hows it going people so a month ago i bought an 83 camaro sc its auto with a 700r4 transmission and has a carburated 305 in it i bought the car for $200 the car is a looker straight body really nice carpet and seats but i bought it off a girl who said it wasnt running and she didnt want the hassle so i took it home and fixed the sum broken wires to the coil and after a bit it fired right up but it ran like crap and it puffed blue smoke and i figured it just needed to get warmed up so let it sit for 20 mins and it smoothed out but still smoked.
so i found a 78 chevy 2500 4x4 with a 350 in it bein sold for 500 bucks and it runs really good no smoke no roughness the truck hasnt been registered for 7 yrs the old mans moving and wants it off the ranch and cant take it with him
my plan is to buy the truck swap engines and have a running car and then sell the truck and maybe the motor (probably keep it and rebuild it for practice later)
so im looking for advice on a couple of different things cuz im young and dont have alot of experience working on old american cars (my first 15 cars have all been fuel injected sport compacts toyota,nissan and honda) and i want to do a classic carburated car but i have a tight budget since im still attending school
what issues am i going to have with california smog laws
what potential problems will i run into installing a different sized engine
what small changes can i do to increese horsepower
amd where do i go to buy hard to find and performance parts
my dash is cracked and its buggin the crap out of me other wise 7/10 interior
any and all help greatly appreciated thank you

 

You can swap the 350 no problem, but what you'll have to do b/c of emissions is just swap the block/heads. You'll have to keep your 305 carb, distributor, any and all emissions equip like the smog pump, EGR, etc. So basically you just swap the 350 in and reconnect all the stuff off the 305 onto the 350.

Beyond that, I'm not familiar enough with CA requirements. You might be able to do emission legal headers, intake, etc. - but you'll have to retain all the original emissions stuff like EGR and smog pump, cat converter, etc. Then it's just a matter of getting the carb and timing tuned to pass the sniff test.

 

You can't put an older engine in a newer chassis. You can't put a truck engine in a passenger car.

Admittedly, the chances of the inspector noticing you have a 350 are somewhat slim, but if, for some reason, he looks, you'll fail.

You can put any '83-later passenger car engine in the car as long as you also include all of the emissions equipment the car the engine came from had.

 

While it's true in general that a 350 is better than a 305, the reality of that particular one is, there are FEW 350s that would ANY LESS of an improvement over a 305 than that one, to just wholesale swap in, lock stock & barrel.

That particular 350 was "rated" at 165 HP. Your 305 was "rated" at 140 HP. As you can see, that's AHELLUVALOTTA maze, in return for very little cheese at the end.

However, if you take your existing 305 heads and just have them "freshened up", and stick them on the 350 short block as-is, you'll have a MUCH better engine than either one started out as, for very few $$$. Make sure you get THOSE 305 heads worked, and DO NOT just turn them in as "cores" in exchange for some other ones off the shelf, unless the casting numbers match. MAKE SURE you get the same casting numbers in return. This is very important (for performance, not smog).

When I lived out in CA (N SD Co), I never ONCE saw a smog inspector check the block casting number. I saw them go over every hose, wire, solenoid, valve, sensor, tube, exhaust part, air cleaner, and every other imaginable "accessory" type item; but not once did they check a casting. So although not technically legal (since it's an older motor and is out of a truck and not a car) the odds of successfully getting it smogged after doing what I just described are about as close to 100% as they ever could be, assuming that you hook everything back up like it came and that it all works right and the car "blows the numbers" it is required to. You won't have to worry about the "visual" part of inspection.

Then you can re-assemble all the garbage and stick it in the truck, and it'll still be a truck; just, a WHOLE LOT weaker. But that might not matter much anyway, given how weak it already is. Think of it as, you add up the 165 HP from the truck and the 140 HP from the Camaro, and get about 305 HP; scramble them up and re-divide them; and come back out with 225 HP for the camaro, and about 80 for the truck.

 

Wow, is it that bad there? I just figured a block swap wasn't an issue as long as emissions were met. Glad it's not me!

 

It's true for all 50 of the United States. Just doesn't get enforced everywhere.

 

You guys are all wrong. No one can tell if the engine came out of a car or a truck unless you tell them. The only difference in the engine is the oil dip stick tube being on the driver side instead of the passenger side. Just change the manifold to the 83 and hook up all the emissions and everything else that came on the 83. Get up grades later after you pass smog.

 

wow id only be gaining another 20hp??? i was hoping for more than that lol i was looking for a replacement 305 to throw in there but all i can find is dead camaros that run worse than mine and want 1200-1500 for them but then i found this running truck for cheap cuz it has no papers and back reg and wanted to throw it out there. and as for the smog well ive been doin some research on it from the dmv website and when it says "truck" it means the trucks that are built by companies like freightliner and peterbuilt the really big trucks. nissan and toyota have the same engines in their trucks cars and suv's inow for a fact nissans frontier maxima altima and 350Z all used the same VQ35De for those applications and they all pass just fine the truck to car issue is no problem its using an "older" block how do they really know?

 

Okay, if we're wrong, how is it you just gave an example of how the inspector could tell without being told?

 

I have heard of an inspector checking the cast numbers actually but only because the guy has numerous smog violations. There is some rich guy that runs around buying old caminos and such builds an engine an runs around in it without getting it checked and doesn't bother with any emissions. He just gets the car impounded pays the fine and builds another.

 

wow thats a total waste of money lol y not take that money build a bad *** car and run on the track instead of impunding it or put it in a show