ok i would rather not spend crap loads of money buying mods for my car, i would rather just drop a big *** engine in there.... right now i have a 305 v8 in my 91 z28 and its just not doing it.... i got beat by a new 3.5 altima.............. i mean come on!!!!!! the minivans are catching up! ok so im willing to drop about 2000 to 2500 on a new engine... where do i buy engines??????? and what should i buy... any suggestions????????? looking for at least 350 hp... what else do i need to buy when putting in a new engine, im sure it doesnt just fit right in without needing anything?

also just curious how much money do you think it would cost to switch to a manual????? auto is no fun and i couldnt find a 91z28 with t-tops with a manual.... what am i looking at spending there... thanks alot

~jason

 

alright, go to a junkyard and buy a 350 block and that will be your base....here are some numbers I have found on major components that will give you some good power...

block....maybe $100-200
world sportsman 2 heads...$800 jegs
forged crank .010 machined with federal mogul bearings....$150 at your local advance auto/CSK p/n 12320P
pistons(up to 450 hp) flattop...$159 flatlander racing
scat I-beam rods.....$209 flatlander racing
crane energizer cam and lifter kit...$78 summit(maybe jegs too)

you may need to drill your intake bolt holes to work with the sportsman 2 heads(non vortech) or even get a new intake manifold...but other than that you just need rings, rockers(optional) oil pump($20) harmonic balancer(optional)...and all the other minor components....

you will also need to get the block machined...just look around and find a shop that charges a mid range for machining, you could probably do that for a couple hundred

otherwise that should fit in your price range I would think...good luck!

 

Or a crate engine might be good.

Jegs, GM "Base" 350HO, engine with 64 cc iron vortech heads, 330HP @5k rpms, 380TQ @3800rpms
$2200, all you'll need is a vortech intake, not sure how well that would work with your TPI?????

 

$800 for World Sportsman II heads? DAAAAYYUUUM. If I had $800 I'd probably save up for another month and buy some good aluminum heads like Trick Flows for a few hundred more.

Anyway, if your budget is $2500 be ready to double that unless you are VERY serious and patient. budgets suck, you'll be tempted to buy "one more thing" and "while its apart I might as well---" its never ending.

 

what Mark said... but ditch the TPI until you are able to buy parts for it (or it's emissions time). You'll need about $1500 more to make the TPI system work with the new engine.

If you are not too mechanically inclined I would buy a complete crate engine.

If you can do the work yourself a T5 sway will cost about $500... assuming you can sell the auto for a few bucks.

Why pay $800 for Sportsman's when you could pay $600 for some rebuilt alum Vette heads with the old bolt pattern?

With a bit more work you could make that 305 get 320hp.

 

the sportsman 2's do have the old bolt pattern...sorry guys, I was thinking TPI's had vortech style intakes

plus the l98 heads will not flow as well as the sportsman 2's

 

here's what i did:

bought corvette l98 for $950 - stock screwed studs cuz heads are aluminum
lt4 hot cam $185
high lift springs $48
timing set $50
machine valve guides to clear retainers $32
hardened pushrods $90
~9.6:1 compression
pulleys, head gaskets, oil pump, seals, bolts and all the other refreshers needed for an engine with miles on it: 300-400

i got the engine with the tpi on it which i'll sell and i used the sportsman intake and holley that came with my car

according to dyno2k i'm putting out about 360-370hp at the flywheel

i found out real quick that all the small stuff ads up real quick

 

Look into Holley's Stealth ram. It would take care of your intake problems without costing you $1500. Some other folks seem to have done well with it.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=100760

I'd also suggest the Hot cam since it's cheap and people that have it seem to be pleased.

I know you can get some bare Iron Eagles off of summit for $600 or dressed for $900. Not sure if the dressed is a deal or not.

Course don't forget the simple stuff like headers, exhaust etc. Also, you can burn your own chip for more fuel economy and performance.

David

 

350hp in practice would translate to a roughly mid-low 13 second car, going quicker with a more optimized combo. You can support that kind of power at least to get you started without buying a single intake piece, just run a siamesed stock base and stock runners. Would you go faster with better parts, sure, but you can always get to them down the road. And the most basic PROM burning set-up is only going to run you $160-170. So for less money than a carb swap you can keep EFI if you're willing to spend some time working with what you have (and if you're like most people you probably have more spare time then money, so why not use what you have)

Beyond that is up to you. If i was on that kind of budget, i'd concern myself with a reasonable bottom end and recognize that i'd upgrade heads later on as your budget will be tough to get 'good' heads and shortblock for. Something like a ZZ4 bottom end from GM can be had for under $2k, then run a decent cam and some ported stock 083s (stock iron L98 heads).

Or if you are less worried about the shortblock down the road and more worried about max HP/$$$, try to find a set of cheap used decent heads and put it on a more basic shortblock.

 

Ok wow... im not quite the mechanic, i really dont know how to do anything yet, i have changed my alternator and belts, new radiator... some minor things, but i really have no idea what an engine is made up of, or how to work on it... so i guess maybe my best option would be to buy a crate engine? but am i looking at alot more then 2500$? I would assume installation and "extras" would be alot... anywhere online or magazines i can purchase engines from any advice??? you guys gave great adive but to be honest i dont know what half of it means lol

 

my suggestion to you then is don't get in over your head. if you start doing stuff that requires knowledge and you goof it up you'll just blow a bunch of money and will get discouraged. the best suggestion is read a lot and learn as much as you can and save up your money. try to get ahold of a junk small block just to tear it down and get a visual of how everything works, it's a big help.

there's also the matter of not just putting hi-po parts on but knowing which ones to put on so they all work in synergy and dont fight each other. just to put things in perspective, i've been doing just about all my own repairs since i started driving four years ago, when i bought my camaro just four months ago I still needed my friend, who's more experienced, to help me out a lot with building the motor and making the car decent. this board is an excellent resource, use it.

some things to keep in mind: most people running a built 350 will shred a thirdgen five speed manual (T5) so many of them are swapping in a T56 six speed from 94-97 f bodies. cars with t tops have a tendency of cracking/warping the body due to excessive torque and driving hard so the cure is sub frame connectors. due a search on these topics and you'll get a good background on what needs to be done.

if you're dying to mod you engine, i'd start with the basics like full exhaust, good sticky tires, maybe some aftermarket suspension, big sway bars

 

oh yeah, as far as crate engines check out www.sdpc2000.com www.gmpartsdirect.com www.summitracing.com and www.jegs.com

 

someone told me you can buy a new 350 engine from the chevrolet dealer for 1200?????

