Can 305 TPI cars go fast? Everyone I see on this board that have fast times are running 350s. Before I pour money into the engine I want to know if it has any hope on being quick or should I just save up for a 350 swap? My car right now is quick but its no super fast car. At best its a mid 15 sec car. I want it to be quicker.

 

i know im gonna catch flack from every one when i say this but i have to. 305's suck. they just do. they are ok if you want to putz around but if you wanna go fast for cheap get a 350.

 

you are going to catch flack for that they dont suck at all , . hell why not just get a 502 ? ill tell you why , because its about working with what you have and how fast you want it to go . daily driveability ? fuel economy ? etc . for the beginner racer , its the perfect plattform . you could put that tpi into the 13s without a problem and not spend all that much money either . now like i said if you want to break a sound barrier , then boost it , or dump it for something bigger . but 13s is enough for the street anyhow . have you ever ridden in a 13 sec car ? ask the guys on this board if you dont believe me , its enough to plaster you to the seat and it will hold its own on the street . and your 305 will take you there no problem . my buddy is running low 13s on a n/a 305 tpi , consistently as well , if you want to talk to him , ill tell him to email ya . im sure he could tell you what he has put into the car etc

 

I agree with 87irocz350 unless you wanna put a power adder like nitrous or a supercharger on your 305. But even with those a 350 with the same mods will go faster. So just do a major build up on your 305 (heads,cam,nitrous,supercharger) or get a 350 and build it up cause they have more potential for power.

 

Well if it was a 13 sec car I would be satisfied. I am not going to race it professionally. I just want a quick car that can hold its own on the road. I would love a 350 but I would have to go through the whole swap process and that is what I was fearing. I need this car running as much as possible as its my only car. Also being 17 money isn't that abundant for me right now. I guess what I really am asking is how much potential does the auto 305 TPI have? I mean I can slowly build on the engine with cams, heads, shift kits, new rear end, etc. but I want to know if it will make it like a 13 sec car or will it still be kind of slow after all that money.

 

well, i have a 13 second car, and i can say, the only trouble i have on the streets is with other f-bodies, mustangs, and juiced and boosted cars. a 305 will be perfect if you are on a tight budget. it will smack ya to your seat no problem. no 305s dotn suck at all. they kick ***. just 350s will kick their ***

 

Yeah this always turns into a heated debate. 305s will give you enough performance for the $$ to smack around most cars on the road. There's a guy around here running 9s on a 305 TPI with a supercharger. Very imressive considering the car weighs like 3600lbs with driver or something like that.

 

well i always swore up and down i would never rebuild my 305, but here i am this winter doin it. it was the cheapest thing for me to do right now. i am in college and need a good tight, strong runnin motor to last me till i graduate. so i am happy to rebuild my 305, it will run strong enough for now. they have great potential as cheap street motors, just like any other small block. but if you are lookin for a 450 horse beast, look elsewhere.

 

where is this guy runnin 9's with 305

 

I know Willie runs 11's with his 305. Check the History board he is a moderator there.
If all you want is 13s then there is no need for a 350. You'll have to do some major work to your car, but it can be done. A VERY IMPORTANT note though. Make sure you buy parts for your car that match power wise. Or you'll end up like me wasting a crap load of money in new gears and not going any faster and having to do a cam swap to take advantage of it. But you'll need a cam, heads, gears, mods to the TPI (stock they stop breathing @4500rpms.), headers and a cat-back ( should be your first mods) ( I'd strongly recommend the Hooker cat-back). All of that could possibly get you 13s, but if it doesn't get a higher stall TC.

Oh, one more thing, thought I would point it out, you have a 700R-4, might want to correct your sig. (not sure if it was a typo) just wanted to let you know.

 

Are 350's better?? Yes. Can a 305 be fast?? Yes. It depends what you like and what you want. Its more work with a 305 and some (like myself) like the sound of a 350 better.

 

I agree
If you want a 13 second car, there is no need for you to change your block. I think as Mark said, it is important to think of your car as a whole. Plan out your mods. If I were you this is what I would do.

Exhaust - replace everything from the heads to the tailpipes with aftermarket. Just the headers, high flow cat, and catback will probably net you a full second gain in the 1/4 mile.

Intake - you may want to port out the intake/heads a little bit. The good thing about keeping your 305 is that you shouldnt have to spend a lot of money here. A slightly ported stock intake/heads should be good for you. This is probably worth a few tenths.

Gears - If I remember correctly 87's came with 2.73 gears. You should probably go with 3.42 gears. It is a good compromise between 3.23's and 3.73's. This could be worth as much as a half second...but that depends on what gear you have now

Torque Converter - Even a mild 2200 stall would take about a half second off your e.t.

