ok, i just pulled my 305 out of my camaro, now im putting in the 350, i have EVERYTHING, and saturday is the only day i have enough time to put it in, well, everything but the knock sensor which has 3-4 days to get here from yesterday... can i run the engine just to start breaking it in untill the knock sensor gets here, or is it vital. thats all i have...

 

You can do 2 things:

1. Just install your old 305 knock sensor and keep using it. Although the 305 and 350 knock sensors and the computer programming that looks at their signals are different, in the real world there are a lot of guys running around using mismatched 305 sensors in a 350 block with no problems- and they still appear to do their job just fine!

2. Bypass the knock sensor temporarily. Run the knock sensor wire to a cheap Radio Shack 3900 Ohm resistor and then from the other side of the resistor to a convenient ground. This makes the ECM think the KS is there although it is not. In fact I have done this many times as a diagnostic procedure to determine if an engine really has knock or if the sensor is giving false readings.

DON'T just leave the wire unplugged. The ECM will go inot limp-home mode with a lousy spark curve and a real fat mixture. Not the kind of operating conditions you want to break in a new motor.

 

well it came in early, so i got it installed, but i couldnt get the bell housing to line up with the block, so i had to leave everything jacked untill tuesday, humbug