305 Vs 350

[AgentZ]

Hey there,

What sort of difference would I be looking at if I was to go 305 rather than 350? There is currently a 305 going for not to bad a price here and I would be quite happy to just get started on my Z! Would need some extra to get it all going and still be needing a tranny.

 

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts-accessories/Chevrolet/auction-45574963.htm

 

I guess I would be most concerned with wether or not 350 parts work on a 305.

 

Cheers!

[grumpyvette]

305 sbc engines are considered FAR LESS desirable than the 350 engines and the reason is that ANYTHING you do to a 305 would work even better on a 350 or 383 which will cost a similar amount to build (OVER HERE, but since you may have difficulty finding a basic engine to modify..... what you do is up to you, personally ID wait and build a 383 from a 350 block)

 

that being said, heres some info you may need

 

 

 

maybe this will be of interest , the main reason 305s have rotten STOCK performance is the combo of low cpr, junk heads that flow like crap and mild cams, ALL THAT CAN BE CHANGED, what can,t be changed is the smaller bore and how it restricts the engines ability to breath at higher RPMS

while youll never match a 350-383 sbc you might be surprized at what COULD be done

 

http://www.ws6transam.org/ported.html

 

http://www.goingfaster.com/spo/325_horsepower_305_cid_chevrolet.html

 

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/projectbuild/48358/

 

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/854/

 

http://chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/148_0312_proj/

 

http://www.hioutput.com/tech/400hp/400hp.html

 

now I don,t know the costs over there but generally you can find rebuildable 350 sbc engine cores for well under $400 USD, Ive purchased whole running cars with 350 sbc engines for that amount ,frequently.

Id look around and find a donor car or 350 block to start with and skip the 305, but like I posted, its NOT hopeless. a 305 can be made to run hard, but you can figure your giving up 70-100hp building a 305 vs a 383

that 305 TPI engine has little or no true high hp potential,theres basically no parts youll want to use in a true high performance engine build

[DaleMX]

That's too much for a 305 without all the accessories anyway. You could do better than that at the JY.

[Guest wacyszcar]

ive heard 305s are best used as boat anchors

[Guest SouthGaZX]

throwing money into a 305 is like paying for a fat hooker... sure it works but why pay the same for something you're gonna just be ashamed of??

[strotter]

To go against the grain here, I'll have to say I agree with the JTR "Fuel Injected motor swapping" book. 305's, though not as powerful as 350's, move a little Z along quite nicely. Stock they idle like silk, are easy to maintain, are quite economical, and the parts are easily available. Also, you won't have to modify your ECU for a stock motor. I've ridden in a dead-stock 305-powered Z that startled me it was so sharp.

[BrandonsZ]

To go against the grain here, I'll have to say I agree with the JTR "Fuel Injected motor swapping" book. 305's, though not as powerful as 350's, move a little Z along quite nicely. Stock they idle like silk, are easy to maintain, are quite economical, and the parts are easily available. Also, you won't have to modify your ECU for a stock motor. I've ridden in a dead-stock 305-powered Z that startled me it was so sharp.

 

 

And there is something to be said about economy IF you are using this as your daily driver, but definately something to be said for a known running engine in your hand. Use it for now put some miles on it and if you blow something, nothing lost.

[Here comes trouble]

go get yourself a 305 and then you will be repeatedly explaining to everyone interested why you settled for a 305................when you could have had a real v8.....you easily can later stroke that for real 350 to a 383

[Guest tony78_280z]

here

 

 

 

here

[Dan Juday]

go get yourself a 305 and then you will be repeatedly explaining to everyone interested why you settled for a 305................

 

Huh, nobody asks me why.

 

But then, they have to catch me first.

[Here comes trouble]

Dan....................................Why!

[strotter]

Dan's car is the one I was referring to in my previous post. My Z runs mid-12's. My brother had a GT-350 that ran low 11's. My friend Adam had a 69 GTO that could break its' tires loose on the freeway going the speed limit. Another friend of mine had an El Camino that was banned at every track in the central valley 'cause he had no cage (didn't like the "look") and ran low 10's. I've driven all these cars, and yes, Dan's little Z startled and impressed me. No, it wasn't *scary* fast, but it was right good fun and would handily whip most any stock car you're likely to see, as well as many beefed-up ones.

[BrandonsZ]

My only objection to a 305 is that for the same displaement you could have a SBF and be smaller lighter and still mate to that 5 or 6 speed tremic tranny.

 

I got a 350 because it was so standard, and if I wanted more power I can make it a turbo or blown 383 and get 500+lbs of torque without the extra hassle or weight of a BBC. Of course a 400+ SBC would be nice too.

[skipzoomie]

I don't understand all of the negativity toward the 305. I've built several and they run GREAT. Remember folks, not everyone wants a bizzilion horsepower. I've got a pretty good idea that most guys on this site can't afford a $10,000 motor that is only going to be an occasionally driven car. To say nothing about how often it's going to break. Or break something. If a true daily driver is what you desire then get yourself a 305. You can build a really nice one for around $3500. It'll be faster than 90% of everything out there and it wont break the bank. The voice of experience speaks.

[BrandonsZ]

I don't understand all of the negativity toward the 305. I've built several and they run GREAT. Remember folks, not everyone wants a bizzilion horsepower. I've got a pretty good idea that most guys on this site can't afford a $10,000 motor that is only going to be an occasionally driven car. To say nothing about how often it's going to break. Or break something. If a true daily driver is what you desire then get yourself a 305. You can build a really nice one for around $3500. It'll be faster than 90% of everything out there and it wont break the bank. The voice of experience speaks.

 

 

$3500... that's a ZZ4 longblock with the intake if that much. Would be nice. Or if you like used you could get the LT1 mated to a 5 or 6 speed out of a wrecked Camaro or Firebird from the mid 90's less than 50k for less than that.