Cam - Heres where things get tricky (as Mark knows too well) It is important to match your cam to your gears/converter. That is why I would do this last. A well matched cam could probably take another half second off your e.t.

Power Adder - A completely stock 305tpi/auto will easily run 13's with a 150 shot of nitrous. You would definetly run 12's if you had done all the mods up to this point. Maybe even faster. The kit for tpi costs around $500 from NOS.

I think with this setup you should run 13's N/A, low 12's on the spray. People will tell you not to waste your money on the 305. But if you look at everything Ive suggested, the only thing that wont transfer over to a 350 would be the cam. That way if the 305 does take a dump, you can toss in a 350 and go even faster .

Good luck

 

I know a guy with a supercharged 305 formula and he ran 12.3 at his best.

 

Do a search on the tpi board for.....
fastest tpi?

 

my 305 was done very cheaply and has stayed together for 3 summers of hard abuse. it can run with a new Z28 6 speed, though i've never had it to the track. Pay attention to detail with the heads and cam and they will run strong. mine pulls past 6 grand with a stock bottom end.

The 305's reputation sucks, the engines themselves don't have to if you know what the hell you're doing.

 

The dude who ran in the 9s was featured in GM High Tech Performance magazine a little over a year ago. Its a 305 with a Votech T trim blower. It ran high nines on slicks, and a auto trans. This car is like a 1 of 1 and you probably wont EVER hear of another car like this. The cash investment must have been phenominal.

 

Imagine if he did all that stuff to a 350 TPI instead of the 305?? I'd like to see some1 do that.

 

I have an article (Super Chevy march 1994) of a 305 IROC supercharged running 10.8 @126 mph. Its probably the same one. The car weighs in at 3745lbs with driver ! He's got everything in it that he has on the street though. He's got a '90 305 with 4 bolt mains, Ligenfelter 272 roller cam, and AFR stage one heads. And its got a bunch of ASM TPI stuff. 3.54:1 rear with 2500rpm stall tq. It makes 550hp at the flywheel with the Vortech supercharger and intercooler (16 lbs boost). Pretty impressive.

 

if i had a choice between owning my car with a 305 or a 350, i would take the 350 just because it has the potential to make more power than a 305. however, i am quite font of my 305. its not too bad on gas, it could run high 13's with a little work, and just think of the look on the guys face when you tell him he got whooped by a 305 i say, work with the 305!

 

Thanks for the responses. I feel much better about my 305 now. If what 85transamtpi said is true about converting the stuff off the 305 to the 350 then I have nothing to fear. I am on a very limited budget so getting a 350 in the near future is out so while I wait I still want a fast car. That is why I asked the question. If all else fails it still is an american V8 right

 

if any of your magazines are old enogh you will see an IROC on the back cover in a vortec ad(or was it paxton?) either way. the guy was running 9.80's in like 1993 with a 305 tpi and a big blower. i forget the guys name, but i do have an old mag with a whole article abouthte car. it was once totaled in a traffic accident and he bought it back and went nuts on the thing, made it super fast.

later
tim

 

Well I'm back after my month in CA Anyhow I see the 305 getting dissed again

I wouldn't bother with going from 305 to 350... It makes no sense... Any car can be boosted into the 9's I've seen [rotory's] I4's, V6's, V8's, and V10's from 1.2 to 8.5 CI Running 9's. But why go to a 350 for some piddly gain when you could drop in a 400 (to keep SB) or go BB with a 455 or 502? If you want such a fast car it's gonna cost Big $$ no matter the original displacement. If you just want 13's the monetary investment will be nearly identical to that of a 350. Just think of it logically taking into account that 45 CI difference really isn't that much. I would say though that it will take more work, that I'll give credit to.

 

I'd be plenty happy with 13s as well, and If thats all the farther you want to take it, you might as well stick with the 305 because its already in the car. Sure if you put the same parts on a 350 it'd make more power, but the cost of dropping in a stock 350 would be about the same as doing the neccesarys mods to your existing motor. I'm leaving mine in basically because I can't afford to change it right now, but mine has 128,000 miles on it, and building up an engine with that many miles dosen't seem real smart to me. Plus it runs perfectly fine.

 

I have a 305 that will kick the **** out of a ton of 350's. Just cause you have a 350 does not mean that you are fast. Take that 305 and put a set of vortech heads on it and a cam and you're over 300 horses or damn close. I bought my first camaro when I was 16 and built it up from there a 305 tbi that is now a vortech headed, crane cammed, demon carburated monster. I beat a 89 G92 Iroc -z 350 with a bent valve. He tied a 97 Z-28 right after that! 305 's DO NOT SUCK.