 

Honestly, at this point, you are just so much better off to sit back and take it slow and learn for a bit. You obviously think you can just plunk down that money and you'll be set. It doesn't really work that way, 9 times out of 10 you just end up hosing yourself because all the details get killed. You'll be faster if you just chill out and take it slow.
My 92 convertible is heavier than your T-top and has the same 305 in it. I brought it up to G92 specs by putting dual cats on it and a 3.23 rear. And with just basic tuning, headers and a torque converter i'm running 14.1 @ 95.6, and there's still more in it. Granted i am a best case scenario since i know exactly what i'm doing, still it just goes to show how effective just doing the right thing can be, vs. just trying to bite off too much. The entire cost for all my go-fast parts was well under 2k, and even if i bought them all new it wouldn't break your budget.

Basically if you address the same areas i did, you will have hit all the major weaknesses in your car. The last of the 305 TPIs, descendent of the mighty L69 is a very healthy engine as it sits. With a good flowing exhaust, free mods, ported plenum, tuning anda nice rear running low 14s is cake. I ran 14.3 @ 95 like that.

 

Yeah, you can 3yr/50k mile warranty. I did but not from GM directly $1290 including shipping.

Crappy thing is, the cam in that motor SUCKS .390/.410 lift. That's worse than any cam in a 3rd Gen. So if you get it, change cams right away, wish I would have.

 

thanks for the advice ed... just putting mods in your car improves alot i know, and its just alot of money to do all these little mods, when bottom line is i have a 205 hp 305, the weakness is in the engine, if i get a new engine i would be starting fresh with alot more horsepower, then i can mod the new engine, and get way more? thats what i had in my train of thought... i didnt want to spend money modding the 305 because its just not powerful enough, and to make it fast i would have to spend a couple grand, and i thought maybe i could just spend a couple grand and start fresh with a new engine..

 

keep in mind that the beauty of small block chevys is interchangeability. You can put on a full exhaust, port your tpi, put on an msd box all on your 305 and then when you're ready to go 350 what not pretty much everything will swap over, you'll need bigger injectors but the exhaust will bolt right up, the tpi parts are identical and hookup for msd is identical.

good performance also lies outside the engine. tubular lower control arms and relocation brackets will help your take off. you can also get a rear end with lower gearing, at the sacrifice of fuel economy.

oh and if you're gonna use your tpi on a built engine you'll need a custom chip. you can buy one but i dont think all companies will tune it specifically to your car so you have to either burn your own or find someone that'll do it for you.

KISS-Keep It Simple (while you're) Stupid - no offense by that, but that mentality will keep you from getting in trouble, take our advice.

 

I get pretty good performance out of my 305 tpi... I have plans to upgrade to a 350 since I am getting the block for free. I love the tpi setup though I will admit it needs a little work... Check out the tech articles about basic mods. You will notice a difference in performance. I am mostly working on suspension upgrades for my car at the moment. You can make all the power in the world but it your tires are spinning its all lost.

My advice would open up the intake by gutting the air boxes, building a home made ram air for like 5 bucks, k&n filters. Check out some articles on porting your intake.

For Exhaust do headers, high flo cat, and cat back system. I went with the borla exhaust... yeah it was more but you cant beat the sound and very nice airflow. The worst thing you can do is starve and engine...

For suspension upgrades definitely get Subframe connectors. I am trying to get them for my car. Been talking to Sphon. Need to see if he can help me out since I have a conertible and he his shop is in PA which is not far for you or me. I have been looking into traction bars as wheel cause I have serious wheel hop issues.

This site and message board is an EXTREMELY good resource for information. I will spend hours going back through old posts reading about engine combinations and aftermarket parts. I think I would die without that search button. Reading might be boring but it can save you a lot of time and money.

Like the other said. Alot of the little cheaper mods you do to your 305 can carry over to your 350. Older chevy blocks are a little more flexible than the new ls1 style.

There are also several books out there are worth picking up. I have picked up the 82-92 camaro books by shelby and motorbooks powertech. I also suggest picking up John Lingenfelters book on building performance engines. Take a wander over to Barnes and Noble or borders and browse through the auto books. They dont bother you if you are there for hours just reading the books.

Sorry this post got a little lengthy. We should get together sometime. I live in Owings Mills. Any plans on going ot tha GM Nationals in Carlisle in June?

 

I GOT A 458HP 350. mY MODS ARE IN MY SIG. bUT IT IS NOT GOING TO BE TOO STREETABLE, AND LIKE 10MPG. BUT MY TOTAL SETUP COST ME LIKE 2GRAND. bUT I BOUGHT THE PARTS OVER TIME PIECS BY PIECE. bUT WHAT I GOT IS A KILLER 350

 

speedking,

one of your humble servents forgot to include your sig

 

THERE I FIXED IT. SORRY ABOUT THE GUYS

 

Depending on your keyboard, there should be a Caps Lock key somewhere.