my step sisters friend is selling his 350 engine from his 79 camaro, its already been bored 30 over. he wants 300 dollars for it. i need opinions and if this would be a good deal?

 

If it's been bored .030", it's got some other pistons in it. So it's hard to say what pistons, and what heads, it has.

I don't believe I'd pay that much for it unless it was brand new and I knew where it came from.

 

well it is someone we have known for quite a few years now. its just been parked at his house.

 

I have a '79 Z28 engine in my car... its a pretty torquey engine, but as far as high performance, its pretty anemic. My L69 was quite a bit faster.

Good base for modifying though, cuz its still a 350.

 

If it doesnt have to many miles, and it runs good $300 is a good deal. Especially for a 355. If you have the money just buy it and get a performence cam,intake, heads, etc. If you need time to get the money put the engine in and just gradually build upon it.It will definetly performer better than your 305 and you have something better to build on.No matter what you will sleep easier at night knowing you have a 350 in your thirdgen.

 

Well consider this, I picked up an LG4 a couple days ago for a customer. The "thing" looks like it is leaking out over every seal. I paid $500 for it because it had good compression, a 350 for $300 running is a good deal.

 

I paid $50 for a strong running 4 bolt main 350 out of an 89 chevy suburban. Pretty good deal, eh. Now if I could stop spending my money on my suspension and get to rebuilding this engine.

 

Since you are not Canadian it is illegal for you to write eh on this forum.

Besides, every Canadian will tell you that eh is ALWAYS followed by a "?".

And when was the last time you saw us Canadians poaching a "huh" from you guys, eh?

 

You can have "Eh?" we don't want it.

 

IMHO anything over $150 is too much for a 350 (not "355") core, that's already been bored once. That's really all that is, is a core to rebuild, when you get right down to it. If you don't know what pistons are in it, or what heads are on it, or what cam is in it, or who built it, or how many miles are on it, and it's been sitting around for however long, it's not ready to just glom off into your car and become your instant daily driver and strip powerhouse.

The fact that it happens to have spent the last however long in a 79 Camaro doesn't impart any magical properties to it. Would you pay $300 for it if it had been in a rusted-out 77 Impala? It's the motor you're buying, not the aura of the sheet metal, remember.

I had a 79 Camaro, a Z28 4-speed, in fact. I traded it off to get this 83 car I have. I really don't miss it at all. I can assure you, there's absolutely nothing special about a 79 Camaro motor; they were pigs, just like all the rest of those 8.2 CR, 882 and 624 head, 929 cam POSs from the 70s, no matter how fetching the sheet metal they were wrapped in seems in retrospect.

But that's just me. 350s are just too plentiful and cheap for me to pay that much for a junk one.

 

Blame canada.

 

ok what i will do is, talk to him today and see all the mods that have been done to it.

i also did a lil research and found out that the 79 camaro came with 170hp.. 175 in the z28, well my 305 has that same hp rating.. 170.. so i would not prolly feel any increase in power whatsoever, but like Air_adam said, its a good base to build up on. just need a cam, some heads, make it a 383 perhaps??

 

I personally would be reluctant to buy. You said its been parked at his house. Has it been run? You never know what condition the engine is in. Since its already been bored it could be beyond that tolerance and need to be bored again and there goes your good core. I second look for a better core unless you know the engine runs well since good cores are easily found. I purchased a 4 bolt 350 for $50 and it was great for a 383 core since it was still at stock bore.

 

Same hp rating, yes... actually less than mine, i had a 190hp HO... but it made alot more torque.... 45ft-lbs more than my HO.

But still, good base.

 

i couldnt find a torque rating on the 79 model.. is that what it is? 450 stock?

 

Well, at least we've sorted this one out

 

Even if the 350 only puts out 170 HP it will still have more torque than the 305, which means that you will be able to get off the line faster or get out of the corners faster.

 

The 350 has no more torque than the 305 either. The way the factory cam on the 305 is designed it had torque because it was small. The 305 also has smaller cylinders so it pulls higher in the rpm range too. Trust me I have both and stock for stock I would take the higher compression 305 any day. My 1984 LE9 305 was rated 175 HP @ 4400 and 275 FT/Lbs @ 2400.

 

That's a good one!!!

What's the punch line?

 

I essentially had, well, still have that motor in the form of a crate. Id hazard at around 280-300 ft-lbs of torque. If your going to be parking your stock tbi over it itll be so slow itll hurt, no, correct that. So so that it brings you to tears. The 0-60 times where like 8 some odd seconds. I was pretty disapointed when i put my 350 in since it was as slow as my honduh and used more gas. With a slightly better cam and lots and lots and lots of tuning Ive gotten the 0-60 down to around 6 seconds and it can get out of its own way now. IMHO, though, its not worth it to go through all the effort to swap in an old, clapped out 350 and get teh same results that the 305 gives and its pretty expensive for a junk core since the only thing youll probably be using over again is the block to make it a 383. Jsut a bad deal all around.

 

Did you seriously just say that?

 

Na, the '79 Camaro 350 I have has around 290 ft-lbs I think (its stock) which is alot more than my HO's 240 ft-lbs.

You do feel the extra torque off the line and out of corners, but the engine really has a sorry top end.. it runs out of steam by 4500 rpm. My 305 HO, although lacking torque compared to the 350, was more fun out of a corner because it would climb up to 5500 or 6000 quickly.

Uh... Fast305?.... who told you that? All else equal, the 350 will always make more torque than the 305 will... always. It will also make more horsepower too, because 1. Its got a bigger bore and 2. Horespower is a poduct of torque. More torque = more hp.

 

A dynojet dyno told me that. When stock my vans 150,000 mile 305 HO made more horsepower and torque than a 1984 chevy truck with a new 350 crate in it. My 305 was 175 HP @ 4,200 and 275 ft/lbs @ 1600-2400 rpm (the curve was flat from 1600-2400) The peak was 285 @ 2000. The thing is stock 305s and 350s are not equal. The 350 is way down in compression compared to the 305. I agree with dimented24x7 you would be dissapointed in the difference when you drop a stock 350 in place of ANY 305. You just won't see much difference if any and sometimes you will slow down.

Thats right I said I would keep my 305. I have both including a fuel injected vortec 350. My 305 is stronger than my 1997 chevy 350 vortec in a similar sized vehicle. I like my little 305 because carbed it gets 3 mpg better than the vortec 350 and is atleast as strong if not stronger. I don't think a vortec 350 puts out 251 HP @ 4400 rpm like my little 305 does.

 

Actually I glanced at the tq rating the other day 260@eh? Dont remember probably 2500rpm.

A 350 has more power then a 305 period.