i have gone to the dark side.. i bought a 4th gen z28... but my buddy on the other hand just bought an 88 camaro 305tbi, 5spd.. he got it for dirt cheap and i am giving him most of the goodies i had for my bird, before it went away..

now it has been awhile since i have dealt with that dern motor and i want to make sure i have things straight before we pull his motor and start going crazy on it..

the motor had over 150k on it and is burning oil bad, thusly a rebuild is in order..

this is what i have right now..
-lt1 cam(with appropriate z28 springs)
-edebrock t.e.s. headers 1 5/8
-k&n open element drop base
-2.5" cat back flowmaster

what i am looking to tell him to get..
-port/polish kit(so we can work on the stock heads)
-either the performer tbi OR the 7525 OR the performer rpm with the adapter plate(advice please!!)
-new cat
-timing chain
-new valves(advice!)
-bored 30 over with new pistons(more advice please!)
-standard rebuild kit, but if any of you tbi guys know where to find a good complete kit, please let me know

the block is going to take a field trip to a machine shop and get checked out and prepped...

basically i am asking you guys if there are any things i should throw into the shopping cart while i am at it, and also i am asking for advice on which parts and where to get them... i am hoping that a few of you have recently rebuilt yours and had gone though what i am going through..:hail: :hail:

oh, btw... he wont stop buggin me about how much hp this combo will/may make.. please give me your 2 cents on where you think it may be after the rebuild and aftermarket parts...

 

im no expert but id definatly say to pick up some 305tpi heads and port those scrap the tbi ones (there garbage) and im sure someone is gonna say, just get a 350 instead honestly thats what id do

 

tpi heads would be a good idea im sure... as long as i can find some for cheap.. i know the tbi heads are crap, but i know my buddy isnt looking to spend that much.. you know typical story, i know ive read it a hundred times on this message board before..

but anyhoo, thanks for the info..

 

Northern Auto Parts has rebuild kits for every engine. They have a website too. Its a good kit for N/A. Comes with hyper pistons, cam, bearings, maybe rods too.

I would just keep the stock valves, do a 4 angle valve job on them, along with the port and polish job you mentioned.

 

I know everybody says to just get a 350, but honestly when you look at the money you are going to spend to do a full rebuild on that motor and still have a small bore 305 with all its horsepower limitations it just doesn't make sense not to get a 350. As far as porting and polishing those heads and getting new valves; I believe after all that work on those TBI heads you will have spent more money than what it would cost to pick up some TPI heads from a junkyard and the refurbished TBI heads will still make less power. I think in any terms of rebuilding our engines it just doesn't make sense performance-wise or money-wise to rebuild anything that came stock on our TBI cars.

 

Honestly a 350 would be a better idea. You can probably get the cheapo GM goodwrench 350 for the price of everything yours gonna do. And that motor has 260hp. Buddy just bought one for his truck. I almost went with that motor but I spend more for a goodwrench roller motor.

Either that or find a used 305 that runs good. You could probably find one for DIRT cheap that runs good.

If he doesnt want a super fast car 305s are great. My 305 TBI definetly did better on gas than my current setup. Definetly slower tho