I've decided to rebuild my 305 instead up swapping to something else, so now I have a question. Performance Automotive Warehouse offers a "Deluxe Master Rebuild Kit" for the 305 that includes pistons, piston righs, rod and main bearings, gasket set, timing chain set w/ gears, oil pump, camshaft and lifters for $323.

What I'm wondering is, does anyone know anything about this company? Do they sell quality goods, and is this a good deal? Obviously I'll be doing more under the hood than just this, but is this a good starting point or would I be better off geting parts individually from other sources?

As I've mentioned before, I'm new to this scene, but I'm very excited and want to get my hands dirty, so to speak, so the money issue is only part of the reason I'm looking at this deal.

Any and all opinions/feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

Oh, forgot to mention I have an 84 Trans Am with the 305 carbed, and I'd like to stay with the carb. The engine has 180k on it.

This car will, hopefully, be a daily driver eventually, so I'm looking for solid parts and reliability first, then performance. Flashiness is about as low on my list of priorities as possible.

 

id get a kit from summit you can get a kit with oil pump bearings rings hyperutectic pistons gaskets all that good stuff for like 200 bux or something like that.

then buy a cam from comp cams or something for around 100 bux then lifters for like 50 or less.

it'll come out the same probably a lil more than that u jus stated but you'll have better parts and a cam that u selected because im sure the cam they give u is gonna be assey.

and for all sakes and purposes, id build a 350 instead of a 305


to each his own

 

PAW and Summit are two of a kind.

If you live in SoCal, that might be an excuse to go with PAW. Summit has a warehouse in Vegas, so there isn't much difference there, really. Check the prices each offer, go with the better.

I'll second the 350 recommendations. Much better to get your hands dirty on it. Find a builder engine, get a PAW/Summit kit for it, put it together and install in your car. Reduces the down-time on your car, better results for the money, etc.

 

Summit's west coast wherehouse is in Sparks Nevada. Not Vegas. Sparks is about 10-15 minuets from Reno.

 

I bought some goodies from PAW back in 87 and they had great parts. But back then they were called Performance Automotive Wholesale. I dont know if it is the same company but when I bought my stuff it was good.

 

At least I got the "Nevada" part right. That's where most of the stuff I get from them is shipped. Senior moment, I guess...

 

If anybody ever goes to Reno for any reason whatsoever i.e: Hot August Nights, Time-share, vacation, gambling problem, business....make it a point to go to Summit. It's like Toys R Us for grown ups.

 

PAW has been around for decades and have decent prices if you get a complete rebuild package then compare it with Summit you will find the prices are similar. If you find a real low-ball price from someone then better start looking out for what is missing from the package/deal.

Oh yeah -- I'd stick with the 305. Who needs a 350 ?

RP.

 

paw is a good and reliable company. as far as the price, just go around comparing to northern auto parts, summit, etc.

 

I assume you are staying with your 305 because you want a "numbers matching" 1984 Trans Am for sowing at the car shows some day.

Quite honestly, I think you will find out that for only a few hundred more dollars, you could have a long-block 350 for your car. I bought myself a whole 383 stroker for $300 a few years back, and could have probably popped it in with no changes.

If you keep your eyes peeled, you could do the same. 45 more cubic inches equals 30 to 40 more ft.lbs of torque and horsepower. You can use your existing intake, carb, and exhaust, too! The cost of rebuilding it will be IDENTICAL to your 305.

I built up my 305 simply because the shortblock needed no engine work, and I just wanted the practice.

 

This has been beaten to death on this board. 305, 350. I can only tell you what I know, and that is that I don't regret rebuilding my 305 one bit. Sure - there's no replacement for displacement. Simple. If I really want to go fast, which will be my next project... I'll stuff a monster in there.

Not scared of 350's at all myself, so long as they are stock.

 

If you've got your heart set on the 305 numbers matching knock yourself out... but if I were going to do a rebuild, i'd buy a 350, rebuild it the way i like, take a day and do the engine swap. if you're allllll about the numbers matching, take your experience with the 350 rebuild and redo the 305.... swap it out again whenever you feel like it. You could probably sell the newly rebuilt 350 ready for a car atleast for what you're into it, and maybe even make some $.

 

checkout enginekits.com they have good prices and great parts too. Better prices than PAW or Summit.

 

Heh, no, matching numbers mean little to me. At this point, I'm pretty new to this stuff, and I figure I'll do a little rebuilding on the 305 myself to get started and get a feel for things. If all goes well, I'll have the car purring like it's brand new and I'll be able to use it as a daily driver, and maybe someday down the road when I've got some money saved up I'll put together a 350 or something. And should things go poorly, and I'm mistaken in the idea that I can do this stuff myself, the money lost will be pretty minimal and, well, I'll figure out what to do from there. But mostly it's just about starting small and taking baby steps until I feel comfortable enough to be pulling things out and putting an engine together from scratch on my own.

And those prices at enginekits.com are pretty good. They sell quality parts you say? Anybody tried that 305 stroker kit? They say it was in a magazine, but I prefer hearing from you guys. I've already learned a lot from these boards, so I'd take your advice over a magazine or add.

Thanks again for all the responses.

 

I'm going to question the premise that it needs to be rebuilt.

180k used to be a lot of miles, but it's not unusual with good maintenance for 305s to go that distance with no particular issues, especially the bottom end (rings, pistons, bearings). Heads typically need valve seals, sometimes guides. Cam timing set (chain, cam gear) will sometimes stretch & wear. Otherwise, normal maintenance will really keep these engines running a long time.

If what you're looking for is a reliable daily driver with decent performance, that can be had without actually rebuilding the whole engine. A compression test will yield valuable information towards determining that. But, with head porting for better flow, valve improvements such as 1.94" intake valves, new valve springs, valve guides if needed, replacement cam (at which time you'll do the timing set), possibly oil pump, exhaust improvement (headers, y-pipe, cat & cat-back), and (really getting into the nitty-gritty details) ignition coil & module upgrades and a better air cleaner, 305s will run very well. Most of the above would have to be done to a 350 anyway, so you aren't out that much if you decide to move up to a 350 later. (I'll attach my sig again so you can see this is basically what I've done, except I also went with new heads - my bottom end has 153k on it right now.)

That 305 stroker kit is often discussed on this board. The Reader's Digest version is it's an expensive way to end up with less power than a 350 will produce. I'll guarantee you they did a good portion of my suggestions above to their 334 stroker, and also guarantee that you can get their claimed improvement without the extra stroke.

 

You've pretty much hit it right on the head, five7kid. Daily driver with some performance. Thanks for the 411 on the stroker kit, I'm not really considering that I just hadn't seen it before and was curious about it.

Thanks again, all, for the responses. Continued suggestions still welcome.