 

Try to tell that to 87IROC350

 

My other post is no bs. That 89 Iroc was a 350 w/ flowmaster setup and a few other mods and 3.42's in the rear. he run 14.3-14.6 consistent, that is why he was tying a 97 z. My car was running like ****, later found out that the heads were sent to me with a bent valve, I still beat him by half a car length, tried to race him again when I fixed it, and he wouldn't, said it be a waste and thought I was being an a-hole cause now I just wanted to see how bad I could beat him. I still don't even have a TC in my car yet, after that I'll be smokin' new SS's. I say the motor is pushing about 330 horse because I put a little bigger cam than the mag article and I'm dunning a bit more compression, it may be up around 345-350, but I low Ball it , IKNOW YOU ALL HATE BS GUYS WHO SAY THAT THEY HAVE WAY MORE HORSEPOWER THAN THEY DO, IT'S FLAT OUT ANNOYING, anyway none of that here, soon as the new drag strip is finished in my hometown (hawaii), we'll see how the 275's hook up on the track. I'm guessing that without the TC I'll probably run mid 13's, (no traction) TC and slicks and I may hit 12's, hope so.

 

[I say the motor is pushing about 330 horse because I put a little bigger cam than the mag article and I'm dunning a bit more compression, it may be up around 345-350, but I low Ball it , IKNOW YOU ALL HATE BS GUYS WHO SAY THAT THEY HAVE WAY MORE HORSEPOWER THAN THEY DO, IT'S FLAT OUT ANNOYING, anyway none of that here,]


dude, how can you say you have that kind of horse power without a dyno test. Yeah it is flat out annoying when people like you pull HP number right out of your a$$. You are one of the guys you are talking about. Yeah, I used to think my car was running 350 HP untill I dynoed it. And I have 336. You cant even tell us what kind of cam you have" but its big"

Ok, why would you dump money into a 305. they blow. You might not have money for a 350 but dont go blow it all on a 305. Save untill you do have the money.

 

87Irocz350, what's your problem, don't be pissed because you say that 305's blow and I'm running one with as much horses as your 350!!!! I can't tell you what cam it is but it's big huh? It's a Crane Blazer 442./465. dual pattern at 214/224 duration. Like that smart guy and oh yeah, they used a 83 LG4 block in the Car Craft build up, anyone know the comp. ratio on the ol' LG4? thats right, 8.6:1. I started with the LO3's 9.3:1 A jump of .7. I am NOT PULLING THESE NUMBERS FROM MY A$$. You run 336 with a 350, what so spectacular about that I only spent about 600 bucks for the head and cam swap combined, even with shaving the heads. I built this motor myself, all together with carb and intake= just over 1000 bucks, thats hard to beat. Don't get pissed at me, I made good use of what I had and am telling you that this guy with his 305 TPI can do the same, that's what this thread is all about.

I'll Post a pic of the car as soon as i can and you can laugh from there.

Later, Matt

 

i'm tellin ya, it's a great feeling to have a new camaro driver say, "you got a 350 in there?" when you're runnin a 305. I love beating 350s and LS1s with my 305, it's an achievement.

Not much money needs to be spent to make a 305 run well, and i won't claim a hp # since i've never dynoed it.

I know i can beat a new Z28 for less than 5000 bux in my whole car tho!!

 

Hey I have an 84 h.o.camaro that has a similiar setup to what you have aside from the head work and cam. If you can, look where is says How fast is my H.O.? in this column, and let me know what you think, I've got what I think to be a damn quick car, but don't feel like getting embarrassed by Ls1's. Check it out and give me a reply, thanks. Matt

 

i thinbk the best thign you can do is work with th e305. put power parts on it. when teh motor dies just go get a 350 short block and swap your good parts over to it. heads, intakes, cams, all swap over. then you have more power. buying a motor and building it up for power all at once is $$$$$, but grabbing things piece by piece for your 305 adn then only needing to get a short block when the time comes really spreads it out. or you can just do an intake, fairly mild cam, posi and some gears to yoru 305 and run 13's.

later
tim

 

well 330hp91rs. i don't know why your post got locked but you're probably running mid 14s.

 

Here's the Video. http://www.lastgen.com/videos/9seciroc.mov

 

That is an awesome video! Now I know 305's do have hope. What I plan on doing is fixing up my 305 until eventually I can get a 350 and I will just swap the parts.