Any recommendations as to what engine kit or crate engine would be best?

I would probably hit a boneyard for a 305 and rebuild it, but at the end of the day, a crate motor may be the way to go; for expediency sake.

But also, the satisfaction of building your own engine is pretty cool as well.

Anyone have any feedback for sourcing either a kit or a crate engine?

BTW - I live in Rhode Island; just in case there is some one local.

Thanks in advance,

Steve C - RI

 

I wouldnt even consider rebuilding the 305, nor would i purchase a 305. Get a decent 350, not some van replacement engine either. something with decent heads on it that you can work with.

 

I would be into that, but I had an 88 F-Bird someone swapped the 305 for a 350 and it was nothing but a headache for me. I swapped the ECM, injectors and every other TBI module I could think of, and it just ran like crap!!!

So, I'd much rather have a nice new 305 that runs great and sounds awesome.

Steve C - RI

 

Personally, I wouldn't even consider rebuilding the 305, nor would I purchase a 305. If you had a 305 to 350 swap that ran like crap, somebody did something very wrong, or didn't do the right things. TBI is very sensitive to things like displacement changes, exhaust changes, cam changes, etc., but nothing that can't be handled of approached properly. If your '88 was TBI, most likely that's where your problem was, not that it was 305 to 350.

But, let's get back to the basics: Why do you think you need to rebuild or replace the engine?

 

Car runs pretty good actually for having 148k; no smoke or ticks at all.

So what I'm looking at is that new car performance and return of power.

As far as the other motor... I do recall he said he swapped out the factory cam in the crate motor he installed.