my friend has a 91rs that recently blew after 210k miles.i have a 55k mile 97 5.7 vortec truck engine in my shop that he's going to buy from the owner.we are going to use the gmpp vortec tbi intake and just use all of his old accessorys and brackets.my only question is will the stock tbi dist. gear be compatible with the vortec cam.i would like to hear from someone who has actually done the swap.thanks

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Sorry I can't claim to have done this exact swap, but if it's worth anything, the factory has been using the same distributor gear since the early 80's at least, before they went to roller lifter cams.

Since both engines have the same type of lifters and cam, there isn't any problem with the older gear on the new cam.

 

no one has done this swap?there are more than one dist. gear.all 305tbi motors aren't rollers and the vortec motor is a roller.

 

If you're still worried: The 91 TBI should be a roller motor, easy enough to check. Although if it was swapped it's highly likely that the original small cap, computer controlled dist is still there.


If you're STILL worried: use the dist gear that came with the vortec or order a replacement gear for that particular engine.

 

They used the same distributor gear whether roller or flat tappet. They didn't make two different types.

The "melonized" gear works on either one.

 

i have done a swap kinda like this i pulled a 97 vortec 350 out 2500 .to answer your question yes it can be done, as long as the 305 is a roller engine as well as the 350. and may i suggest to use the 90-92 z28 cam.Also you will have to change the injectors if you plan on useing the 305 throttle body, and rechip or pull a computor out of a 89-90 5.7 caprice cop car ONLY!.