So a few years ago my baby was destroyed in an accident and now I have finally acquired another one. So here is my question concerning the 86 Z28, 305 TPI (vin F) that I purchased. I am going to throw a rebuild kit into the motor, and in the process I would like to place a new cam in there. I am wondering what is the best cam lift/duration I can get to give extra power and just better performance without purchasing new heads or having them reworked?

 

Still new at this with camaro but from what I have read LT1 cam is a drop in. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

While you got it torn down at least do a 3 angle on the valves and a set of new performance springs. It will really wake her up a bit.

 

Put a 350 In it. No reason to spend the same amount of money rebuilding a 305 when you could easily get a 350 and rebuild it for the same amount.

 

I'm srry but this is a crap response 350 is not always the answer. What if he just wants to stick with the 305 It can be that simple sometimes and to fresher up a motor would be a lot cheaper then buying a unknown motor and going town on it.

 

Okay, so I am going to make this a really easy thread. Let me explain exactly what I want, why I want it, and etc etc.

Telling me to buy a 350 is simply a waste of a post, I don't want one for this car nor will I buy one. Why you ask? Because I don't want a monster, I simply want a (decently) fuel economic motor with a little power. I don't want 400 horses I want around 320-350 and yes I realize I can have that easily with a 350 but I won't get the mpg I want then. Secondly, I just don't want to go through the trouble of a motor swap.

Now for what I am aiming for, a simple job really. A 305 that can smash other 5.0's but still be able to make my trip to and from work for a week on the same tank of gas. I am not racing it professionally and I am not putting anything really crazy on it like a super charger or gigantic cam or anything like that.

What I want to change:

Heads- preferably drop some Vortec 305 heads in there, if they don't come how I want they will be ported to 1.94/1.5. Also, does anyone know if I can get them in aluminum? If anyone has specs on heads like this that would be awesome, it would help me find out what kind of cam,rockers, and springs I need.

Rockers- still dont know which ones, suggestions?

Ignition- MSD, all the way

Cam- After I put the heads on I am thinking a .488 max lift cam? Comments or suggestions.

Headers/Exhaust- Hedman Street hedders with true dual exhaust

Intake- I would like to get the base plate and runners in aluminum... don't know if I can or where to find them.

Radiator- Summit Direct fit, the aluminum one

This is everything I have thought of for it so far, comments and suggestions are exactly what I am looking for here. Don't post any "get a 350 crap" please, then you are simply wasting a post.

 

if you want a 1.94 1.5 head why not look at world products s/r torquer heads. otherwise stock tpi alumnum heads would be fine although id move to a 2.02 vortec head.

rockers depend on your lift and such. 1.6 or 1.5, but you have to know the stud size on the head. proform makes stamped roller tip wrockers that are fairly cheap that i bought for my truck.

cam- i personally like the lt1 cam. they are cheap to obtain have decent lift and are quite streetable

headers/exhaust. shorties if you want ground clearance and id say around a 3" exhaust. anything above stock is an improvement

intake. im pretty sure all tpi setups are aluminum but not positive. craigslist or junkyards maybe ebay if you want to pay a little more

as for everything else id get hydraulic lifters while your at it, and dont skip out on your timing chain. id also get in touch with a tuner either a friend or a shop and that may help you out as well. nothing major just a good solid base tune so that its a very reliable vehicle in the end.

if your doing cam and all that make sure to check your cam bearings, make sure your push rods arent bent etc etc.

 

upgrade your fuel system and air system

 

and a shot of NOS... best way to beat the monsters and keep DD

 

@tyler, the reason I wanna stray from the 202s is the guy that is helping me with a lot of this, (owns performance auto/machine shop) said the 202s devour all your low end torque on the 305s. You got any opinion on that?

 

large valves may do that on a 305. not a flow expert but sounds fairly reasonable. youll need a different intake i think for the tpi if you run vortecs though. world makes steel s/r torquer heads that come in 3 different cc's and they are quite affordable. idk if thats something youd like to look into or not.

 

Honestly, I will look into anything lol I am just trying to get an accumulations of good ideas on this build, its really my first motor build.

 

understood. i have a feeling youd need a different manifold if you went with vortecs. im pretty sure a tpi intake is the same as a carbd one so that would oppose an issue. i think your stock plenum and such would be allright but you could port them out a little.

 

Yeah my buddy said I would most likely need new baseplate and runners for the vortec heads, or at the very least get them ported but he was almost positive I would have to get new ones due to fit issues or something like that?

 

for some reason i cant think but vortec heads dont like up to a regular manifold. the intake ports dont line up i believe. if you felt creative you could make your own runners which is what we did on a friends car. they werent as smooth as stock ones but looked evil as could be

 

Ha ha, yeah I might feel that creative but I am almost positive my wallet wont. I cant seem to find the torquers in 194 other than the stock head.. This might be a dumb question but are the stock 305 TPI heads 194?

 

not sure. do a search
rhs has these http://www.jegs.com/i/RHS/784/12402/10002/-1
not sure why i cant find the heads i was talking about

 

So stock heads are 184/150 intake/exhaust and 58cc combustion from what I can tell and normally run like 160-170 intake ports. So I am thinking what you sent me would be about exactly what I want.

I also found these but I don't really know which would be better between these and the ones you showed.

http://www.jegs.com/i/RHS/784/12407/10002/-1

 

I'm still new to Chevy stuff but I've been doing a lot of reading if I remember right vortex heads With a stock lower intake the middle bolt holes need to be elongated to work. Please don't quote me on that. If i can find the post I'm thinking of I'll post it for ya.

 

consult your engine builder guy if you should go with 64 or 67cc. im no expert on that so im not going to give any false advice

 

Well from what he has told me and what I have read, lower combustion chamber volume means more low end torque, along with bigger valves mean more power as well. I think I found the ones I want, I am going to talk to him today and see what he says. So far these are the parts I have on the buy list.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HED-68460/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-380455/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFS-30300002/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFS-31478500/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFS-K31401000/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MSD-84741/

Am I sure if any of these parts will work or even give me what I am looking for... no not really but I matched them up the best I could and I guess I will find out either through you guys, my guy, or a very expensive session of trial and error.

Did I mention all of this will be linked up to a 700R4 tranny, so anything I need there would be nice to know as well.

 

make sure that cam and timing chain will bolt up together

 

I am thinking they will. Ill have to ask the guy to be double sure before I purchase any of this.

 

do a search on using the ZZ4 or 113 casting corvette heads on a 305. Best thing I ever did to mine...

 

I am also looking to add more power to my 305.

IF YOUR USING 113 vette heads, don't you need to modify the intake and EGR systems?