Ok Im wanting to turn my 305 TBI into a little speed demon. Of course Its not going to run 9s or anything but I can't take anymore 14s and up. So what should I do. I want to hear everyones input before I do it. Ive got a new 305 waiting to be dropped in. I want to do what I need to while its out of the car. So fill me in guys???????????????????????? Oh yeah and Im on a limited budget. Very limited. What should I use off the old engine and what should I not?

 

if you are on a strict budget you are gonna have to make your choices wisely and lean more towards best bang for the buck stuff instead of going for a big hp number. you are also gonna have to be willing to do a lot of work yourself or with the help of friends. paying other people to do the "little things" on your car is the easiest way to eat up a budget.
first thing you are gonna wanna do is go to the tech articles and do teh ultimate tbi parts 1&2, DIY AFPR, and ALDL lock up switch(if you have an auto). all of this stuff is practically free other than the time spent.
to teh motor going in you are gonna wanna find a used stock LT1 cam. it is much better tahn our stockers and has shown big gains even when used with no other mods. you shoudl put in a little better than stock set of valve springs jsut to be safe, about $40.
if you are gonna put in a cam, you are gonna want to help it breath, both inhale and exhale. it is good to look aroudn on ebay and the classifieds on the f-body, caprice, and truck boards to try to find a used edelbrock performer tbi intake, tehy generally sell for 100-130 in good condition, add 17 for intake gaskets adn you have that covered.
to help it exhale you are gona wanna get a set of headers with a y-pipe. you can go the cheap route and get the hedman's with their y-pipe or you can spend a good bit more for a set of edelbrock TES pipes. the difference is in the y-pipe, they headers them selves are about equal, but the hedman y-pipe is not too hot. the edelbrock y-pipe keeps the 3 inch tubing from teh header collector all the way through the y-pipe, the hedman necks down to 2.5 inch tubing just off the collector. add a 3inch cat back adn either delete the cat or get a 3incher.
just have a custom chip burned and you will be set. you can either do it yourself(you can see how on the diy prom board) or you can look for someone who already has the equipment and knowledge to help you out.
now it is time for some gears go to your friendly neighborhood salvage yard, a u-pull-it is best if you have one near you(email me and i will get you a list of yards in your area), and look for a 3rd gen V6 f-body. you are looking for a rear with a set of 3.42 gears in it. the two ways to identify the gears are to look at the option list( RPO sheet) if it is still attached to the car(camaros have it inside the console box, firebirds have it inside the lock box in teh hatch) and look for the code GU6. if the RPO sheet is gone then you are gonna need to pull the rear cover off and count the teeth on the ring gear. a 3.42 ratio has 41 teeth. there are other ratios that have 41 teeth, but gm never put 2.73 gears in a V6 car. you other option is to go looking for the rare and wonderful 4-cyl 3rd gen. they were only made for a few years(82-84) but they came equiped with 3.73 gears(no other ratios were available with teh 4-cyl). then you call up SLP and get one of the take otu posi units, teh torson diff is for 3.23 and up ratios, all you have to do is take the carrier out of the rear, swap teh pinion gear onto teh slp posi carrier, then slide the carrier back in place. as long as you keep the shims on teh correct sides of the carrier there is nothing else to it. just slide you stock 28 spline axles in place of the axles that came with the rear and you now have a good geared posi rear the complete rear will cost 90-150 from what i have seen, 100 for the slp posi unit, and maybe 20 for good diff oil. while you have it out of the car rebuild teh brakes just to be safe.
do the basics of traction like control arm relo brackets, box your stock control arms, poly torque arm/tranny/motor mounts, and a sensible diet and you will be ready to run some numbers.

hope this helps

later
tim

 

two big things i learned while building my engine is heads make the difference. i dont think theres anything out there that helps an engine more than a good set of heads. the stock heads are very s----y. u'll probably gain at least 40hp at the fw with new heads... and then some boltone on top of that and ur set. like tim was saying, lt1 cam is good...and a new intake manifold. these are the basic things that will make ur car go faster....heads, cam, intake. headers are nice...if u dont have to take emissions get some hooker long tubes... probably about $150....sound real nice if u leave them open. u can find a goood set of heads for about 700...probably world heads. trust me...while the engine is out..u wanna change the heads. thats a pain to change if u change ur mind later.

 

Well the new engine is all new so I dont want to replace new heads or pistons, but other stuff wouldnt bother me. the cam and manifolds is something Im going to ponder on though. I appreciate all your guys' help.

 

You should find out what heads you have on that motor though. If they are the L03 heads I would consider buying some used 305 TPI heads off eBay, then doing a Standard Abrasives port job on them. This could be done cheaply and will be a good improvement over the stock L03 heads.

 

I will check into that. I dont think they are L03 heads. How exactly would I tell?

 

You have to get the casting numbers, I think they are somewhere
under the valve covers. I don't know what they are, but someone here should. If all else fails I will check mine.

