Hi I am a N00b, so please be gentle. I inherited a 1982 Berlineta. I know it has a 305 and that is about all. The previous owner replaced the timing chain an dit now has a water/oil leak. I do not know if it is a case of a bad cleaning job or if the block has a bad freeze plug or cracked block. Can I upgrade the engine to 350 or would I need to change the ECM? I know that it is carbed. How would I find out which transmission I have? I think I would like to get it running again but do not know where to start.

Thanks for the help

 

Can't help you with the leaks without a little more info on where it's leaking. As for a 350 swap, yes you can do it. For transmission, is it auto or manual?

 

3 speed auto with Qjet if that makes a difference

 

If it's stock than you have a TH350 trans. On a berly I'd keep the 305, Berlinneta's are kinda special. But it's up to you. If you wanna go computer controlled carb then you'll need to at least tune the ecm. How many ponies are you looking to get out of the car. A lot of people don't give 305s the credit they deserve, although it isn't the best bore/stroke wise. You can still get decent HP out of it.

For leaks what are you experiencing. If it's water check all rad and heater hoses, the water pump, and the freeze plugs. If it's oil, the general area it's leaking will probably be obvious.
Goodluck
Alex

 

Yep, I guess you'll want to decide how important is is to you to keep it original. The first year Thirdgen has a lot of very unique features that may increase in value if it's something that's collectible. If it isn't something collectible, I personally would change it to a 350 and a 700R4 for the overdrive.

I would imagine that you would be able to flash the ECM, but I'm not sure how much really it plays into the engine and tranny this early on. IIRC, the carb isn't computer controlled and I'd be surprised if a TH350 was as well. You could bypass both depending on how you felt about emissions.

 

Thank you for your posts. I think I will try to keep it orginal. I have always liked the 350 but there is something about saying that 'it is same as it came from the factory'
I do not need the horse power. my 16 year old daughter thinks she needs a car and would like the camaro more than the minivan. although I am not sure which would be the 'better' or 'worse' car to let her use. Again thanks to everyone

 

Dude, don't make her drive a mini-van. That car only has 150hp stock, she's not going anywhere fast. If someone made me drive a minivan I'd walk. Hell, the first car I drove was a 74 Nova, I'm picky.

 

Sounds like he botched the timing chain cover sealing job and water pump reinstall....

If you want a job done right do it yourself