Hey guys!

I need to rebuild my engine soon . I have never rebuilt an engine but I thought I would give it a try. My ??? is how much am I going to have to spend on various things and how hard of a task is it . I won"t to leave my engine stock as much as possible. I have an 305 TBI L03 with about 126000 on it .The car runs great but it is slowly starting to smoke and burn oil . I know I can go much longer before rebuilding it . But just thought I would get some advice first.

 

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Built my whole motor using HOW TO BUILD THE SMALL BLOCK CHEVEROLET, great book. The others are great books too.

One suggestion, get a 350 and build that instead. This way you don't have any down time, can still drive the 305 and you'll be alot happier with the 350 in the end.

305 and 350 rods are the same from what I understand so you might be able to reuse them. Cast cranks from Federal Mogul are $200 with a core exchange and your gonna need new pistons anyway. Think of this way, if you do a decent build up and your making 1 hp per cubic inch thats an extra 50 horse power.

Buy an Engine stand and the 350 block, have all the machine shop work done put it on the stand and then build as fast as your wallet will allow. Just make sure you keep it sprayed down with wd-40 and get an engine bag. Then when your done swap the new engine in.

 

Just because you are starting to burn oil doesn't mean your engine is shot. These engines have a tendency to leak oil through the valve seals. Before you start a project like rebuilding your engine, do or have a compression check done. My 88IROC 305 smoked everytime it was started cold. New seals and no smoke for the past 20K miles. Its a pain, but seals can be changed in a day if you have the tools. Plus only costs about $40 (valve cover gaskets and 16 seals) if you do it yourself.

 

HOW HARD IS IT TO CHANGE THE SEALS ON THE ENGINE. CAN IT BE DONE BY THE AVERAGE PERSON?

 

Sure the average person can do valve seals. Its not a big deal but I bet it would take you the better part of day to do the job. Maybe a weekend if you like to take your time. You will need some special tools though. Have an air compressor? Hope so, it helps...

I would do as suggested above, and go for the 350. I mean in the end it is better for you. You can keep your car running while you work. If you do a rebuild how I would, it will take some time and more money than you ever wanted to spend. Research the whole thing three times as far as parts go that way you can get the best deals for investment.

Another book I like, I have all of those recommended, is called Engine Blueprinting. Its not specific to Chevrolet, but it has mountains of general engine information for performance and racing.

Good luck...