Hey guys! I think by now most third gen guys know how fast these cars really are and I would love to get some more power under that hood, but I'm only 16 and I don't have the best knowledge about the differences between the 350 and 305. I've heard a variety of answers for this question, but I really want to hear you guys' answers. I have a 305 tbi with 90k miles on it and I would love to know if I should get a 350 or add power to the 305. I've also looked at WestCoastEngines for a 350 and they seem awesome. But anyways, keep 305 and add mods or buy 350 and throw it in?

- Thanks, Kyler

 

This question is common and has been argued to death! Lol! I think that a 16 year old kid would be happier with a 350...the same goes for any 44 year old kid!
Are you looking for a TPI motor? Carburated? Depending on your skill level or depth of pockets, an LS swap is good too.

 

 

 

Definitely 350 over 305. .....LS is great if but a little more involved.

My stepson is 17 so bear with me on this. If you're mechanically inclined and have been working on cars with dad or whoever your whole life, and you readily have the finances and knowledge to do this, then by all means, proceed. Most at your age do not. I did not. I did minor bolt ons and tweaks, stereo stuff...tint, etc. etc. -but it started an obsession that didn't go away, and here I am at 43. Don't rush it. You probably have a LOT better things to do with the time and money it's gonna take. OMG....total dad moment. I apologize.

 

 

350.

 

350 roller cam only

 

I'll do majority by myself. But I have a parents that know too much about cars and they will probably want to help me.

 

Lol it's alright. I still have a ton of stuff to do before its ready for a new motor. I'm restoring the car pretty much. I just finished ordering the new hooker catback, headers, and y-pipe. Next thing is the radiator, hoses, tank, thermostat, housing, gasket, and a massive flush. Owner before never changed the coolant and now its black and the overflow tank looks like someone threw up in it.

 

 

Thanks for the replies man and will do!

 

88IROCvertZ,

I agree, the LS is a great motor and for the way I like things to be done, it takes a lot of money. I LS swapped my '87 Monte SS. I yanked out the 305 and in went an LS2 out of an '06 GTO. My swap was around $10K but it just wasn't motor and tranny.

 

• 96-2000 truck 350
• Performer RPM intake
• 4bbl -> TBI adapter (make sure it's NOT the one that shifts the TB position)
• 87-95 truck 350 knock sensor, chip (junkyard), and ESC module (also junkyard)
• COMPLETE exhaust system from the heads to the street: a good set of headers that are NOT for TBI (350 TPI would be a better application), a cat, and a cat-back
• Corvette servo and about a 2600 RPM torque converter from a reputable specialist - Yank or Circle D for example, NOT Edelbrock B&M or TCI

Cheeeeeeeepest eeeeeeeeeeeziest ball of fun you can get, in your situation; should be able to do it in a weekend with proper planning and some supervision from someone who has swapped a motor before

Of course, you'll run into a million "might as wells" along the way; fluids, plugs wires rotor cap, belts & hoses, radiator, water pump ... just AVOID any kind of "dress-up" stuff like chrome valve covers. Total waste of time money and effort. Designed to snare money from people with no self-discipline who are easily distracted off the path by shiny things laying in the woods. Don't even crack a seal or gasket on the motor unless you see it leaking; pay what it takes at the buzzard nest to get the best used motor in that year range you can find. It'll cost less that way than trying to low-ball for some POS and then fixing whatever ails it.

 

Yep what sofa said. I'm soon to do a 350 swap also with a 350 out of an Iroc because it was practically give to me. Otherwise I would have went with the L31 Sofa speaks of

 

Thanks d.

Let me reinforce: 96-2000 truck 350. NOT 95-back. NOT 305. NOT "it's almost the same thing". NOT "corvette" anything. NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT. A 96-2000 truck 350. It will have a much taller looking intake than yours, looks kinda like a stack of 8 donuts on edge, with a distributor that looks like a 2-handed glove with 4 fingers on each side but a thumb on only one and a somewhat similar looking TB to yours on top except it only has one large bore and it doesn't have the injectors on it.

Looks like this. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-5-7L...2/372356587200

Accept nothing else. Prepare to pay more for a really nice one; I'd shoot for having $1400 in my pocket, so I could snare the nicest one they got. Some old grandpamobile that he smacked into a ditch or something. That's ... 14 $benjamins; NOT a credit card, NOT a check, NOT an IOU, NOT I can get it eventually, NOT whaddya take in trade, NOT whine about that's too much, NOT I can't afford it, NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT. $$$$, pocket. Pocket, $$$$. Accept no substitutes.

When you start counting out those bills... 9 large, 10 large, 11 large, enough yet? ... people tend to start taking you ONEWHOLEHELLUVALOT more seriously. Plus, if they're asking $1200 and you count out 10 and say, how about now? they're ALOT more likely to "negotiate". Being young, you need to do what you can do to be taken seriously, and even as young and inexperienced as I am thus far and as few things as I've ever encountered in life, ONE THING I CAN ASSURE YOU OF already, is that when a stack of $100s starts coming off your hip and getting taller in your hand, people start taking you MUCH MORE SERIOUSLY. Might even call you "sir" instead of "son".

I also left out: you'll need the TB/injector assy off of the 87-85 truck. And in the list of might-as-wells, "rebuilding" that (a gallon of lacquer thinner, and a paper & rubber kit), and a fuel filter and air filter.