I really need a "big brother" to help with this, my 3rd 3rdgen bt my first swap. I bought an 89 bird with a 305 160,000 miles, and have purchased a 91 350 roller lo5 pistons to oilpan. Motor turns over very easily and cylinder walls have hardly any discoloration. My goal is more or less 350hp carbd (tbi now). My heads on the 305 have the bolts thru center of vavle covers, I was told that means they are vortecs. Earlier threads on here say vortec is the way to go. The man also has hedman elite headers and edelbrock performer rpm intake I pland on purchasing for a $200 combo. Question 1: Are my heads vortec and will they work? (planned on getting cleand ported etc.) Question 2: Will the Performer intake work with those heads? Question 3: Building ona budget so what parts/combination should I use to get @ least 300hp? Thank you.

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Where do you measure this power?
At the crank? 350 HP is possible.
Net, meaning as installed in the car powering accessories, with the as installed exhaust, and as installed air cleaner? Harder to do.
At the rear wheels? Not likely, but possible.

You were told incorrectly. Having center bolt valve covers mean they were made after 1987. That's all you can tell by the fact they are center bolt.

Hold off until you see what I have to say later.

As stated above, they are not "Vortec". They will "work", but not to get 350 HP.

Let's address this later.

What's your budget?

Power is a combination of cubic inch displacement and air flow. Air flow is a combination of induction, heads, cam, and exhaust.

Good heads are a must. Vortecs are decent. This is a decent kit for 350ish HP: http://sdparts.com/details/scoggin-d...ter/sd8060raag Vortec heads take an intake manifold made for them, and the one you're looking at buying probably isn't. This kit includes the proper intake, and everything you need to bolt it all onto your LO5 block.

Coupled with a decent aftermarket roller cam like a Comp XFI in the 260-270ish advertised duration range, 650 CFM Holley carb, and good exhaust, you'll make that power at the crank easily.

Good exhaust for our cars isn't cheap. Good shorty headers and Y-pipe will cost you $500 minimum (Hedmans don't have good Y-pipes - sorry; except for their dual cat hedder kit). Cat backs are more plentiful, go for something made for the '86-'90 TPI single cat application with 3" I-pipe, and you should be okay.

Thank you for the help brother. Truthfully I want the most bang for my buck, not a specific HP rating. This is my current driver bt I kno it won't be long b4 this 305 gives up also It's mighty weak compared to my older 88 305 formula. Unfortunately construction isn't booming so my budget is about the cost of that top-end kit you attached :/ thats why I was goin to get the intake and headers because he only wants 200 and all are in box. Swap meets and Carolina Bargain Trader are my best friends. I would like to reuse my heads to save a lilbit of $ if it would be worth it to have cleaned and ported or if I couldn't find a pair for about the same price.

If you have a door you need held open, then you've got the right heads for the job.

If you're looking for bang for buck, neither the LO3 nor the LO5 heads are worth the time to degrease them.

it has been rebuilt with stock roller setup bt rebuilt with high-compression pistons, walls are smooth as butter. 2 days ago i purchased a set of completely reworked and ported '72 #882 heads rods springs etc from my buddy(off his 406stroker) also i purchased an Torker 2 singleplane, 670 HollyStreetAvenger rebuilt w spring kit. I plan on changing the stock .38- roller with flat-tappet comp .488 .488 (all from 406) i am mainly wondering how much overall power HP/TQ im looking at with the .488 flat setup and compared to saving time and trouble and just putting the top components on it with the stock roller .38- setup. Also what would the stock roller setup with my components make if i decide keep it roller? Thanks