Josh 91RS

Hey guys, I am not to mechanically inclined just love to go fast, so i have a question for those of you who know what youre talking about....I have a 91 rs and also have an 350 engine from an 84 silverado truck that i got for free... just wondering if i can make the switch, and if so how difficult, and will it be worth it perfromance wise? Any info is appreciated

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

If you're not too mechanically inclined, you're probably in a bit over your head. But, if you're willing to learn, and have help along the way, you would be able to do it.

An engine that old, especially out of a truck, would probably benefit from a rebuild. Again, this is something you could do, but you'll need to send parts of it out to a machine shop to do it right. Or, you could just have a shop rebuild it for you.

The performance would probably be better than your 305, but some performance parts added before it is installed, like a cam and head upgrade, would make it even better. You said "350 carb" in the topic, but didn't repeat that in the text. It would be easier just to put the "long block", i.e., the basic engine, into your car with the 305 accessories. But, your intake manifold would have to be modified to get the center bolts to fit, and your 305 flex plate would not work. A carb conversion isn't too hard, but you'll loose some features such as the ability to pass emissions tests.

It's a do-able swap, pretty common, really, but your first sentence makes me cautious about telling you to go for it. If you have some competent help, it would be a good learning experience, and you'd probably like the results.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car. Rescued w/86 LG4/TH700R with all harnesses, sensors, ECM, etc. 2.73 open. Cat-back from '91 GTA, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LB9 w/ZZ3 cam, exhaust, paint, etc.).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. Currently 396 .030 over, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" headers, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & shift kit, 3.08 10-bolt, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1 @ 5800' Bandimere. Daily driver while Camaro was being put together.

Josh 91RS

Thanks for the info. Although Im not too mechanically inclined I have a freind who would be doing the swap for me. However I just wanted to look into it. The 350 i have is from an 84, but i got it from a freind who owns a junkyard, its only got 30,000 miles on it, and he did a compression test on it and i believe it was 165...i think...is 165 good? I think that was the number but regardless he said its in great shape. I'm pretty much just wondering if the hassle to get it switched will be worth it...another route i was thinking of going was switching the tbi to tpi...what kind of effect might this have compared to going for the 350? Thanks for the info.

Russ-So Cal

I noticed your address is listed as Pleasanton, Ca. You won't be able to license any car in Ca with a Carb if it is newer than 84. You can put the 350 in your car with your stock tbi and no one will know the difference. The 350 and 305 are identical from the outside, and the identifying marks are on the back of the block against the firewall. If you want more performance than your tbi will get you,
I would consider the Edelbrock DFI unit. It is not smog legal, so save your tbi to install every two years for your smog check.
The only thing the Edelbrock DFI lacks is the egr valve. If you power a solenoid from
your ecm to fool it into thinking it is powering up an egr valve, the ecm won't know the difference and will think you have an egr. Since the Edelbrock DFI runs on the GM ecm, all you will need to add is a custom chip.

Novaguy76

I am in the process of doing this swap also. I have a 82 Z28 that had the dreaded "cross fire injection". The first problem you will run into with your swap is the dipstick tube is on teh drivers side on your 350 and it is on the passenger side on your 305. to get around this you will need to get headers or a 87 and up 350 block. Next I have found that the starter for a F-body is smaller than other GM starters. I tried to put the regular starter off of my Nova on it and it would not fit between the headers and the block. Other than that it is all pretty simple.