Okay, so here it is. It's coming up on tax season, and I've got the motor sitting in my garage waiting to replace my tired old 305.

It is a 062 vortec topped L31 block supposedly from a Suburban. I haven't cracked it open but I did peel the manifold off to ebay it, and it looks nice and clean in the lifter valley, sooo so far so good. I don't intend to do any work (cam/heads etc) just yet, just swap it in.

My firebird is a 5 speed, and for the time being I intend to keep the stock tranny. it's seen some miles and might not hold up, but it's what I've got to work with. Don't bother telling me I'm going to need a new one, believe me, I know. I've had my eyeballs on a TKO for a couple years, but 3g's is going to take a while.

So. I can probably find a Haynes or Chiltons with directions on pulling this sucker apart, but I figured I'd ask here to find out exactly what I need.

So far I have:

Carb-friendly fuel system.

An Edelbrock 600 CFM carburetor. I know, I know, holley is better. But this sucker is brand new, maybe seen 100 miles since I top swapped, so I plan on sticking with it. Might be a tad on the small side but it will be a street motor.

An airgap manifold lined up. Will this fit under my stock hood? If not, I will get a low-rise, they are much cheaper anyway.

Now I need to know some things.

ENGINE QUESTIONS

The crank pulley that came with the L31 looks huuuge. Does this need to be changed out? can I use the one on my 305?

harmonic balancer. Can the one on the L31 stay or do I need to pull the one off the 305 and chuck it on there?

Does the L31 operate on the same firing order? Can I just wait for the "whoosh" out of the spark plug hole or should I pop the heads off just to make sure? What sort of advance should I run?

Will I need a new accessory bracket(s)?

TRANNY QUESTIONS:

The transmission is supposedly the same that came with the firebird. The car itself has 179k on it, but the transmission still shifts smoothly and only very rarely catches on 5th gear. The clutch operates smoothly and doesn't seem to have any trouble shifting, except on that pesky 5th. I THINK it should be fine if I dont abuse it. Of course naturally I will be dining on crow later.

Clutch kit. Should I bother with this while it is apart? Keep in mind, I am on a tight budget, and I'm kinda brand new to farting around with a stick shift, but if it is a worthwhile investment, I will pick up a clutch kit if you guys advise it. What signs of wear and tear am I looking for? Is this a difficult operation? Do I need any special tools?

Flywheel. Should this be serviced? If I get a clutch kit, will I need to resurface the flywheel? From what I understand my motor is internally balanced, so the flywheel shouldn't have any weights, correct?

Can I use the same flywheel from my 305 on the L31?

Thanks in advance, I really need some answers before I yank this thing and it just sits in my buddy's yard for a year while I scratch my head.

In the meantime, I'll be ing.

 

-same firing order
-you can reuse your old accessories, use the vortec's harmonic balancer (but shouldn't make any difference)