Ok so carburated 305, and i need more power. I dont have the money for a 350, so im thinking about $500 or less on hotting it up.

My first idea was better ignition and good tune up.

Along with that I was thinking of getting some 1.94 heads to get rid of the smoggers on it.

I have already done intake and exaust, what other things can I do for $500 or less thats relativly easy?

NOS shot, 50-100 shot

Yes but would that cost alot to set up? I dont have have injectors for nos. Plus this is my daily driver dont wanna blow the engine

a 50 or 100 shot wont blow the engine, and its only used when you hit the switch, so no worries on a dd. and a full nos setup isnt that much. maybe a couple hundred.

theres not a lot you can do to a 305 on the cheap to get more power (other than the stuff youve already done). ignition upgrades wont get you much more power and the power gained to cost ratio isnt anywhere near what youll get with nos.

NOS is going to have the best power gain to cost ratio

things like new plugs, rotor, cap and wires are normal tune up items. if they need to be done then do them, but thats not considered a perfornace upgrade

do you have something against Nitrous Express or Zex?

no, its just NOS is generally missused for nitrous oxide.

hmmm

not in my circles but then again we knew about nitrous prior to fast and furious

we call it "spray", "juice" or "nitrous"

And you are contributing to that. Since you know the correct useage, use it.

You mention you already have exhaust. Do you have a full exhaust? Headers, catback, hi flowing cat? If not, get one of those.

Your best bet is to save your $500 and starting planning a 350 swap. That way you will have a better platform for future upgrades.

Excuse you? Theres this wonderfull thing call free speech. I can call it whatever I wanna call it. You and others knew instantly what NOS was, so who cares (other than you obviously) if I use NOS instead of nitrous, NO2, spray, juice, or whatever.

Which 305 is it?

you are correct about your free speech

for what it's worth, I honestly thought that you were pushing him to use NOS products vs just researching nitrous.

I will reiterate; nobody within my circle uses the term NOS unless we are discussing the brand NOS. Maybe that's just a regional thing or experience level thing, who knows. We're "old timers" with years of experience and we don't see that "NOS" has reached the level of "Band Aid" "Coke" or "Q Tip" where the brand name overshadows the product

getting away from the correct usage of the term "nos" and back to what the actual thread is about, i have a 305 and i used to have nitrous in it because i started a thread asking the same exact question about 2 years ago. i ended up getting the cheapest kit i could find for like 400 i think. i dont remember the exact cost. after setting it all up and applying for a nitrous permit, (i live in NJ. you need a permit for everything) i did notice a nice increase in power with a 100hp. i ended up taking it out however because i was going to sell my car and the buyer didnt want the spray in it. and the he didnt buy it..... but thats besides the point. i actually still have it and id sell you it to you if your interested. i also have 3.42 gears brand new too that im trying to get rid of. let me know.

I suggest the OP contact you

I guess I am the odd man out on spraying.There are two primary reasons why I build N/A engines.One is I think after investing in a NOS system and paying in installments for being hooked on the bottle refills so your paying for the N/A build you should have done in the first place.The use of even 100hp shot below 2,500 RPM has a owner that has been miss advised.On close inspection time after time after using a spraying system we find severe wear from the shock of the power adder.Now you can accept that or not.But I warn you I will not reply to "I used it and.........."answers.Stock parts are not designed for that even given the range beyond normal use that is built into them.So the second reason I build N/A engines it does allow for enjoyment of the build in any range of the RPM range for torque(which is really what you want for a street car)and hp.
Bottom line is cheap answers are just that come with all the short comings that come with it.There should not be a deadline on builds.If your coming up short on funds right now,save more until you get to the place you need to be.Sure isn't anything wrong with hard work to get there.

It doesn't matter whether it's 500 HP N/A or 350 HP N/A + 150 HP N2O. They're both 500 HP engines and have to be built to the same strength.

if you want to do it correctly, yes. I'm confident that the OP has spent significant time not only here but other forums and web sites as well. He would have found a constant theme that correctly building a performance engine isn't cheap. With that said, he came here with a $500 budget.

He did not say whether or not he wanted longevity in the engine or if he wanted only WOT improvements. He would have already understood all of that prior to posting yet he came with the $500 budget. So, to suggest a small shot of nitrous is right within his budget.

Now, had he asked if $500 gets him anything significant for around town driving then the replies would all be the same 2 letter word, NO

Yeah but a $500 budget really isnt that practical when he already has the basic upgrades. How much is a nitrous refill these days? I havent had a bottle filled in years, but at the time it was $50 a bottle (10lb).

