Keep in mind I have not seen the car in person yet, just talked to the guy selling it. I am going to go see it Thursday.

305 TBI, was running, then stopped. Something with the distributor replaced it with a Junk Yard one and he also replaced the camshaft it would crank over but no start.
He did not realize that the camshaft non NON ecm freindly, and he is not sure if he got the distributor on correct time or not.

He is only asking 5-600 for the car, but I really do not want to get a basketfull of snakes and problems...

SO question is, would a NON Comp friendly cam shut the engine down like that? The distributor thing I can handle. And if it just the cam, that is not a biggie either. To be honest I would probly be converting to CARB later any way.

I just need something that is either easy, or cheap fix cause I need a running car NOW.

 

well it could ber a number of differant thigns really. it could be the cam but if its cranking check for spark first. If that a yes then he prob screwed up something with the cam. You best bet is thats the case is to pull the motor out and pull the heads and intake off and start inspecting.

 

so many options, it could be the dizzy in wrong, maybe he just didn't time it. maybe he didn't set lash properly, so he is not getting compresion. there are SO many options.

 

OK, originally a friend of his had it.
He replaced the cam once, and it would barely run, gave it to this guy tring to sell it now.
He took the vavle covers off, and saw the push rods were short... like 1/8-3/16 or something like that. How none were bent, or sent fling I have no clue.
Anyway, he replaced the cam/lifers/rocker arms/push rods and sometimes it would run, others not. He said alot of times it would idle good, but go over like 2K and it would hesitate and die.

It's just the last part that kinda has me thinking the same thing as him. He simply does not have the time to work on it, and I happened to be complaining about my wife and I having to share her car, cause my camaro died a month or 6 weeks ago.

 

sounds liek he didnt do the timing right or as stated prevoius he didn't set lash properly

 

how big is the cam?

the computer needs to be tuned for the cam. if it is too far off, fueling and spark will cause it not to run. just like a carb whose tune is way off.

 

He said the lobe sep was 110, maybe a little less. Thats why I am kinda thinking a cam pull, a distrib reset and its running again...
At the worst, replace the lifters and push rods back to factory (if he switched them to something else- which may also be possible)

 

I am almost already set on getting the car dependant on the overall condition of the body and such...

 

Maybe you could bargen him down a little and then just fix the car when you get back. Try to find out what type of cam he put in as well as asking for the old valvetrian back. My geuss is that he didn't put the dizy in right along with lash and valve trian selection. A couple of hundred buck could land you the proper valvetrain and a new cam (L98 or LT1).

 

well I really commited myself to getting the car now...

just bid on a LT1 cam, and a complete roller liffter set up on Ebay.

So, might just be a week-10 days before the car comes home running...
used 80K cam, and new valve train components.
lifters, arms, rods, keepers, nuts, spider tray and bolts, the works...

both for around 150 ish... shipped. If the bid stays that is... but the LT1 cams, I have seen getting less popular as an upgrade to most SBC owners...

so it looks like I will be migrating from the V6 side to the TBI side of the forums...

 

good move.

we are more fun than you can shake a stick at.

(anyone have the dancing bananna smiley?)

 

yeah, it'll be nice for a change in engine... had a V6 camaro, that died about 6 weeks ago in a rain storm... damn puddles...

But this will also hopefully be a reliable car that can last for me to get my other project car done, then I can turn around and begin working on the Bird.
I am already cracking open summit/jegs getting ready for a nice grant check this October... headers and exhaust right off the bat. I have a TPI set up that has been collecting dust for years (literally) like 2 or 3 at least, I was going to swap into the 91 TBI T Top I had, but the car just had too many problems, rusted out floors, bad engine... you name it... so it just sat there waiting... SO maybe I will put togeather another (my Third MegaSquirt system) and swap the car to TPI and use the stock ignition converted to vacuum control...

finish the other project car, take the bird off the road. Build another engine (would make 3 in a year) and go from there...

 

Don't bother with swapping to TPI. TPI is junk in stock form just like TBI is. The difference comes in when TBI power comes at a much cheaper cost than TPI.

 

OK, got some more info from the guy today.

A 350 mid 80's block has been swapped in, and the TBI thrown ontop of it. He says the cam is from power house and is the one above stock, so I dunno, I have not looked it up yet or anything.

SO, new question, would the TBI be alright for the 350? I suppose it would be but then again, I am looking for the EASIEST way to get this motor running.

He has told me about some other parts that may need replaced but it is nothing major, just time consuming, and he is going to let me use his shop/tools to get the car running so I do not have to pay to have it towed to my place. Since I have already bid on that stuff on Ebay, I told him about that and he said, if the parts will not swap onto this block, that he would give me what I paid for them(I of course give him the parts), so I think he is turning out to be a REAL stand up guy.

Also, If I am not mistaken a V6 and a V8 driveshafts are the same? he lost the one to the bird, but I have a manual V6 one that is good that I *could* use if this is so.