I recently purchased a 1986 Iroc Z with the 305 tpi engine. It has a lot of miles on her 150,000. I want to pull the motor this winter a freshen it up. Without getting to extreme what do you all recommend that I do to make a reliable daily driver with as much kick as possible on a budget.

 

welcome man
can't go wrong with most bolt on's
do the rebuild, mild cam, free flowing exhaust, it'll get quicker and reliable

 

A 350.... For the money / parts / labor you're gonna spend, this will be the least expensive opportunity to get the most power out of your car...

Rafael

 

Run a compression and leak down test. 150,000 miles is not that much for a small block Chevy. If the compression and leak down tests show good cylinder condition, change out the timing gear/chain set and replace your valve guide seals. You should be set for another 150,000 miles. Run a bit heavier oil than the 5w20 or 10w30 that are popular on new engines. Run 15w40 or even 20w50.

That way you can use the savings as a start to save up for the 350 built the way you want, or if gas stays above $4.00 a gallon or even heads to $5.00 a gallon, you may want to keep a 305 and go for maximum fuel economy

 

Well I am from Canada. Right now if I were buying gas by th U.S gallon I would be paying $5.30/ gallon in Canadian money which most days is now equal to USD. So the 305 will probably stay in along with the fuel injection.

Don't get me wrong I would love to have a big hp sbc with a 750 double pump holley but I didn't buy this one for that. I would like to have a stock appearing 86 that will suprise a few people if they pull up along side. First one being my brother with his 80 trans am with the 350 and holley carb.....lol

 

better heads & cam & intake...

A supercharger will be great, but a little over budge

Raf

 

I seriously doubt you will see much difference in fuel economy from 305 to 350. The 350 can move these heavy cars a little better and you won't have to put your foot in it as much to get it to go. Either one can be very economical if you drive it sensibly. I'm assuming you have a 2.73 rear end, so gas mileage will be pretty good (by third-gen standards ... not by Hyundai standards) with either.

 

i am with GC on this one, i dont think you would see much of a gas milage drop with the 350. it would definietly be cheaper and easier to get the same amount of power out of the 350 than the little 305, and it would be more streetable. if you are on a budget, GM has some cheap 350 crate engines.

the tuning and the way that you drive it has more of am impact on the fuel economy than the amount of power you have (to a certain extent).

 

And "freshening up" a 305 can be just as expensive as a rebuilt or crate 350.

Check this out. One of these just got dropped in mine last week!! Almost ready to run!!

http://www.rebuilt-auto-engines.com/...03108246977.dc

 

One of the members here in So Cal installed a tpi on an Rs with the peanut cam, changed the fuel pump and ecm, and averaged over 30 mpg on the highway. He later swapped in a 350 with a cam and after market heads. He still gets 25 mpg on the hghway, but the difference between 25 mgp and 30 mpg can be significant with gas over $5.00/gallon. These numbers are with a stick shift, by the way, originally a t-5 later a t-56.

 

i dont doubt that, as it would matter to a point.

another thing, is that when he swapped it. i dont know about fuel in california, as i am on the other coast, but i suffered a similar loss in fuel eonomy in my mustang just due to the 10% ethanol fuel that just took over florida.

i think i (and most others) would suffer 16% loss in fuel economy anyday for the difference in power.

i personally dont really care about my fuel economy in my camaro, as it is a "fun" car for me and not my source of transportation.