Ok..

I am going to run Worlds Product S/R Torquer Heads for the 305. Now I am having my 84HO block bored .030 over. Right now the we are almost positive my #8 rod is knocking. So I am going to add the keith black pistons heads instead of stock, will I have to change all the rods or just the one that is knocking. If only one, how much does one stock rod cost? Lastly I am running an edel. rpm cam and have been told its not that great.. but its in and i really dont want to go buy another one since i just bought this not to long ago. Now i have seen you can add roller rocker arms to the heads.. but is there any special rocker arms that will give you a gain in horsepower instead of the stock rocker arms. I go buy everything usually at jegs because its only 45 min away.. so if anyone can help there.. I would appreciate it.
Jonathon

 

only replace what is worn. take it apart and measure everything. it'd be best to replace any part in the rotating assembly as a set. call 1-800-345-4545 for prices. you won't see any real gain by switching to roller rockers, other than having a consistant ratio instead of the sloppy factory rockers. you ought to forget the ho stuff too, rb will give you a big speah about it since it's pretty meaningless if you have ho block or not.

 

You can change only one rod, but you have to make sure it weighs the same as the others at each end. Since your motor is a L69 it may have "X" rods; if it does, you'll need to come up with one "X" rod, maybe not an easy feat as those are (or at least once were) one of the most highly sought-after stock forgings around. I have no idea how much one rod would cost, alot I would think, probably $25 or so. Talk to your local racing ([b]NOT[/b just a repair type place) machine shop, they may have one they can fix you up with, that kind of a shop (again unlike a grocery-cart repair depot) can weigh and balance it to match the rest of your motor. Spend whatever it takes to get that right, if there's any one place you don't want problems in a brand-new motor, it's rods.

You can add roller rockers to those heads. Any of them will add horsepower compared to stock. The majority of the improvement comes from having all 16 with the same ratio. Stamped sheet metal rockers are neve rhte "theoretical" 1.5 ratio, a pile of 16 of them will usually vary from 1.42 to about 1.47, most are around 1.43-1.44, and they all bend which loses even more lift. I would recommend the Comp steel ones. Don't get aluminum if you wan tlong-term reliability; they will just up and snap in half without warning, sooner or later. IIRC those heads come with guide plates, so you'll need non-self-aligning rockers. Make sure before you buy rockers what hardware comes on the heads.

Get rid of that cam. If you have a wasted rod and you're putting in new pistons you'll be tearing the whole block down anyway; spend the $100 for a decent cam, there's no sense in spending as much time and money as this is going to cost you (I'll be very surprised if you can do this for less than $1500), and leave something that inferior in your motor that costs that little to set right. You'll make the money back in a couple of months of gas if you drive it alot, and you pick the right cam to replace it. I would recommend a Comp XE262. It will work with your stock computerized carb if you still have it.

Don't use a "high volume" oil pump; get a regular stock Melling M55, and put the Mr Gasket spring (part # 26) in it.

 

Rb,

Loveland isnt to far away from me, my roommate actually lives there.. just a little coincidence. Yes I plan on driving this car all the time, so steel would be my choice, the cam you refered to is that a roller cam? Also, all the pieces are new except for the block, rods and piston heads. I had those deep cleaned and checked by Napa before installation. So something went wrong.. who knows.. I no longer have the stock carb on it. The car was an 88tbi. My buddy just had that block from before hand so we used the bottom half, from the 84 and the upper half is the newer centerbolt style. Now Im not positive on which kind of oil pump we used, I dont believe it was a high performance, in fact I think it was just a replacement. The carb I now have on top is Edel. 600cfm with the electric choke. It was just very disappointing to hear the car then to hear the rod knocking. I would probably say the same with 1500. My buddies and I figured I should save about 3800 because we want headers and exhaust and some nice chrome valve covers and air breather so when you open the hood it. My goal with this car is to get 300hp. Whether or not I can we will see.. but I know its going to kick my other 88's *** since it has the 2.8 bull****. Now I have one more question, when we hooked up the gas lines all we did was bend the one that wasnt shooting up so nothing would come out, and with the one shooting gas we cut with a pipe cutter and used rubber hose to the carb. Do I need to do anything about fuel pressure or anything like that since it was a TBI? Or can I leave it the way it is, I know its getting gas currently.

