i finally got my life long dream of an engine. im doing a rebuild on it and im very confused on what to do. what part would you recommend i do first? assuming its not 250+ dollars for starters

 

Could you give us some more background? Is this a 350 engine in your 3rdgen, what condition, any issues, what mileage? Also what are your intended power and driving goals for car? Basic rebuild kits are a few hundred bucks (rods, bearings, seals, etc). Final cost depends on if you can pull engine and do work yourself. If bores are bad and need to be honed will add cost for machine shop work.

 

its a 350 out of an 87 trans am gta. the block was bored to 355 and has a cam, not sure of the miles it has the only issue he said was the mechanic told him that it shoots oil out of the dipstick tube. ill be dropping it in mine in june, my goals for it is street and strip on the weekends im trying to get atleast 400 hp and 400 tq out of it.

 

Ok, that helps out some. Have you looked into what parts are needed for your power goals? A strong 350 TPI combo will make 350hp and 400ftlbs at flywheel. More traditional intake like Holley stealth ram with get you closer to 400hp. Problem is not too far past stock power levels, you have to start upgrading or replacing many of the drive train components. For example anything more aggressive than a LT1 cam and you are tuning your computer. Stock rear end will only hold up to that much power with upgraded parts. Sounds like your goal is just to rebuild engine now to get car running and start planning upgrade path after that. I believe if cylinders are bored 0.030" over, it will equate to 355 cubic inches.

Have you rebuilt an engine before? Here is a basic rebuild kit with rings, bearings and gaskets for $175.00.
http://www.rpmmachine.com/shop/index..._detail&p=4749

Another rebuild kit that includes pistons for $345.
http://www.rpmmachine.com/shop/index..._detail&p=4749

If you have engine apart it would be good idea to replace rod bolts with ARP ones. They will handle higher power levels later on. Stock rotating assembly are good to around 400-500 HP. Just would be good insurance to replace bolts.

I checked online for issue with dipstick oil. Looks like piston ring or PVC/breather valve problem. Tough since you can't watch it running. Might be worth it to have a machine shop check integrity of cylinder walls and pistons - hopefully another rebore is not needed.

 

ill definitely get the arp head bolts while its all apart. im going to redo the heads and get them milled once i get the specs for the cam and see if it still flows right, im thinking about getting the rebuild kit. im going to be swaping in a rear from an ls1 trans am and the drive shaft from an ls1 trans am, if i take block to machine shop do i have to have it fully disassembled before i take it or can they check it while its still together?

im going to get the block all cleaned up and might respray it. im doing all the gaskets new. depending on my budget i might get a forged crank and flywheel. ill do headers while heads are off just to save me the trouble.

any ideas on what a 305 short block would weigh? thats a bit random but i have to know because me and my buddy are going to pull my 305 apart and just take it out by hand. he benches 400 and dead lifts 250-300 and im at about 150-200 dead lift im thinking me and him and maybe another person can lift that old dead block out.

my 305 died on me.. i pulled out on the street right after i did an oil change spark plug change and oil filter change. got it out of driveway and i threw it in drive and the damn thing just blows up. my hood is bent from the force of the backfire, it no longer closes all the way

when i take that 350 out of the trans am i want to get rid of all them tubes and all that other **** that makes that thing look like hell any ideas on that or is it just pull and go?

thanks for all the help

 

Do you and your buddies backs a favor and just buy or rent an engine hoist. trying to lift it out of the car and clear fenders and what not isn't really feasible.

 

Sorry to hear about your car. Crazy that it messed your hood up. That is a bummer. On the bright side it means you can get a big new motor!

I agree with the good doctor. I believe engine will weight around 500-750 pounds. Too much to grab and lift over fender. Some autopart or utility rental places may have them for rent. Otherwise check out craigslist. I see ones sometimes for cheap where people bought one, used it and need to sell. Look for 1,000lb capacity minimum. Tell your friend to work on some squats.

What are you thinking of doing to heads? Usually not worth it to put too much money into reworking stock heads since better flowing aftermarket ones aren't that much more. Exhaust port on stock heads flow poor. Would be worth it to have exhaust chamber ported and cleaned up. Your 87 has MAF computer which can adapt to more engine changes before computer retune is needed. Do you have cam specs? Somebody on here could tell you if it will work well with near stock components. I think stock heads are 58cc with a compression ratio around 9.5:1??? Milling for smaller chamber to bump up compression will not net a whole lot of power increase. If you do, just run static and dynamic compression calcs to make sure you have proper quench with gasket and know what fuel grade is needed.

4th gen cars had same size rear end which is not that much stronger than stock 3rd gen. Later 4th gen rears came with zexel torsion that made it stronger. Your 87 may have a 9 bolt which is slightly stronger than stock 10 bolt although parts are harder to find for 9 bolt. Drive shaft should be aluminum. Both parts will help. Just make sure you know rear end ratio for swap and change speedo gear if needed.

You may want to ask machine shop in what disassembly state they prefer engine. They might charge more if they have to remove some items. They might be able to clean block too for a little extra $$. Machine shop may have some forged 350 assemblies for cheap you could pick up. I thought new headers should not be broken in with engine rebuild. You might be ok with basic rebuild. An aftermarket rear end girdle for around $160 would be wise.

You can remove air tubes but computer will need to be programmed for it. Engine will run without them, just that computer thinks air system isn't working and defaults to limp home mode or something like that. Search for some posts. Many people have done it. You can also remove smog pump by getting smaller pulley belt.

Let us know how it goes.

 

oh yeah man thanks for the help with the mods and im trying to get everyones opinions about a cam. watch that video and tell me what cam u think that is cus it sounds so mean and im looking into getting it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqf6P9vuK4M

 

Hard to say about cam without knowing some of the car mods. I believe cams that sound lumpy at idle have a low cam lobe separation angle (lsa). Basically intake and exhaust valves are open together longer than stock cams and gives you that choppy sound. More geared to high rpm engines. TPI computer doesn't like to aggressive a lsa. I think stock is around 114 degrees and you can go down to around 110. Anything lower is very difficult to reprogram computer. Plus you will be pulling lower vacuum and power accessories such as brakes may not work 100%. Even with that, there are a lot of aftermarket cam geared towards TPI setups that make power and sound great. Here is sound clip of camaro with comp cam xfi-268. It's one of the most aggressive cams you can run on TPI. Car has some mods but sounds good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu2ap_s3K7w

 

the camaro does sound good i was just hoping to get a cam with the specs like the formula. do u think a cam with duration of 240+ would sound like that? some other guy told me that.

what speedo gear would i need to work the 140 gauge cluster?

 

it depends on what gears you have in your rear-end, and what size tires you have.