my 305 has almost 143,000 miles on it. I was thinking of having it rebuilt. What would the parts cost figure on getting midline parts and what would i expect to pay in labor? Approximately?

 

It is almost never worth rebuilding a 305. Rebuild a 350 intead, you will be worlds ahead.

 

i'm not looking for a power increase....i'm looking for a dependable car.

 

Why do you think it needs a rebuild? Using excess amount of oil? Have you done a compression check? If so, What were the results?

I have a 305 car with 267,000 miles that I only added oil when needed. Maybe 2 oil filter changes total. I finally just parked it to drive a different car. It was dependable except maybe for a radiator problem once, and the replacement of power steering pump, power brakes, and things of that sort. The 305 itself held up well.

If your set on a rebuild...consider a crate motor. Usually includes a nice warranty. ~1200 bucks gets you a 260hp 350 from General motors.
http://www.paceparts.com/product.asp?0=343&1=360&3=3169
Many others available.

 

what would i have to add to that to make is work? I have a 4 barrel Q-jet on my 305 now that was just rebuilt. What other stuff would I need to get?

 

honestly? not a damn thing. if you're on a super tight budget, you could get a used/rebuilt 350 and unbolt everything off of the 305, carb, manifold, water pump, power steering, smog pump, and a/c and it will all bolt right on to a 350. it's the same block and mounts. just different cylinder sizes. unless you are absolutely deadset on all original, it's not wise to rebuild a 305. if you ever do want a power upgrade, you're halfway there. check out the engine swap board. on any given day they'll have enough threads to walk you through the entire process. if you have a fair amount of mechanical knowledge, or at least a good sized amount of mechanical common sense (i.e. you know a socket wrench from your @$$hole) you could do this swap. good luck, and ask any questions if you need to. that's how a lot of us learn odd facts and tips.

 

thanks....gonna post over at the swap forum.

 

i will add this... if you're on a super tight budget, follow what i said to the letter. if not, make a list of everything you'd like to fix... "while you're in there". things like motor mounts, bad PS pumps, ac compressors, eliminating emissions components, HEDDERS, things like that you'd love to do, but are easiest when there's no motor in the car (most things are). label them with a priority number, and then find prices. a motor swap can cause the most rabid hot rodder to come out at the worst time. so, my advice, think about your budget, and if there's more you'd like to do while you're at it. L8r man.

 

right now....i'm just looking for something that will be dependable for another couple of years. The car's in pretty decent shape...and it does need a little upgrading but overall it's nice.
It was a good find and for $1500 and 137000 miles....it was worth it. I already got over 5000 miles out of it. I'll make a list of stuff i WANT later....right now...i just want it to run and not worry too much about it.

 

Ok...so the carb, water pump, emissions, PS, intake and exhaust and AC are all the same? Anything else I would need? I just put in a new water pump too....What about the computer?

 

Rebuilding the motor is almost never the route to a dependable car.

Think about the things that have failed and left you or people you know sitting by the side of the road. How about alternator, battery, tires, radiator, water pump, hoses, belts, fluids, rotor, fuel filter, spark plugs..... all of which are far more likely to fail suddenly while driving down the road and are things you could rebuild the motor 50 times and still have go wrong. Or not rebuild the motor ata ll, and just take care of those things, and never have a breakdown.

What are you really trying to accomplish? Is this the usual going to college and don't want to have to worry about it type of thing? If so, put your money on some of those things I just mentioned, and leave the motor alone if it works. Keep the oil changed and the coolant topped off. Other than that, don't touch the engine.

 

the stock computer will run the 350 with no problems or codes.just put everything back together like it was on the 305, and you won't have a problem. it wouldn't hurt to put new motor mounts in while you're in though.... they're a bitch when it's out, and chances are, they're probably not going to be in good shape when you pull the motor anyway.

 

i went with "prothane" mounts in my eclipse...is there a like product for the 305/350 and will it make a difference? Is there a walkthrough on how to swap the motor? I'll be going from my carbed 305 to the 350 in the link above.

