I've seen many threads on ditching the ccc system when swapping a 350 in, but is it fairly painless to keep the system as well? A well-trusted friend of mine has a lightly modified 70s era 350 he's wanting to unload for $400. Seeing as my 305 is getting to the point where I'm gonna have to dump money into it to keep it going and the 350 has been rebuilt I figure I can't go wrong, but I'd like to keep the ccc system along with the dizzy and etc. Will I need to change anything else while the motor's out? Add a stall? Thanks for the help.

 

I just did this and it works fine. There are some adapters needed for the coolant temp and fan sensors, otherwise everything else bolted right in.

 

Agreed:

In a general way, there's enough tolerance built into that system, that it will work on a wide range of engine sizes.

As long as the cam will give plenty of idle vacuum, it'll be fine.

Older heads have ½" NPT fittings in the heads, but the newer ones have 3/8" NPT. You can pick up bushings at the hardware store to take care of that.

I'd STRONGLY suggest getting rid of the LG4 exhaust. EVERY PIECE, from the bumper to the street. Replace it with a good-quality, CHASSIS-SPECIFIC (not "universal" or "custom") system, starting with GOOD QUALITY headers. Not just the cheeeeeeeeepest thing you can find that it's legal to print "headers" on the box. I'd suggest looking them up for something like a 88 350 TPI. Have them ceramic-coated, both to make them last, and to reduce the underhood heat so all your wiring and hoses and whatnot don't get baked to dust. Get the CORRECT cat and a good cat-back exhaust to go behind it. I'd suggest this one here. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ho...3hkr/overview/ DON'T waste a bunch of spank-off on "duals". All of this should be EEEEEEZY to install; you can do it yourself. No need for "custom" ANYTHING. DON'T take it to a muffler shop. Do it yourself. You'll be glad you did.

 

Thanks, sofa. I was already planning on redoing the exhaust since the PO did some shadetree mods to it and it leaks something terrible as a result. I don't think the cam is very nasty, I drove the truck it was in a few times and it had a nice sound and decent power but I wouldn't think the motor was putting more than 250 to the wheels if I had to guess.

In any case it's now a reality since I threw a rod in the 305 last night. I'm religious about oil changes and eyeballing my fluids, so i guess it was just a tired 30 year old motor that was ready to give up the ghost. In any case is there anything else anyone would suggest before I drop the new motor in? I don't want to spend a fortune but I'd rather do this once.

 

Alright, now that I've gotten to put my eyes on the motor I can provide you guys with a little more information. It's definitely a 70's smogger motor. It's been bored .060 over. Cam is nothing special. No intake (got an Edelbrock Performer in the garage to cover that) and has 882 poop heads. I know you boys don't care for the 882s but between buying a cam and etc, rods, and some shorty headers I'm not gonna have the dough left to buy a set of good heads.

I was looking at a 219/229 COMP high energy cam. Think that will be fine with my setup? I'm really just looking for enough power to have fun with when no one's around, I'm not racing anyone and I'll have xxx horsepower at 80MPH on the interstate just like everyone else also, instead of doing ceramic coated headers, what would be the problem with doing exhaust wrap (properly)?

 

Any of the HE cams will run just like all other 70s smogger motors with HE cams in them, that are so ... gutless. Not a good choice. Use a small XE instead; the 262 would be as far as you'd want to go.

Well first off, there's no such thing as "properly"; and more importantly, it makes the headers rust underneath it. So, buy them and get them coated, ONCE; or, keep buying cheeeeeeep ones over and over. Your choice.

If it's been bored .060", don't expect it to last. (not a problem of .060", as such; rather, that means that most probably it's a "rebuilder special") Don't sink a lot of money into it because you'll be back soon. Run it til it falls apart (it'll smoke, is how it will most likely fail) and throw it in the trash and buy something decent; and save up in the meantime.

 

I see your point with the exhaust wrap, I didn't think about it rusting underneath. I don't have a problem with coating them, and I agree on doing this once.

As far as "buying something decent", as you put it, what would you recommend? I think I see what you're getting at with the rebuilder special thing, and I'd rather spend the money on a solid platform that I can build on later as I have the money than keep buying motors from friends, no matter how much I trust them. Would you go as far as to say I should just bite the bullet and get a crate motor?

 

If you haven't already bought it, don't.

I'd go to the junkyard and buy a GOOD USED 96-2000 engine AHELLUVALOT sooner than some "rebuilder" smogger turd. Prolly cost less, and CERTAINLY would run harder.

Use the money you save to buy a good set of headers; sell the intake you have and buy one that fits the other motor.

 

I have honestly considered doing an L31 swap. Wiring doesn't daunt me, I can read wiring diagrams and I have a FSM for my bird. Carbureated motors are easy as **** to work on, but I miss fuel injection, all the same. Are the 2WD transmissions in the trucks the same ones as in the cars? If so, I'll be going to my local boneyard at the end of the month and yanking one out of a truck.

edit- funny how quickly you go from wanting to keep what you have to saying "F it" and going modern like everyone else with sense...

 

The truck transmissions are "the same" as far as fit; except for the extension housing, which doesn't have the torque arm mount.

There's no reason you can't take a L31, put a carb intake on it, and continue to run your CCC Q-Jet.

I'd do that, and leave the trans alone, long before I'd try to put that ... unsatisfying ... FI system those came with, into my car.

 

Exactly. A spreadbore Vortec intake is all it'll take.

Some will say you need a 350 knock sensor and module (which I got when I did my '86 LG4 to ZZ4-clone swap), but I haven't heard of anyone having issues directly traceable to using the 305 KS stuff.