If I'm posting a redundant question, I apologize. I searched before posting . What I'm wanting to know is if anyone knows if, in California, I can swap my stock 305 for a 350 (lets say a vortec) straight across or if I'm going to have to do a bunch of paperwork/paying of fees through the DMV. I would really like to swap for a 350 but if it's going to be a hassle I don't think I will do it. But all I can find is info about small block to big block swaps. Help please.

 

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

There are two things you can do:

1) Swap in a 350 with all of the 305 "stuff" on it so it still looks like a 305 - intake, induction, air cleaner setup, exhaust, sensors, etc. If you keep the cam mild, it should pass visual and the sniffer with no problem. Do anything "funny" that gets the inspector looking harder, like Vortec or aluminum heads, and you shoot yourself in the foot. You are also at risk every time you take it back for renewal.

2) Swap in a 350 with all of the "stuff" that came on it from the factory, take it to a referee for the "motor change" verification, go through emissions like normal for the rest of your life. The 350 will have to be from the same model year or later than your chassis in order to do this.

I have "heard" that you can use an engine out of a light truck up to a certain year (which I don't recall off the top of my head), including Vortec. But, I'll have to ask you to search for that yourself, because I don't recall who posted it it.

Can you give us more information about your car?

 

There are EGR intake manifolds for a Vortec 350, there's carbureted, TBI, and TBI, but they're all very costly. And they all require external EGR. The only reason this is a big deal is the matching exhaust manifold won't match up with any existing Y-pipe. Or fabricating some way to attach the external EGR to a header tube?