First off, i have a pretty much stock 89 RS Camaro with the 305 TBI. Friend just got his 5.0 86 Mustang working so i gotta beef my car up to beat him...

I been wanting to get a 350 in my car and down the line in the future, convert it to a 383. I found a local guy that wants to sell a 350 Block which he believes comes from a 76 Pickup for $75. He says its clean and in great shape, never been bored. Also comes with the Pistons and Connecting Rods.

Would this a good buy and something that would go well with what i want to do with my car or should i be looking for something else?

I've read the 305 To 350 Swap and i am prepared to do all of that. Also would there be anything else i would need to do that isnt listed in that Guide?

Once the money starts coming in, it would probably be in my best interest to get new Exhaust to let the 350 breathe.


Thanks
-Ald

 

It would be alright, nothing spectacular though. I'd port and use your 305 heads, intake, and throttle body. You will also need complete exhaust to make this worthwild and learn to burn chips.

 

Look for a set of heads off either a 081 heads (TPI 305) that have 58cc chambers, port them, and upgrade them to better springsand whatnot, but make sure you have dished pistons, about a 6cc dish to get a better compression ratio.

Or look for the 083 Heads (L98), they have 64cc chambers, again, port them, and upgrade them a bit. You can use flat top pistons with these heads due to the larger chambers.
----------
One more thing, if you are changing the cam, that will be a flat tappet engine, the cams are NOT interchangable between the 2 engines.

Check if the new 350 is 4 or 2 bolt main

 

also, measure the bore.....some guy once tried to sell me a 305 saying it was a 350....I measured and said it wasn't a 350...then he said you could bore it to a 350....then I laughed, and left....it was getting deep there.
it'd be nice if you had a bore gauge too...so you could tell if they were out-of-round.

 

most of the trucks in 69-79 years were 4 bolt and high tin content which is a real plus

like 90% of them were anyways

run the front pad stamping suffix code, three letters such as TLS for example

if its a 350 ten it will have 4" bores

and not any less than that

only buy it if the main caps are with it and bolted to it and have not bene swapped around(are numbered or otherwise can be proved ot be bolted in the original location) otherwise youll have to may more at the shop to have the block align-bored

75 is ok if its a good block,

i would try to find a complete and running old 350 first though, for around 250 or 300 though

but thats just me


also it depends on what you plan on doing,

building a 350 ?

383 ?

something else ??

you plan on spnding some bucks on rods and pistons and hardware and all the other parts youre going ot need, such as oil pan and timing cover and such ? new oil pump rod and fuel pump rod and oil pump pickup and so on ?

its going to add up to some real bucks by the time its over,
you could buy a real strong running used 350 for way cheaper or even a rebuilt one from someone who built one and didnt end up using it

you would be surprised the deals there are out there when youre at the right place at the right time

for 75 bucks i have picked up a totally rebuilt and with TRW flat tops 1972 truck 4 bolt 355 engine 3970014 casting complete bottom end that i stick a pair of 4416 heads on after i had 1.94 valves put int it and it was a seriously fun engine

the bototm end was sitting in a small local repair shop, i asked about it and they were like oh 75 bucks and its yours, i was like uhmmm sold!

thats the best deal ive ever had on an engine so far

good luck