Well I started the swap yesterday. I pulled the 305 out with a little struggle. Once I tore the oil pan off I discovered why the motor seized (see pictures). Also a rod was broke in half and jammed between the crank.

This project requires as much help as I can get because I'm not extremely mechanical. I need help converting this to carb, and I need to know everything I need to do and what things I need. Also what wires I can get rid of. Any help at all is greatly appricated.

The first pictures are taken with a cell phone and then I got some decent ones.

 

Here it comes.


Finally its out.


Wonder why it didnt run?


Hmmm

 

Now using a digital camera instead of a cell phone.


This little guy was fun


Wires upon wires


As she sits right now

 

Good luck with it! Ill be checking ur posts to see how it goes, I plan on doing the same on my 87 Z28.

 

Well to answer your question of which wires you dont need, Its everything on the passenger side, I took my whole harness out in one peice. Very easy to do, just takes some time.
Notice the wires go down into the fender, you have to take off the wheel well cover, get under the dash unbolt the ecm, unplug the wires and fish it out through the hole.
Everything else on the drivers side will run the car, dizzy, temp gauge, starter, alternator, and so on. Im not sure about the fuel system but Im using a mallory 4309 regulator thats a return style. hope some of this helps. PM me if you need some more info

 

Picked up my 350 lastnight. Fresh rebuild on everything. It's a 2-bolt. Casting number 3970010. I think thats a pretty common 350 if im not mistaken. Has an RV cam.

Things I NEED:
Intake
Carb

Decide how im going to run my pullys (try and use my 305 serp or run v-belt) Im not running A/C--- suggestions would be wonderful

Throwout bearing
Fly wheel
Fuel regulator
And tons of information on how to make stuff work correctly. (I.E. gauges, lights, heater, wipers, signals)

(87_355ci_Camaro) I have a feeling I will be asking you alot of questions this summer.

Any parts I'm missing or important tips?

 

I don't know that casting came in three sets, 302, 327, and 350 all from the 60s. Did you measure the bores? A 350 will be a 4in bore.
Go ahead and ask all the questions you need, if I can't answer them someone else will.

 

FYI if u get full heders you can't drop engin with them on it you need to laythem In place I'm the engin bay drop the 350 then bolt them on good luck I'll need it LOL =) if I knew this b 4 I would of saved 4 hours and not wriped apart my hedderwrap

 

well if you are not going to put a/c back in .i would get a alt bracket for pass side and v belt or serp setup for it like that..one belt would run alt ,water pump....other belt would be power steering and underdrive pulley for the crankthats how mine is done with the v belts..you will have to have a standard rotation water pump though,,reverse pump for serp wont work

 

302, 327, and 350 are all 4in bore. They just have different strokes.

I will be running manifolds for now because I was not expecting to do this untill winter and im kind of low on the cash.

I didnt know serp had a reverse water pump. Learn something new everyday haha. The motor came with a normal water pump also.

BUT, I was wondering if i can just pull all of the accersories off the 305 and run them serp with an ac delete pulley? (if they even make them?)

Also, can I use the fly wheel from my 305?

 

Welp, heres the 350.

I know, I know, It's very dirty. Give me a week and i'll change that.

 

yea everything should swap over..to the 350 block if it a newer block if it is an older block you will need a flywheel for external balanced crank

 

All factory small blocks were internally balanced except the 400.

The older small blocks (pre-1986) had a 2-piece rear main seal, and newer had a 1-piece rear seal. That changed the bolt pattern on the crank, so they do use different flywheels/flexplates. Not a really big deal though, they are easy enough to find. You'll need a flywheel or flexplate with 153 teeth and a 2-piece rear main seal (Camaro or Firebird '82-85 should be what you'll look it up by, if you go by vehicle). One for a 305 will work fine on the 350.

 

They do make ac delete pulleys. Got mine from Napa.

 

Got my intake tonight. Nothing special. A GM factory aluminum one. It was on my buddies 350. I am officially running v-belt set up seeing as my friend has a whole set of stock pullys for me. As you can tell my buddies are helping me alot.

Also checked the casting numbers on my heads today #462624. One of the worst heads ever made by GM. Oh well haha

 

Awsome, now as for the heads, get a set of 416 305ci heads, have them cut for 1.94in and port and polish the runners. They will raise the compression depending on which pistons you have. I'm doing the same on my 355ci and there's enough info on here for you to do it you're self. Good luck.

 

I was thinking vortecs?

 

Vortecs are much better if you can find them in a junk yard or don't minf payin the cash for them off line. But that intake isn't gonna work. You'll need a vortec intake. The 305 heads are the cheap mans vortecs in a way.

 

Are those 305 heads pretty common?

