Hey guys as many know I bought my dream car 3 weeks ago - 1988 Firebird Formula with teh 305 and 5 spd. It failed smog when I smogged it in california for EGR so i fixed that and then it was burning coolant so i fixed that and now it burns oil. Compression test tomarrow mornign will reveal the problem and if its rings I'm gonna rebuild the engine early.

So heres my first question. I'm halfway done with registration in California. I need the smog report. I have 3 days left before I start getting charged. IS there a way I can cancel registering the car and stop getting feed while I rebuild the engine?

And heres my plans for the engine.
THe 305 gets bored to a 350 (any other recommended sizes I'm all ears)
New pistions with a 10.5 : 1 compression ratio (must match to new heads)
New rods - no idea yet
New crankshaft - no idea yet
High performance oil pump and larger pan
Crankshaft with a 400+ lift (any recommendations please) I would like to make the car FULL ROLLER.
New heads - home ported and polished with oversized valves - preferably aluminum
Electric water pump
New intake manifold (any recommendations)

If anybody has any other recommendations about what I need to do etc on top of this, please tell me. I also know i need a new tranny which comes next. Same thing on the recommendations. Thanks guys.

 

1. Dont think you can bore a 305 to a 350
2. Being a 1988 model, I am almost positive that your motor is already a roller cam setup.
3. Why do you want/need an electric water pump...save your dollars and just use a regular mechanical water pump, my opinion.

 

You can get an inop certificate that will let you work on it but not drive it.

You can't bore a 305 to a 350, it's not possible. Where did you hear that? To make a 350 you'll need a new engine.

Crankshafts don't have lift figures, you're thinking of a camshaft. And lift is the most insignificant part of the profile. Electric water pumps are not for street use and aren't worth the cost/effort. Your engine is already roller. You just need roller rockers to make everything roll.

What induction system do you want to use? I think you need to do a bit more reading.

 

sorry i typed that up faster. I meant a 400 lift Camshaft. Induction is stock Tuned Port Injection.

My shop teacher actually told me that the 305 could be overbored to a 350. If thats not possible, which years of a 350 am i looking at so all teh bolt patterns match

 

and LT1 have electirc water pumps. They are for street use and save 20 horsepower or so (since it already has electric fans)

will if i already have a rocker engine, what else can I do to this thing.

 

LT1's do not have electric water pumps!!! The water pump is driven by the camshaft.

 

ok my bad i guess. My friends got a Camaro with an LT1 and hes got an electric water pump. I assumed they were stock

ANYWAYS

Can we go back to my original questions about a good motor to build and what you recomment?

 

you ought to do a little research either here or else where, you've made more mistakes with basic facts than you have right.
can't take a 305 to 4"
cranks don't have lift
.4 lift isn't worth messing with
there is no "high preformance" oil pumps
lt1's don't have eletric water pumps
eletric water pumps as a rule aren't very effective on a street driven car

 

yo buddy, lay off the bs. I want a350 - not a 305. I know now I cant bore it out. I was told false info. A high performance oil pump is just a new oil pump. I know cranks dont have lifts - that was a friggin typo. I know now LT1s dont have electric water pumps - my friend has an LT1 and I assumed it was stock. So Lay Off - the point of this thread was not to rip me apart but to help me CORRECT MY ERRORS. Damn

 

Is ede being "negative" to a new member again

 

All of 'em : ). You will need 87+ heads (centerbolt) for the intake to blot up with out minor modifications. For a factory roller cam you will need to find an 87+ block. Although any 350 ca be made a roller with afermarket parts.

 

no Big i'm just trying to help the new guy out by directing him to do a little research before he starts sinking cubic dollars in a go fast project that may make a better boat anchor than it does a hot rod engine. and i've never been any more negative towards a new member than anyone else, if you hadn't of pointed it out i wouldn't of looked ot see how new or long he had been here ,for that matter he may of been here a long time and never reqestered ,but i doubt it.

 

More than likely, an oil burning problem in a motor that runs fine otherwise, is not the rings. It's the valve guide seals. Those are something that you can replace in an afternoon of work, and the total parts bill should be less than $30. I'd do that before fooling around with a compression test, which won't tell you about oil burning anyway.... it will tell you about compression rings, but not necessarily oil rings.

Another common cause of mystery oil consumption is the intake gaskets. The bottom of the ports is directly adjacent to the crankcase, so if there's a leak there, it will suck oil directly into the intake manifold.

 

If you are going to be running on the street mostly in California then 10.5:1 comp. ratio is too high. You might want to consider more like 9.5:1. Even with 9.5:1 you will be pushing it even with premium gas. Unless you want to pay through the nose for octane booster all the time. No you need a 350 block to get 350 cubes 305 won't work even close. You can get the 305 out to like 335 cubes or something like that.

 

I'm running over 10:1 in california on 91 octane with aluminum heads.

How much cash are you willing to spend? Search the tpi forum and you'll get a lot of useful info.

 

I'm glad I live in Oklahoma where we don't have ANY kind of car inspections what so ever. There's some bombs driving around, but most people keep their cars somewhat road worthy. Anyways, I agree with the suggestion about the valve guide seals. WAY easier than rebuilding your engine and a LOT cheaper. Fix that, and save up your money to buy a 350 if you want one that bad. No sense fixing it if it isn't broke! Matt

 

hey thanks guys

so heres what happened. I drove the car down to my auto shop. It was 17 miles away. I had 3 cuylinders left to check for compression but the exhast manifold was too hot so i decided to bleed my clutch.

So i read my cheesy manual and it said remove the slave cylinder bolts and hold it 45 degrees and step on the clutch and open the bleeder. Well I removed the slave cylinder, pulled it out of the hole, yelled to my friend in the car to step on teh clutch, and CRACK hyperextended the slave cylinder. So then I put it back and bolted it and well its shattered. I need a new one.

I will be replace the slave cylinder on monday and the valve seals on tuesday. How exactly do I ho about the valve seals. Thanks

 

Go buy your self a valve compression tool (cheap one will do) and an air hose to spark plug hole adapter. Plug in the air hose to the spark plug hole with the adapter, then you can compress the springs with the tool and remove the retainers, oil shield, and rotators, if equipped. Remember when you install the new o-rings, you have to first compress the spring (the same way you took it off), put the o-ring on, then the retainers and let the spring up. If you put the o-ring on first , then compress the spring, it will damage the o-ring and , well, you may as well not have even done it...

 

Oh ya, repeat this for both intake/exhaust valves on each cylinder, in case you didnt catch that