Hey guys,
This is my first thread on this forum and I'm happy to say I am the proud owner of a 87 LT Camaro. It came with a 305 automatic, but the guy said it wasn't getting any oil pressure and didn't sound good at all, so I got a Goodwrench 350 crate motor. It came out of a jeep scrambler that someone wrecked, but only has 2000 miles on it. It wasn't a bad deal. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these crate motors. This is going to be my first big project/mechanical undertaking. My dad is going to help me do a lot of the work and hopefully I'll learn a lot. I've been reading up on the motor and it seems that you can get some decent power out of it on a budget. I'm a poor college kid so budget is the key. One thing I read up on was that the Goodwrench motors are made with a 2 piece main seal, but I think my Camaro may have a 1 piece main seal so I may need to get a new flex plate. Is this true? I think I've gone on long enough. Hopefully you third gen enthusiasts can help me out in the future!

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Your '87 does have a one-piece rear main seal, and most of the Goodwrench engines were '85-earlier and 2-piece rear main seal, but maybe not. One way to know is get the casting number from the block (or just look at the back of the block/crank).

 

you bought the motor without the flexplate? or was it mated to a stick of some sort? most of those crate motors arent bad lil starter blocks i assume its the 260hp one.they are quite torqy and you dont need premium to keep em going either. your going to need headers or keep the manifolds from the 305 you have to make it work.since your on a budget i would say just buy a set of roller rockers and a decent dizzy (a streetfire is cheap and has really nice fetures for its price) and let it go as it is. it will be faster than a stock third gen with the right carb you should beat stock 350tpi cars.