 

Oh yea! There very common, they ran great on my rebuilt engine with TPI. If a junk yard by you has a few v8 thirdgens then I highly believe one of them has a set. There's a few other casting numbers to look for that are the same as the 416s, you'll have to search around a few threads to find em or someone can chime in.

 

PM'd you.

 

I can't reply pm's.
I believe they came on the TPI. The othe castings I think were for the carbbed models. You know where harrys u pull it is? I see your in pa, where at?

 

OK I'll see what I can find.

I'm in northwest PA about 2 hours above Pittsburgh and no I haven't?

 

If you put a post in the parts wanted section looking for those heads, I'm sure someone will answer. Harrys is in hazelton, probly a good 4hrs for you to get there, not worth it just for some heads.

 

Progress? If thats what you call it.

Painted the motor up. And getting my 153tooth flywheel, throw out bearing, pullys and belts to run a V setup, and gasket set tommorow

Umm im kind of winging it on the wiring situation. I really dont know what im doing. Help? I already ripped a good share out but I also cut a few things I shouldn't have. Opps

 

iv got a vortec intake manifold i cleaned it and panted it all nice if ud like it for a few bucks idk if u still need it i jsut got to get rid of all my crap i got a lot of parts

 

I dont think those fit the older blocks?

 

yea not unless uv got vorte heads wick iv got too lol

 

How much for both the heads and the intake? what are they from? 350? fully assembled?

 

This caught my eye. I've got an 87 that runs a 92 motor-carb'd.I baught it from a friend who baught it w/out a motor or ecm. From what I can tell so far >> the ecm is gone & so are all the wires to//from it.There are a few more I have yet to finish tracing.I wish you luck with this!! These guys are great! You've asked some questions I would have.THANKS GUYS!!

 

After 12 hours of working on the project today, everything is in the car. But, im too emmbaressed of the fuster cluck of wires everywhere so no pictures.

Still need to hook up power steering, fuel lines, carb, throttle cable, wires, and gauges

 

Ok so its simple, everything on the pass side get rid of, one simple cluster of wires runs to the fender down through the fire wall into the car. Drivers side you'll need, pull all those to that side outta the way. Then go from there and see if you can get it all sorted out. Give some pics too.

 

oh trust me the passenger wires are gone haha. ok hang on i'll grab some pics

 

 

probably shoulda marked everything important on the wires, like the dizzy, temp sensor, oil sender, etc. but thats ok, just a bit more difficult now. go in under the dash, i believe on the passenger side kick panel, and pull the ecm first, it clips up into the dash, should just be able to pop it out, unplug it and voila. the harness...i would hook up all the connections you know youll need, and then start taking out what you dont. when i did my first swap, i actually just left all my wires in. it looked kinda ugly, but i was scared by the wires :S

if you get the ecm out, then you can start pulling the harness through the firewall and fender sections, then it should all come out in one hunk. might have to cut some looming away and reroute a few small things. since you have no ac, then you can pretty much delete all that stuff.

neway good luck!

ps, dont forget a block grounding strap!! i did the first time, and my headers and brake lines did that job for me.

also since your a manual tranny you wont be able to use long tube headers, shorties only. you can find a set on here in the for sale section, maybe even with a y pipe for about 100-150 bux.

good luck!

 

Great progress!! I have yet to even start anything with my swap. I think im still a little intimidated haha, o and the fact that its a 305 to newer 305 swap. not too appealing to most i know but I would like to throw some heads and cam and all that in it so the car can atleast get out of its own way, and I dont have much cash to do anything better.

 

Oh trust me I am very intimidated. Im only 16 and i only have my friends helping me. My dad doesnt know anything mechanical wise so it's not like he can help. I'm kind of winging it haha.

Tried to turn it over tonight and it wont. only when the solinoid is touched with a screw driver. I think the purple wire going to the starter isnt working. Is this possible?

 

i applaud the younger guys for getting into the sport! im not that old myself (22) but i started when i was 17, swapping my truck motors. makes me proud to see more young ppl interested in the lifestyle

anywa, you starter problem...basically you need to make sure your ignition harness that you disconnected when you pulled the motor is still intact, and that when you put the motor in, you didnt pinch any wires or what not. i had to get a new positive battery cable for mine, but since you can arc-jump yours, your positive is good. you need to figure out why your ignition isnt completing the circuit. make sure you hooked up all the wires in the correct spots. if you replaced the starter they often come with multiple ignition terminals, and you have to hook the wires up differently that you normally would.

if you suspect a wire isnt performing properly, inspect it, test it with a continuity tester etc. if you think its bad after that, replace the wire. after i did that with my 350 swap, and fixed my ignition harness (just like 3 wires, nothing major) mine started up fine.

send some pics of the starter if you can, i know it hard to see, but hit us up with some pics and what wires you hooked up where. hope that helps, starter problems are kinda a pain in the butt after all that work.

