Hi All,

Just picked up a 84 T/A project car to fix up with my kids...its a high mileage 305 V8/700R4 blahmobile. This project is going to be used to help my kids learn about cars/hot rodding etc... and the end product is just going to be a daily driver with a mildly beefed up drive train and suspension and a decent paint job (for now anyways). It has been nearly 20 yrs (college, wife, kids etc...)since I last owned a car/truck that I fixed up and they were all 60's vintage... so I am way out of date on things.

I am planning on dropping a 350 in it and would love to fuel inject it...but the electronics issue (and maybe the cost) has me thinking twice about doing so.

Which years of 350 will bolt right in? what other issues with 350 do I have to watch out for?

What is the simplest and most affordable route to take if I want to fuel inject it?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Neat project. Good purpose.

I assume "Southern Alberta" means this is a Canadian car. That means, most likely, that it is a non-computerized LG4 305. The "blah" part pretty much confirms that.

The only "direct" bolt-ins would be '80-'85. But, the differences with '69-'79 and '86-'95 aren't that hard to overcome. '69-'79 just means the dipstick is on the driver's side instead of the passenger side like yours is, and the driver's side exhaust manifold will interfere with the dipstick tube - no problem, just install headers. '86-up has a one-piece rear main seal with a different flexplate - no problem, just use an '86-up 153-tooth flexplate. '87-up have the center 2 intake mount bolts at 72 degrees instead of 90 degrees like the rest - no problem, just get an intake manifold for '87-up q-jet.

There were about as many different factory 350's as Heinz has sauces. Most of the ones available came from trucks, which don't have very good heads. But, the '96-'99 Vortec truck heads are great - just need a Vortec-specific intake manifold, and there is a q-jet intake manifold available for them.

The stock exhaust is basically junk with regard to performance. Headers and everything back for the '86-'90 TPI single cat application are the good stuff, and will bolt right to a 350 (even one with Vortec heads) and in the chassis. You might need to modify the cat hanger, but otherwise, no problems.

Hope that gives you a starting point. Feel free to search around the Board for information and ask questions that may arise.

 

five7kid,

Thanks for the info...just what I needed. I can now narrow down my engine search and take my sweet time looking for the right engine at the right price and scoop up a deal when it comes my way.

Car is still sitting on the trailer as weather is not cooperating and I have not yet taken a good hard look at the engine...so I assume it is the non-comp. version of the 305.

Thanks for the help and I will go a searching around the board looking for as much info as I can.