 

in a couple of words, #$%* yes. prothane makes just about any kind of bushing, stop, mount, or replacement rubber component you need, and it's all urethane. the part number you need is 7-506, and you can get it from summit for $43 to you door. ask me how i know it fits so much better than the stock ones... all you need is to remove your old mounts, drill out the rivets in the clamsheel, clean em up a bit, stuff the mounts in there, (remember what direction the ears are facing) (you'll see what i mean when you swap the mounts) and then stick em in a vice to compress them, and use the provided zip ties to hold em together until you bolt them in the car. cut the zipties, and voila, you's done. as far as a walk through, I've though about doing a tech article on it, because i don't think there is one, but it's basically: unbolt the engine from the mounts, (three bolts; including tranny mount), unplug everything off the motor, drop the tranny crossmember, tilt, and yank.

 

ok...i've never taken a motor out before.....


Put it in the cradle/hoist...
remove the 3 bolts....
uplug all the wires and whatnot.......
drop the crossmember.....

What do you mean by tilt and yank?

Does the tranny have to be taken off?

If i do this...I'm definately going Prothane....How much better does it feel? I know on the eclipse it made a ton of difference.

Besides all the hoses and belts....what should be replaced in the swap? I'm also going to do the U-Joints and maybe an alluminum driveshaft while i'm at it.....

 

see what i mean? the hot rodder in you is coming out. it starts off as a motor swap and a driveshaft....

anyway, yeah, definitely put it in a hoist first. carefully begin lifting the motor, one pump at a time, until it starts to come free from the car. best way is to use a lift plate. if it's a TPI motor you're lifting, you're on your own.. i dunno how to lift it, except meyb using to bolts on the manifold, but i digress. make sure it clears EVERYTHING. double check for things you hadn't disconnected (like the power steering pump), and when i say tilt and yank, tilt the tranny/motor assembly by pushing down on the tailshaft... keep pumpin g on the lift at this point, until it's pretty high in the air (i hope you have an electric hoist or a good 6-wheel hoist.) then, give it a good shake/yank, and it's out. set it down, and start transferring your accessories to the 350.

 

as far as prothane vs. regular, it feels great.... and that was before I installed them. a lot of guys on hear use prothane stuff, and I've heard nothing but good stuff about them.

 

my driveshaft vibrates the car now at abot 60 so it's in order soon anyway....might as well do the U-Joints while i'm at it. The motor....i'm thinking of getting this 385 a friend of mine has. Trying to figure out the specifics of it now. I have like NO money to work on this car right now....i'm moving out in 2 months so all my money is going into that.

 

I have to agree with RB on this one. Doing a rebuild or engine replacment for POM is pointless.

For instance, my car looks really bad because it was hit hard in the right qtr panel. It's ugly as sin, and rides like crap, but it still starts, doesn't burn oil, gets decent MPG, and keeps me going 65 MPH for hours at a time. What more do I need?

The car has 190K miles on it and the only thing I replaced was the battery and alt. Come to find out the alt was fine, it was just being overworked because of the dying battery. Oh yea... I had to replace the radiator also. One of the cheesy plastic side tanks cracked.

Right now it's starting to lose oil pressure at idle, but that only requires replacing a $15 oil pump. Heck, it may just be the oil sending unit. I don't know because I honestly don't care.

I also have a 1983 C10 with 237K miles on the factory 305. It smokes at startup, gets horrible MPG and is slower than a Civic, but I know everytime I need to use it, it's gonna start, run, and get me where I need to go.

Everyone asks me why I don't put a 350 in it. What's the point? It runs fine now. Replacing the engine wouldn't benefit me unless I was concerned about the smoke (yea right) or needed more power (which I don't).

Do what you like, but 1000 miles after you drop in the engine and the radiator springs a leak leaving you stranded 50 miles from the nearest phone, don't be upset.

 

in that case, read my other thread, but if you really CAN'T spare a DIME..... try porting the stock 305 heads, OR, try looking for some stock 350 heads in the junkyard, and port those. you should be able to do it with a dremel tool and a grinding drum attachment. get it nice and shiny, polish everything nice and smooth, and you can even try your hand at porting the surfaces. good luck. this would basically make everything better, and improve flow. I would ask one of the other guys on here though... I'm good for most things...... but I'm no machinist.

 

The exact reason I still have my 305s. I even made some changes with the short blocks still in the vechicles. My chevy van has 200,000 miles on it and gets close to 20 mpg on the highway at 65 mph. Always starts and tends to run real well with the pedal down. At 50 miles per hour I could break the 70 mph speed limit in about 4 seconds. The power numbers in my sig came from the van but the camaro has the same setup and should make the same power.