ok so i just joined this forum so i could ask sum questions ive come across. I want a 3rd gen badly i just cant decide what to do. Ive gone through the whole 4th gen phase and i still would like one but we already have a 4th gen in our group so i want to build something different. What is my best bet? Year? go 350 tpi automatic and do a tranny swap? go 305 t5 and put an older carbd 350 in and do away with all computers? any suggestions on what year/motor 3rd gen to start with is appreciated. Thanks

 

Budget?

Goals?

Level of experience?

There's no "one" right answer; otherwise, everybody on here would have exactly the same car.

 

sorry i was a little vauge, well short term budget would be around 6000 and id like to have that spent by the end of summer, on buying one and building. goals, well id like to get around 350 horses n/a. but my main question i guess is should put time into building the 305 or go ahead and put in a 350. because i know i could reach major power goals with a 350. i know a lot of guys who dont like the 305 but ive seen some that run real good.

 

you're still too vague. you need to buy a car, right? how much of that $6000 is going to be left for your engine build after you buy a 3rdgen with good paint and wheels? someone could tell you how to build a 350hp 305 and then find out you live in los angeles and it has to pass smog.
Right now I'd say take your time shopping for a car that has most of what you want. Do you want to drive this to work everyday with a cup of coffee in your hand? Get an automatic. Is fuel economy a concern? Get tall gears. Find something you can work with that has good factory paint and no body damage.

 

Im with everyone else, we need some more info!

If you have been checking out the price of cars in your area that are in good enough shape for what your looking for, what kind of price range are you looking at for just the car alone?

If a car with a decent body and a crap motor is going to cost you $4000 that doesnt leave alot for the motor!

Depending what you want to do with the car...
I would say to try and find yourself a 305 TPI. Then you can go from there, TPI's have gobs of torque but are lacking in the higher RPMs. If you want to stick with TPI but need more power drop in a 350 and hog out the TPI to flow a bit more and drop it on the 350. Dont forget the SFCs! your not going to like all that glass coming crashing down on you!


But if your a carbed guy like me find one with a good body and a blown motor/no motor and drop a 350 in there!

 

heres wat i want: i def want a 5speed, i need it to be a daily driver for the summer atleast, i dont need too worry about emissions, i basically want to either build the 305 or put a 350 in thanks a lot for your time

 

I bought my '82 TA for $1300 with a heinous body and a tired 305. I think i'm just about at the $6k mark total, it's still ugly as sin, but it's got a nice stereo, a ~350FWHP motor, and beefy suspension. (canadian dollars though, can be done cheaper).

which do you care more about, looks or speed? (I clearly chose functionality over looks, I only want to impress myself here...)

if you want 350HP throw out all ideas of a 305, that's a wrong platform for that. don't get me wrong, it's do able, but if you're starting from square 1, a 350 is a much better start.

find a later 3rd gen, with 28 spine rear axles (90+), and a WC T5. That'll save having to upgrade those at least. Or buy an earlier one, and budget swapping those out. see what I mean? time to use the search button here, you've got a lot of info in front of you...

 

sounds good, ive got some serious thinking to do...but thanks a lot for the help

 

I would look for a 87-92 car with the L98 (350TPI) and do a T56 swap.

 

get whatever you can with a v8 and a 5-speed......if you speend 2500 on the car big deal, go to az, discount whoever they sell a pre-assembled 350 for $600 to 1000...and it'll be bored between .010 to .040 so there is a couple horse there, (I think they have heads on um) get on ebay buy a set of big valves pre machened for like 300 to 500 ( spend a lil more if you want and have a port/polish done) then get and edelbrock package carb cam intake for like 600 to 800 (OR go holley systemax setup for like 1500 to 2000 which has heads........it all depends on you and how much you get the car for and how much you spend on parts and if you try to build a 100,000+ mile motor

 

for reference I paid 1300 for my car(305tbi grrrrrrr damn them for false advertising!, 10 and 8 rims[some cool looking old style of American Racing], new rear tires,).
Its got its problems(bent over pinch weld, subframes are a tad bent, bad struts, rust holes along windshield by at roof, and one hole on roof support, bad tires on front, burnt up wiring harness), but for the price and the difficulty to fix(in the case of pinch welds and subframes im like screw it and found newjacking locations. if anyones running without an exhaust, the right rear hanger mount[black rubber] makes a great point for jacking the rear end if your working on soft ground, so does the stock folded LCA's) or remove cause its not going to be useful for drag racing(engine and wiring harness).

considering you can buy a car for under 3k in good condition, hop on ebay, buy a block or an engine(there are some good engine builders on there) 350 hp will run between 1500 and 2000. so that leaves a grand for making it an easy rider.

 

i like that idea about the t56 swap because i love that transmission. will the t5 hold up when i start building a 350 because isnt only rated at 300 lbs/ft?

 

An engine swap is easier than a tranny swap, get a manual trans car, with a V-8, and then invest in a 350. There are mixed reviews on whether the T-5 will hold up or not, if you get an 89 or later manual trans (I think) it will come with the beefier "World Class" T-5, if not, you can get one out of an S truck, and swap it out. Or, go the full route, and put in the T-56 (more expensive)

 

I'm pretty sure you can't. Something about torque arm, output shaft angle, etc...

 

Your thinking of the rear end, the transmission is swappable, rear end is lacking the torque arm mount and possibly something else.

 

well yea, but the transmission won't have the TA mount either right? You can swap to a TA that mounts to something else, a custom bracket, or whatever....
But I also thought that the input or output shaft on the f-body std trannys were at an 18* angle or something, such that we can't swap other std trans' in....
but hey, i've never done it, so maybe i'm wrong.
either way, that's not really important to this guy right now...

 

if it was a matter of the input output shafts more than likely we wouldnt be able to swap any other transmissions in... but the list of possible trans swaps includes:
th400/350
powerglide
t56
etc

and since you can use the trannies out of anything for these swaps(just about, i mean powerglides come from old buicks running buick 287s(?) or something like that and theyre used for swaps into fbodies)... if you really have a question on this we can wait for a mod to confirm one way or another but I just cant see an angle difference in the t5s, and if there are i cant see it making it unswappable.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...hlight=S10+T-5
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...hlight=S10+T-5
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...hlight=S10+T-5

that's all I could find for now. I'm no expert, just what i've read about it in the past. It'd do-able I suppose, but not a great idea, that's all.

 

Bottom line, stock for stock the T56 is much stronger than a T5. I think regardless of what type of swap is easier, doing a T56 swap in a L98 (350 TPI) car will probably last longer and have fewer problems than doing a L98 swap in a T5 car. Another option could be finding a donor T5 and having it rebuilt with super alloy gearset and then swapping that built T5 into a L98 car. With a 6K budget I dont see a problem with going either of those routes and I think you will have more fun and less problems in the long run. If you wanted to stay automatic then I would say find a L98 car with the 700R4 which is common and then do heads,cam,intake and a shift kit. Because you wont have to do a tranny swap you'll have more money left over for the engine, etc but be sure to do a shift kit.