Ok for starters I have a 305 lo3 tbi which ran great until it started smoking(white). Very bad for its health, but I am seeing a high mechanics bill from any kind of fix here. I want to belive its the head gaskets, but no chocolate milk oil. Its gotta be a coolant leak because it doesnt start (besides on startup) smoking until the thermostat opens. How much would a shop or dealer shop mechanic charge for a test and/or fix of the problem? Should I just rebuild the thing? How much is a rebuild? Should I just put a new motor in? I dont know the first thing to look for/start on if I were to have the motor replaced. How much would a new one cost? How much would a shop charge to install it? I really need this thing back up and running, but I dont want to waste money. If I can get the smoking problem fixed for now(thats what I absolutly need) I would be happy til I can afford a motor swap(again I dont even know where to begin with one).

Thanks for any and all help.

~Ethan

 

hmm, that doesn't make sense to me, the coolant is in the block before the t-stat opens, that only gets coolant flowing to the rad, which shouldn't start burning it...

A shop might charge you $300 to find and fix that white smoke problem, if it's something simple. Rebuilding a 305TBI motor isn't a hot idea. A crate motor, or at least a pre-built shortblock, would probably be a good idea, as it doesn't sound like you've built many shortblocks before. A 350 obviously. You can swap over your induction (TBI), for now. Then later you could swap to carb, or beef up your TBI set up. The stock setup should keep you running from A-B though, until you figure out what you want to do with it.

 

What kind of shop should I look for that will swap in a 350 for me? How much would they charge? How much would a 350 cost?(just something mild that I can work with) I have about $1500 saved up. Do you think that would be enough to buy a 350 and then pay someone to install it? Hell, if one of yall would do it, that would be pretty awesome. Oh, yes of course I would pay you!

 

$1500 could buy the shortblock from GM. Otherwise you're looking at a used motor, or something like that.
Getting a shop to put in the motor would be big $$$. No idea how much. Might want to keep saving, and just band aid your white smoke issue for now.

 

the problem could be a cracked head .. the crack may not open up until the head heats up enough.. no way to tell, safest bet at this point is rebuild or replace. do yourself a big favor, video tape the disassembly with great detail and you will be well prepared for reassembly, can do it yourself. its much more intimidating than difficult

 

sigh* I wish i would have bought a car with a newer motor... lol