 

Ok I will check them tomorrow. Thanx for the input

 

Hey Tim/NJSPEEDER, did you get the e-mail I sent? I could use a list of u-pull-it yards near Philadelphia.

Dan

 

You need to take off the valve covers on either side of the engine and look for a long # between the springs. The last three #'s will be 187.

 

The number I found was on the block part of the heads. It was 376450. GM2t was on it also. Is it possible that they are Hi performance heads in that casing???

 

376450.....75-81...262/267/305..6 or 7 exhaust bolt holes, 60cc chamber

 

Is that good or bad??????? Better than our stockers????/

 

Those were stock on 75-81 chevys whith 262/267/305 engines, they had either 6 or 7 exhaust bolt holes and they were 60cc chamber. Those are your heads for reference. That is all I can tell you, but they are 60 cc, is that good or bad? depends on all the other things in your engine. Sorry i can't help more.

 

Don't forget you can get 305 HO heads on 3rd G resource for $100 a pair. If I start putting together a new motor thats what I'm getting. (Planned combo is fresh 305 short block, TPI heads, LT1 cam, Edelbrock TBI intake, and fully modded TBI unit) Thats gonna be a great budget motor I think. I'm just doing all the other things first for now (Headers going on soon, sitting in my basement, gears, suspension stuff, possibly a 5 speed swap, and sorting out a few bugs)

 

Those 305 HO heads are the 416 castings that can be found on the LG4/L69/LB9 305s. They are the best 305 factory head.

As for the 376450 heads, they were most commonly used on the Monzas and were a smogger head really. They dont have the swirls or valve shrouds so they would have a higher flow. Their ports are pretty small in stock form though.

 

Im not too familiar with the flow numbers............So These heads could be good enough to build on?? Would they hand a 262 comp cam and Performer RPM intake??? Headers etc....

 

For a buget under $1000
1. L98 Aluminum vette heads= $500
2. LT1 Used cam = $60
3. Hooker Long Tubes = $160
4. Gears(327 or 342) = $200(or junk yard price)
5. catback, SLP 2otl(best flow)=$350(i think?)
Total:$1270
These are your best bet for the biggest HP gains. Couple of things that are not listed is your PROM which is going to need changing, new pushrods, roller rockers, roller lifters and new valve springs. If you do not what to do it you can get a great one from fastchips about it'll cost ya $350. But my best advise is, bulid your own 327 or 350 and get a lot more hp for your $$$$$. JM $.02

D

 

I found a 350 block for $150 w/ 4bbl intake..........Should I do it or stick w/ my 305?

 

In the long run you have more options with a 350...

150 bucks is not a bad price at all. And for the same money it takes to build a 305 you build a 350 and make more power...

 

Why does everyone think these are the best heads for a budget build? Because they came on a vette?

Vortec heads just require a different intake (Edelbrock has some excellent 4bbl intakes for Vortec heads and you should swap the restrictive factory intake for sure anyway) and they will make at least 35 more horsepower than the L98s and they're cheaper.

Remember that the L98s have to be milled to 54cc and the Vortecs to 58cc.

 

I think it is because the short comings of vortec heads have been stated too many times. For a budget motor, that does not have to have EGR and is only going to be running a cam with around .45" lift, they are the way to go. You really would not have to mill the heads because although they are rated at 64cc chambers they are actually 61cc, which would result in a loss of maybe 5hp to 10hp over milled vortecs.

You could probably find a set on eBay for $300, also I think their is a TBI vortec manifold on eBay right now and carb manifolds are always on eBay.

vortec heads: 300
carb intake vortec intake: 150
adapter: 50
LT1 cam: 60
Headers: 200
slp posi: 100
gears: 200
total: 1060

With this setup I don't think you will have any problems running off the stock chip, but you won't be getting the most power from it.

 

Also one thing to keep in mind you L98 head swappers:

L98 Aluminum= no EGR

L98 Cast Iron= EGR


JR, GM is the only manufacturer of aluminum Vortec TBI intakes that I know of.

 

Aluminum schmaliminum ... egr=plugs for egr=less money for cast iron heads. on a pos 305 who'll know the difference?

Want to make real HP step up to a 350. 350 = bigger bore = bigger valves = better head design = LOTS of great aftermarket heads.

I prefer Dart Iron Eagles.. but AFRs are a great choice too if you got the money to spend.

 

Yeah that's always not the easiest solutions in some cases

 

not always the hardest either

 

Not always the hardest on your wallet yeah that's it.

 

If the 305 is out of the car, might be a good time to put a windage tray on it. Might free up a few hp

 

Whats that???

 

its a plate that goes on the main bolt caps of the block to keep excess oil off the crank to let it spin more free.

 

Oh.....I still dont know what that is exactly but I will look for one when I start working on this engine...

 

see how it conforms to the cranks curves. looks like this one bolts to the block above the oil pan


http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=12548

 

Oh Ok I see now.... Thanks....Thats something probably worth getting...