 

Forgot one thing, Have you ever heard of Ault and James?? I got my heads there and even a rebuilt 2.8 engine there a logn time ago before I knew anything about cars and have been very happy with them. I know they are a speed shop, but just a thought to cross with you

 

No, that cam is not a roller. They have similarly appropriate grinds in the roller design.

What heads are on it? If they're the TBI heads, throw them away as fast as you can. Get some off of any other 305 almost, they will be better; 416 casting if you want perimeter valve cover bolts, 081 casting for the center bolts.

The oil pump I listed is a stock one. It's plenty if you replace that spring, no need for any kind of high-performance one.

You need a regulator for your fuel pressure... TBI uses about 12 psi, a carb needs about 5 or so. That much pressure will mostly overwhelm the needle valve in the carb.

Personally I wouldn't waste a bunch of money on chrome stuff, it doesn't work any better, make anything last longer, or make the car go faster.

Headers & exhaust would be a good idea. Get a chassis-specific set from Edelbrock or Dynomax or SLP or whoever, don't thin kyou're going to save money by going cheap, because you will spend more in total by the time you get an exhaust shop to make them fit. DON'T get ones for a TBI car; get the whole setup, from heads to the bumper, for something like a 88 350 TPI.

If you're going to have to rebuild an entire motor, it doesn't make good economic sense to spend all that money on a 305. For pennies more you can have a 350 instead. That's absolutely the cheapest horsepower there is; you can either spend all that money on your 305, or spend the exact same money doing the exact same things to a 350, and get 50 more HP. If the 350 block core (you can re-use your crank & rods) costs you $100, that's $2 per HP, no way you'll get that kind of bang for your buck any other way.

 

RB,

Ok I see where you are going. Now I have some more questions. To put a fuel regulator in, On my 2.8MPFI Im almost positive its that black circular thing on the end of the fuel rail. On this car I have no idea, so am i to cut a fuel line and run it there?
The heads I am running now I purchased from a local speed shop in dayton. They were the newer style 305/350 heads. If they were for a tbi, carb, or tpi.. I have no idea. I didnt think that mattered but from what your saying I am assuming it does. Now personally I would rather have a 350. No doubt about it... I mean you just know when you pull up next to a mustang that the biggest thing he has is a 302.. unless its a rare cobra... then you might be in for a treat. Now I know when if i go with the 350 I want to make sure the cyclinder walls are perfect so I will have it bored out as well as the cam bearing replaced. Now with a 350 I can easily see my goal of 300hp happening. But I do not want to continue buying parts and then change them later.. I am looking for a good setup on my car. So here is what I am thinking.. tell my your imput after
350 Block bored .030 over, Keith Black Hyper. Pistons +.030, Comp CamXE262, CompCam Steel Magnum RockerArms 1.6 ratio, Worlds Product S/R Torque Heads either 67cc or 76cc.. both are the same price.. your imput? Hooker Super Comp Shortie Headers, and Flowmaster Cat Back 3' Force 2 Setup. I already have the Performer Intake and the Performer Series 600cfm 4bbl. Now to me that sounds like a good setup but again..im only 21 and just learning.. Im pretty sure that should reach my goal of 300hp.. but with a 350 I would like to get more.. What do you think realisticly? I am a daily driver but do not much car about gas..Now I need to find a block that will match up with my tranny.. as long as the block is 87 and newer I shouldnt have a problem with direct bolt up right. Will my t-5 tranny be able to hold this much more power to it? I am dropping it with the engine and having it checked and repaired becuase of the 5th/Reverse gear is bad. Also if the rocker arms have the spinny end I cant use that right?
Jonathon

 

stagger th roller rockers so they are 1.5s on intake and 1.6s on exhaust. that will match the lift better and free up some extra horses.

 

re: using different rocker ratios, you'll probably gain more putting the 1.6's on the four corner cylinders, intake and exhaust. GM proved this a few years ago. Guess it's too expensive to do at the factory, but it's a good hot rodder's trick to build torque.

 

Ok,

I have been told also you cant run roller rockers.. i am assuming they are the ones with the circular things at the end with a non rolling cam... something to do with the pushrods being shorter or something like that. If you are looking at the heads strait in front of you with the spark plug holes also in front.. is the intake the first then the exhaust to the right of that? and so on and so on?
Jonathon