By saving money and getting something that he can enjoy all the time from idle to WOT (without having to push the button), I really think he will be happier. Just because he has $500 now doesnt mean he should spend it. Save up $500 more then enjoy the extra power at all times. Just my opinion though. The OP already mentioned that he was considering a different set of heads. From that point an engine swap would really not be that much more work. For $500 he should be able to find a good running vortec motor. Throw some valve upgrades at it and a cam and it will be much more then what he has now.

Blue Birdy 07, you really shouldnt refer to a particular set of heads as 1.94 heads. Several different head castings with completely different flow capabilities have 1.94" intake valves. They should instead be refered to by the casting numbers on the heads. More often then not the last 3 digits will suffice. I.E. 906, 416, 186, 062, 461, etc. This will allow people to actually learn that there is a difference in heads and will give better information to those you are speaking too. Same thing goes for using the term "NOS". Regardless of free speach or not, NOS is a company not a product. Anytime the term is used incorrectly you are just passing on incorrect information to people that may or may not know the facts.

I will have to say though, a 100 shot would be fun.

I'm not disagreeing.

Doesn't apply here. By joining this Board you agreed to the rules and guidelines of the Board. You are not "free" to violate them.

NOS is a brand and trademark. You are not free to use it however you please.

"N20" is the proper way to abbreviate "nitrous oxide", as that is its chemical formulation (2 nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom per molecule).

Now...

In order to get a proper baseline, you say you have already done intake and exhaust. Please provide details.

While I agree one of the cheapest ways to boost power is with a nitrous kit, let's at least include some facts. The least expensive spreadbore kit I see is an NOS Sniper kit at $400 (plus filling the bottle, which, as noted, is about $50 per fill), which comes with 100 & 150 orifices. The Edelbrock Performer kit comes with 50-75-100 orifices, but costs $70 more. While installation isn't particularly complicated, it does require some basic mechanical and wiring skills, and must be done carefully and properly. Doing it wrong can cost you a ruined engine. And, you need some place to mount the bottle itself (fairly simple in the trunk of my '57 Bel Air, a little more complicated in a 3rd gen f-body).

And, we should also note that upgraded ignition should be assumed when adding nitrous.

But, the bottom line is nitrous is a short-term, WOT event. And, you need to maintain proper bottle pressure (not always an easy task). And, you will need to refill the bottle every once in awhile.

However, let's address some improper assumptions in post #1. You don't have "smogger" heads. You have some of the best small block Chevy heads the factory made until the Vortec 350 heads came out in 1996. Unless you plan on springing for a set of Vortecs (milled down to 58cc 305 chamber size) and the required intake manifold for them, you aren't going to get better heads just by getting heads with "1.94" valves. For one thing, the only factory heads that had 1.94" intake valves were put on 350's, with larger chambers (at least 64cc) - just putting them on your 305 will actually reduce power. And, about 75-90% of factory 350 heads were performance junk. In other words, worse than the 081 castings your 305 came with. So, get your head on straight about what you currently have before you spend hard-earned bucks on something else (assuming the money you have is indeed hard-earned).

Besides, you aren't going to replace heads with anything decent for $500.

The next thing you need to address is the air cleaner. The factory single snorkel is very restrictive. A dual snorkel will do the job there (and you can fabricate your own dual snorkel air cleaner for next to no money). An open element air cleaner is only better under certain (ideal) conditions.

Now, assuming you have adequate exhaust (an assumption I'm not willing to make until you provide more details), you can improve your heads by porting (something you can do yourself if you have or get the proper equipment), new valve springs, and if you really want to, 1.94" intake and 1.60" exhaust valves (the exhaust valves being the more optional). The valve upgrade will have to be done by a machine shop to open up the valve seats to the proper size. While you're doing all that, you might as well have the tops of the valve guides cut for positive-type seals and more valve travel.

Now you need a cam. An LT1 take-out cam is a decent upgrade over the stock roller lifter cam that came in your car. There are plenty of other good choices as well. I would not recommend going cheap and getting a flat tappet cam.

You will now have a much better running engine. So, you need to back that up with a better torque converter, better rear end gears, and a posi carrier (if you don't have that yet - odds are you don't).

AFTER all of the above, if that still isn't good enough for you, spring for a nitrous kit.

FWIW, you will now have a faster car for less money than if you had just gone out and bought a 350 to put in it. If you need that spelled out for you, I will be glad to continue.

The 305 answer isn't always a 350 through.I does and should depend on the O/P and the commitment of the O/P to a 305.Some guys just like the idea of trying to be a giant killer and a want to be different.I think we all could be more open to assisting guys like that.

I could not agree more.

The only thing I said about a 350 in my response is that following my suggestions would give you more power than spending the same amount of money on a 350.

Spending a little bit more and putting in a 350 will make even more power, though.