont have to worry about wiring. i think a 350 engine with a tranny would go for about roughly $1100.00, and a 305 with a tranny is like $850.00. Depending on where u live I could sell u my 305 for cheap if u wanted to rebuild it.

 

if i dont get that motor my friend said he would give me a 307. I just need to find a 700r4. Would junkyards have them or do people want those alot?

 

Well if it helps, I have a basically stock carb 305 and my friends 96 gt with mods took me by about a cars length, Id say go with the 350 from the start, thats my next big plan

 

350's are cheap enough, and if your using your car strictly for drag there's a lot of guys on TGO that are looking for interior parts. So that could help your budget out. I used to work at Autozone and don't waste your money on there parts, The're ****. I bought a Duralast wireset for my camaro and it jumped an arc like it was running the hurdles. I exchanged the wireset and the same thing happened. Your 20% discount also sucks because it is on in store parts only at well at least at my store the only performance parts we carried were a performer intake and a Holley carb. the rest is all VDP. Your best bet is forums here, swap meets, eBay, and boneyards.

 

not a heck of alot. it is high output. the exhaust is done.and my tranny is brand new from jasper. we always go about bumper length one way or the other

 

I would agree with alot of people here and say go with the 350. Depending on where you live, craigslist.com is a great place to find engine tranny combos for cheap. I often see trucks being parted out and a 350 and 700r4 combo going for under 500. Remember what someone else said though, its not the engine that is going to hurt your pocket, it is most likly going to be all the small things that add up.
Also, when racing dont forget that you also need traction... do you have a posi yet? How about LCAs and relocation brackets? Subframe connectors are the first things that I do...
When I got into building my car I thought simple engine swap... thousands of dollars later im still not done.

 

well i went to craigs list and found good stuuf. just curious how hard is it to fit a 396 or 454 in my camaro and could i have a/c. I found a few with th400 trannys for 750

 

Dont forget, swapping from a SBC to a BBC is alot more work then SBC to SBC... Also I am pretty sure with the 400 tranny you will need a different driveshaft. Again, with the power of a big block engine you will need to upgrade your rearend. I think you should look for a straight foward 350 swap. You will be more then happy with the power it can make and it is much simpler and def keep up with one of those ponys. SFCS and LCARBS are highly suggested from me! goodluck

 

I know it's been said but, if you are going through the trouble of a swap swap in something good. I favor the LS engines because you can get them almost as cheap as a 350 if you know where to look. Although you would have to go with a carb conversion or setup your car for FI. You end up with a far superior and lighter motor though.

In the mean time you could rig up a remote turbo to your v6 for <$500. and it should only take a day or two to get running. There is a guy on here who didi it to his v6 Cav and is running 12s.

Erik-

 

How far are you from the Bronx? http://newyork.craigslist.org/brx/pts/401669233.html

 

sorry dude i live in TEXAS in the dfw area.

 

i know yall are probably tired of hearing me go back and forth but my friend got me a remanufactured 350 from his brother-in-law for 500 bucks. What should i have it bored to. I wa thinking .30 over

 

Take it to a machine shop and have them do the work, boring it is only used for freshening up the engine, it isnt used for performance purposed except in severe cases. What tranny do you plan on using? What rearend are you gunna run?

http://dallas.craigslist.org/pts/400423744.html Just did a quick look for ya, seems like this guy could have a TON of parts that you will want to use to swap to a V8... (****** the 91-92 GTA taillights while your at it!)

 

Hey man I see you are from the dallas area, have you checked out north texas third generation association www.nttga.net, its a 3rd gen camaro and firebird car club, you should join.

Also if the engine is remanufactured, shouldnt that mean it has already been through the machined shop and bored and built??

 

my car is that exact color but dull. Well when I am ready the guy is going to build it for me but i am going to get a cam and other goodies to put in there while he has it open.