Hi, I'm 16 and i have a 87' T/A it has a 305, with the 4bbl... and 126 thousand miles.. The motor doesnt smoke and i havn't had any problems with. But I'm looking for more power.. I was thinking of getting some bolt on stuff for it, but then i thought a 350 would do the trick. Advanced auto can give me everything i need for $1,500 that icudes Header, HP perfromer intake, edlebroke 600cfm carb... everything and a 15 month unlimited warrenty... so that sounds like it would be best... they said my old distribeter would work, and i would put a MSD box on it... since I'd be doing this i would have to have it inspected, and passed Illeagly, so im not worried about that... Im worried that everything will easily go together.. will my tranny handle (auto) it? and how many other modifications will have to do? I have the best looking 3rd gen in town. thats 100 people too! im pretty proud of it and i always catch the eyes, Im just wondering what all else i might have to do... or will it be a easy switch? thanks!

 

Your old distributor will not work, since its ECM controlled.

 

Not sure what you mean by "passed illegally"? I am doing the same swap on an '86 firechicken. My 305 had 186,000 miles and still ran pretty well. Pulled the engine and built up a 350. It's finally in the car, but not connected to anything yet.

Anyway - if you can get away with the emissions thing then good for you. Otherwise, you will have to figure out how to make power AND meet emissions. That takes a bit more effort, but you should be able to do it.

If you buy an engine from some rebuilder (I know nothing of the place you mentioned)you shoud be really certain of their reputation and what went into that motor.

Your engine uses the computer to control the distributor and the carb. If you plan to reuse them both, as do I, you may need to reprogram the PROM in your computer - or buy a chip already done up for you. You didn't say anything about the catalytic converter, air pump or EGR. You'll have to figure out if you plan to keep them or not. Any old header will connect to the block, but without the AIR fittings, you won't be able to hook up the smog stuff.

Oh yeah, I don't for sure about the tranny - I'd run it for now, maybe with a better torque converter, flush the old crappy fluid, add a filter, etc.

have fun - but realize it takes a little planning and some cash to make this work.

 

I have to second what Fazool said. I'm doing the swap in my 85 IROC w/5 spd. I'm in sunny California so the emissions thing here is a real b****. I've spent several months figuring what I can and can't get away with (I won't be legal here no matter what because of the 350/manual trans combination). Even with the research I've done, I'm still working on a couple of bugs.