so after alot of consideration i am giving my brother my 86 iroc-z28. it currently has no motor but it has a th350 with a b&m shift kit. so im gonna build him a motor using stuff i have lying around. so what i am gonna use is the bottom end that i have in my shed and put the 305 heads on it that are on my firebird now. so i am curious as to the cam that is needed.the thickness of the headgasket. and any other info to make this work. the engine operating range for the current cam and torker#1 manifold that i have is between 1500-6500 rpm. now keep in mind i am working pretty much on gasket money since i am not working at the moment and he just had a baby so it is a really really really really tight budget. so any info will be helpful to get this done. i also have a msd street fire dist and rev limit box.

 

bump

 

And the purpose of all this motor building talk at just this exact instant in time would be .... ???

 

what??????

 

wait till the dust settles, then wait till you have enough money to properly do this. then after all the huggies and formula and wipes and,and,and.THEN build a engine. bottom line, babys have a uncanny way of making EVERYTHING else a back burner item. good luck with the uncledom though

 

What parts do you have exactly. A shortblock what?

 

well for this build i have the short block the 305 heads torker#1 manifold 600 edelbrock carb and a masd streetfire ignition setup. i was just wondering if there is a ideal cam setup for this setup and what thickness head gasket to use.

 

Concentrate on the word PURPOSE.

Sounds to me like there must be something sort of life-or-death going on here, something really profound and significant like maybe getting to work in the morning or something, to make this motor thing more important than all that other; surely this isn't just some kind of toy or something? Telling us WHY this must be done RIGHT NOW, what THE GOAL is, will help us guide you correctly.

 

Sofa, does this qualify for the normal 3rd gen stereotype?

 

Well, yes and no both, I suppose...

Guy sounds like he's in more or less dire straits. No money, no job, bro has a new kid, etc. etc. etc. Now is not the time for playtoys and all that: it's time for some serious adult taking on of responsibility. Now, not that I'm accusing him automatically of anything; but, .... let's hope that that's what's going on here. And if so I'd be more than willing to point him in the right direction.

If he's desperate to get a ride on the road, like, bro does something where he absolutely has to have a car to get to work or the like, and he's doing what he can to pitch in and help, then that's one thing. In that case, he needs to not only consider what this will cost to assemble, but also, what it will cost to operate. The answer then would be to buy the cheeeeepest cam he can find that has 16 lumps, nothing "performance" or racing or anything like that, but rather that will promote long life, minimal parts breakage, and good gas mileage; and a nice standard gasket set; and just do it. A Summit cam such as the 1102 or 1104 and yerbasic FelPro set from AZ should do the trick perfectly.

Any other scenario, I don't have anything to offer.

 

not really sure how you made supreme member because none of this is relivant but let me break this done so you can understand it.

1. i got my first car when i was 15. had my first kid at 20 and had my second kid at 23ish while working b.s jobs having my own place and still building toys. there really isnt any jobs around me so you sit around till you find some place that is hiring and hope you get in. my gf works 2 cna jobs so she can pay the bills. none of my toys were funded by her by the way.

2.life is to short not to have a toy.

3.i only asked for motor building advice not life advice '

4.everyone i know needs a car to get to work.

just because i dont have a million dollars to build a motor doesnt mean i cant build one with parts lying around. i have seen some pretty bada$$ motors built from junk.

so back to topic i only asked what head gasket to get max compression and if there is a ideal cam for this exact build thats it

 

No.. there is not an 'ideal' cam for your build because you're gimping it all the way across the board. Camming the motor would be a waste of money because you're not going to notice any significant difference with the parts you're currently using. Both the heads and that intake are good for about scrap metal and that's it.

 

its weird every time i see a post on here about heads the response is they are junk. i see people pushing towards aftermarket heads. yeah they are great but most people just want to use what they have is that to much to ask. and by the way just looked and its a performer intake which is good for 1500-5500 rpm. im not looking to build a 900hp motor just a turbo honda eater

 

Your average VTEC turbo motor/build will eat you alive like you're sitting still with those stock heads and that intake.

You're asking for too much while offering too little to push your goals. You can't expect performance out of a throw-together project with a shoestring budget unless you're a machinist and have all of the tools necessary to do the job yourself. Just because it's a V8 doesn't mean it's automatically going to perform better because that's definitely not the case. Way too many variables to say "I've got a bigger motor therefor I will kill a 4 cylinder".

 

So you have a 350 short block? flat top or dish pistons? Witch 305 heads do you have? is it a street car?

 

305 shortblock, how good is it? Previously running right before putting it in the new car? Probably needs to be hot-tanked, cleaned and checked at the least, especially if it's been sitting for a while. You can even re-use the bottom end stuff including pistons, just have them all checked by the machine shop. Probably needs new rings too and bearings too.

If you're confident in the shortblock and want to skip this, then that's on you.

Heads: Clean them up, get 1.94 intake valves, keep the 1.50 valves, they'll need some work but you'll be very happy with the results. MW66Nova here ran these in his car for some years. Otherwise re-build them stock and go with it. They probalby need a valve job at a minimum if they've been sitting for a while.

For a Cam, you'll want a Lunati 60102 or 60103 or Comp/Crane/Isky etc equivilient. equivilent. It's a little bigger than the factory spec but good. If you have the roller block, then I'd suggest something a little more, say a Lunati 60121 or Equivilent. I have the 60121 in my car and I'm very happy with it but it's in a 350, not sure if it would be good for a 305 or not.

As for the gasket kits, just go with a standard rebuild gasket kit. Nothing special needed here.

Get a rebuild kit for the holley.

Now, that said, if the ECM is still in the car, I would recommend putting the TPI or TBI back on it, but that's more expensive if you dont' have the parts. Or, if it was a factory Carb car, pick up a CC Qjet and hook it up. Also, do you need to pass emissions? That's also another consideration as it's something you cannot do without the factory set up, either the TPI, TBI or CC Qjet.


TH350's a terrible for street cars, great for track and not daily driven types. I could never understand not having the overdrive of my 700R.


Other than that, not much to do but put her together.

If you do all the assembly yourself, then you're probagbly looking at $800-$1500 for parts and machine work to have the motor checked out and heads worked.

 

yes i am confident in the block. its 60 over. its an already built block but from like 4 years ago. the whole problem is the machine shop by my house the guy said it will cost about 3,000 to rebuild a motor and for that price i can get a decent ls1 or something along those lines for my own car. i was just looking into building him something with a lot of torque.