 

I have some pics if you wanna see my harness... Plus I can tell you which ones are which.

 

Well ladies and gents she fired up tonight. BUT the piece of crap quadra-junk that im borrowing from a friend is leaking from every pore and is clogging up. Hopefully buying an edelbrock tomorrow.

Also, im confused on what to run for a dip stick because the one on the 350 hits on the manifold. Suggestions?

And yes, i would like to see pictures of the harness, but I ran a temporary push button start untill i can get it running perfect. I kind of like it though

 

hmm, what side is your dipstick on? if its driver side, go to schucks and get a 8 dollar chrome dipstick. if its passenger side, i donno! lol could modify the dipstick tube to fit (depending on how bad it hits) with a propane torch and some sand to fill it with while heating/bending it. just make sure your dipstick still travels down it. i had to custom run one of my dipsticks, easy to do, but a lil time consuming test fitting it a few times. worth it though!

 

You can make the DS dipstick work... take the manifold off, gently tweak the tube so that it kinda 'hugs' the cylinder head, but avoid kinking it, so you can actually get the dipstick out. Once you do that, bolt the manifold back on and just pinch the tube with the manifold. Theres just enough of a gap between the head and manifold to do this without pinching the dipstick blade into the tube. This is what I did before I put headers on the car.

You'll probably have to put a very small curve on the leading tip of the dipstick blade to get it to follow the curves in the tube, but thats not a big deal.

 

Ok i'll see what i can find out tonight.

Well i was ready to put my carb on but the auto parts store didnt have it. So im ordering from jegs/summit. But the question is, what carb should I run?

 

With that intake? A q-jet.

But, since you have a T5, a different intake like a Performer that mounts a squarebore carb and a Holley double pumper would bet the better choice.

 

yea with your intake, a direct bolt on without adapter will be a q jet. but if you just go to a napa and get a square bore adapter plate (like 7-8 bux) then you can use a holley or edelbrock. edelbrocks are easy to use and tune, and a 600 cfm electric choke should do nicely for your combo. just adjust the floats and idle circuit and youre good to go. not too familiar with holleys, had one so far but didnt mess with it alot, got it with a top end package. worked good but i had no idea how to tune it.

q jets are usually hard to find unless they are kinda junky, least around here. hop on craigslist and look for a carb locally, you can usually find one for about 50-150 bux in good shape. personally i recommend edelbrock, i kinda consider it a beginner carb.

 

Well I guess I did the right thing because i just did some research and ordered a 600cfm electric chock edelbrock performer carb. Then I got on here and thats what was reccomended haha.

Right now there is a holley 670 on there that im borrowing from my buddies 79 camaro. Runs pretty good.

There valves need some tweaking, and the fan needs hooked up. Havent had a chance to drive it yet but im getting anxious. Motor sounds healthy. That holley doesnt even have a choke and it'll fire right up.

Going to grab some mechanical gauges and line to run my power brakes tommorrow.

Oh, forgot to mention that i already have the carb adaptor.

 

nice work. seems to be coming along well! ive been told the stock qjet is a great carb other than the secondaries dont open 100%. I dont know, rather just throw on an edelbrock or holley myself.

 

If you need any help just feel free to take a look at my engine build, doing the same 305 TBI to 350 Carb. Lots of good info on my build so far with alot of help from others! looks good so far!

 

Not by me. I would never recommend an Edelbrock Performer carb over a q-jet, never recommend a vacuum secondary Holley with a T5, and never recommend an adapter to get a squarebore carb to fit on a spreadbore-only intake.

But, if you're happy, go for it.

 

whys that? iv had good performance with all 4 of my edelbrocks, from the 600 from my first to the 800 avs model. i always hear ppl bagging on them and cant figure out why. neway, some more info from that spectrum would be great.

i reccommended it for his build cuz its a basically stock 350. if he had a cam, better intake and some better heads, then id recommend a holley. if you wanna shell the coin for a redone q jet then ya go for it. but in my research and experience, the q jets cost more that an eddy or holley, and i really haven seen a massive amount of difference in quality and perfomance.

i had a q jet on my first 84, with a junky 350, and had it tuned by a shop in spokane. with the 5 speed, i plugged 20 mpg on a nice day, and it was kinda doggy. i can blame some of that on the tired 350.

after i built my 360 sbc with camel hump heads, an air gap and comp cam, and a 750 edelbrock, i went and had it all tuned at the same place and dynod 348hp and 390tq, nothing major. i drove it home that day (150 miles one way) and even without the tune on the way there, i got 21.8 mpg and it had waaaaaay more oomph too it compared to the other setup.

i donno, i like edelbrocks, but i guess we all have opinions.