So I just rebuilt the 700r4 in my 86 Trans Am and with that said and done the next part of this restoration is to chuck the 305 and transplant a 350. Now, my plans for this car is to build a reliable daily driver with a little power to play with. Horsepower range around 300ish would be ideal. I'm not planning on building a monster, just a driver that's fun to drive, reliable, and doesn't kill me with gas prices.

The car's 8th vin number digit is F meaning the car came originally as a fuel injection 305ci v8 and I'm assuming the tune port injection fuel delivery system. I'd like to go back to fuel injection (previous owner went Edelbrock 600cfm 4bbl), but I'm worried about the cost of converting back and the difficulty of installing it. I've learned a lot over the past few years, but I'm still no mechanic.

As far as the engine itself goes, I'm wanting to revert back to a stock '86 Trans Am the way it came from the factory, but I'm dead set on replacing the 305 with the 350. I have two options here the way I see it. I can pull a 350 block from a junker in the local bone yard and rebuild it or I can order a crate engine after saving up. Which would be the cheaper route, more productive route, or both? If it would cost a bit more to get a better engine, I'd rather go that route, but I'm on a strict budget and can't afford anything too pricey.

Basically, what I'm getting at here is that I'm not quite sure what I should build or buy as far as an engine goes and once I have it, how i should wire the engine for the best possible daily driver 350 with the most mpg I can get without sacrificing too much power. I understand fully I'm not going to get 30+ out of a gen 1 sbc, but I'd like to think I can do better than my 17mpg 4bbl 305 I'm putting up with at the moment.

I'd like as much advice as possible. I'm here to listen and learn. Thanks in advance.

 

Get the complete L-31 vortec engine from a 96 to 2000 GM pickup.
Make sure its a rebuildable core. Rebuild it. Upgrade the factory hyd roller cam a bit but don;t get carried away. Install one of the Edelbrock EFI systems for vortec/ E-tec heads.

 

Why not use the vortec PCM with the engine? Its very similar to LTx systems and has a decent amount of info available

Id go with some sort of EFI engine for a DD. L99 or B-body LT1 will likely be the lowest cost

 

What kind of prices am I looking at here? The Edelbrock EFI system I had looked at was the Pro Flow 2 EFI system which seems to run about $2800... which is several hundred more than a crate engine. Not exactly something I can afford. If I had that much cash to spend on an EFI setup, it'd be a Holley Stealth Ram, but alas, I can't afford it. So what other setups are out there that you guys would reccomend?

As far as the engine goes, I had found a 355 crate engine on Summit for what seems to be a reasonable price. Would this be better or worse than the L31 you're talking about? I imagine it would be running around the same price after rebuilding an L31 with having to machine the block, replace all the rings, gaskets, and seals.

Here's the link to the 355 I'm talking about.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ML...1/?image=large

 

Anyone else care to chime in?

 

17 mpg in your 305. i got a tbi 305 and i get 14,15 mpg damn. I would buy a 350 from someone on here. Better to take your time and run across the right deal than rush yourself and waste money. Nothing like buying a crate motor and a week later seeing someone sell a 350 real cheap cuz they lost intrest or time whatever. My

 

Your TBI is in dire need of a tuneup then. It should get double that mileage

 

How much of the original harness is left if anything? If you can get a stock TPI setup and the wiring is still all intact, you could get by with the 290hp crate motor from gm performance, brand new and only a little more $$$ than my last rebuild cost me... They even sell the 96 to 2000 truck motor as a new crate engine for about $2100... 300 hp is about all the stock injector can feed and everyone says they're at their max... Still need to upgrade the ECM, there's some guys that will do it for a little over $100... I'd just be worried how much the P.O. Hacked up that wiring...
Just as a point of reference the last motor I rebuilt cost me around $1500 in parts and machine work, I was really kicking myself for not just going the crate engine route. The block I have now I picked for $100, but I've already got $500 in machine work and I haven't bought any parts yet.

 

Yeah i figured that much. its got 131,000 miles but it runs much faster than it should. Have no idea if anything was done internally by previous owner but i will be getting a 350 from a fellow member soon.

 

131k is barely broken in. Mine is at 296k and I can still break 100