I all fairness I've never built a 305. A good number of 350's, but it was with late model roundy tracking that I found my true love- 400's with a 030 overbore and a 1/4 stroker. Mild set (read older) of Brodi heads and a don't go overboard Comp cam makes this a still fun T-bucket setup after 20+ years. Oh, this is a street car only. As with all setups the cam choice is the trick on the final story. Over the years this little motor has seen half a dozen or more. Put a 3 degree button (advance) in it and it's been nothing but smiles ever since. For a low buck street motor the bottom line is "matching parts"
Some of the attitudes here kill me haha. IF a 305 is too wimpy because of its small cubes, why do people build 283s for the street? The point is - and engine will respond to hop up methods. If you want a nice sounding, reliable small cube V8 that wil give decent HP/TQ/MPG, then theres nothing wrong with a 305. The cost to grab one is cheap enuff ...some parts may be a bit more but it all balances out in the end. Just build it to suit the intended purpose - no different from building any other engine. Match the parts to the engine/purpose and car its going into. Simple. What matters is that you get what YOU want out of it, no what somebody ELSE says you should have. All this crap about "350" sounding nicer than "305" imo is ridiculous. Rat
The 305 in my '57 Chevy ran the same ET at LACR as the 283 it replaced and got better MPG. Nothing wrong with a 305.
I used a stock 305 (5lt TPI) with T700 in my 35 Chevy. It was told it came out of an 86 IROC-Z. Best of all it was completely rebuilt along with the T700 and the price was right. Plenty of get up and go in my light body and economical to boot. Installing a 383 in the 46 Olds though. Bigger and heavy car and want a little more performance this time around.
Not sure what this 305 originally came out of, but it was last in a Wagoneer about 5 months ago. Picked it up at a good price off a kid who was going to put it in his CJ, but opted for a 400 that came available recently. It's casting numbers indicate 87-91, but other than that, I have no idea. Should push my 29 A coupester along nicely...going to use a 69 Powerglide behind it that I've got sitting around.
1960 Corvette, 283/PG with too much cam. Replaced it with 1986 Camaro 305 TPI/TH400-4R. Runs nicer, sounds deadly, has all the go I will ever need and if anyone actually cares gets very respectable milage. Oh by the way 283 was not the correct motor for the Corvette so no harm, no foul just a much more drivable, reliable and enjoyable car!
I have one of these. It has the number 14088551 cast on the back of it. As I understand it that puts the year of manufacture in the period '86-'92. It has a standard point distributor and Rochester carb. It also has the flat ribbed belt to drive the alternator but a regular "V" belt for the power steering pump and the A/C. Is this usual? I am trying to work out how much of this is standard and how much has been added/modifed. Anything special about this engine? I picked this engine up out of an old Jag XJ6 i wrecked some years ago. I am in two minds as to whether I keep it and run it as is or build up a 350 from a block and crank I have lying around. I am minded to use it as is . It runs okay as I drove it before I wrecked . The target car for this engine is my '28 Plymouth ute . No hi-po car just a cruiser that will need to tow a trailer from time to time.
I wouldnt bother to BUILD one for the ecomnomic reason... (why pay the same or more just to end up with less)... but I have a good one that will probably at least be the temporary power plant for the 51 SD...
IMHO a 305 can be a great little motor, just be wary of the late 70's (painted blue motors) i remember they had problems with wiping cam lobes and cracking heads. forgive me if this info was already posted
I have three of these engines, one in my OT vehicle two more in the garage as spares. The first one was a learning curve, I built it for $600 in parts. If I get what I want out of it I should be at about $2.07/hp before the turbochargers which isn't bad at all. In reality it will probably be $2.25-2.50/hp which is still very ecconomical. My general thoughts are: -Don't build short blocks. Buy them, use them toss them. As said the economics are poor for most people to build. The exception to this may be "ball hone" type rebuilds where you throw some rings in it really quickly. -A roller block 350 can be quite expensive as can retro roller parts. I bought a 305 roller engine for $50 and put a $20 TPI 'vette cam in it. More reliable than a flat tappet 350, better mpg probably and better cam profiles available if I wanted to spend money. -Small bores are less prone to detonation. This is good when you say spray the piss out of an engine or use boost it. -The heads on these are very discredited. I have seen people port them and make VERY good numbers. -1.84 intake valves are not as bad as people think. I mean Ford used them even on 4" bore engines like the 351s. Not many Windsor heads came with 1.94s stock from Ford. -You can stick big valves in them. I am still curious about the 2.02s though, even though the increase in valve curtain area may be over shadowed by shrouding. I did see a Chrysler 318 article where they notched the cylinder bores. That will be on a later build for me probably. -Want to try a radical modification on an engine but don't want it to be a good engine? Toss in a 305. My Mark II or Mark III one is probably going to be swirl port heads that have the coolant flow reversed to see if it makes any relevant changes to performance. -Even the lowly 144/177 roots blowers will make gobs of power on a 305 set up right. A 350 will probably make more yes, but at the same time with ported heads and a cam a basic roots setup will make enough power for most people. You could get an engine, modify it to use the blower effectively and buy the kit for less than a "well built" 350 that is N/A and makes similar power. -These seem to wear very well. Actually better than a lot of 350s I have taken apart. Most of the 305s I have gotten have little to no ridge at the top even ones with very high milage If any of you guys are around Chicago and have "scrap metal," "Boat Anchors" or other forms of "junk" that you are looking to get rid of shoot me a PM I'll be happy to leave you to your illusions that these can't run well. 305s, 307s even the "lowly" 267 I'd be happy to take a shot at making power with it or killing it trying.
I've been re-reading this thread. We don't notch the blocks for a 2.02 valve. No problem. There could possibly be performance gains by doing this. We run small chamber aftermarket heads so losing some compression by notching may be a trade-off. The notch is not necessary. We have messed with 1.94 vs 2.02 intake valves on a 351W head and also early 289 heads. We have settled on 1.94/1.60 valves on the 289 heads since we found no gain in the 2.02 heads. Most likely due to hitting water before getting the ports where we think they need to be when grinding away. The valves nearly touch. I think there may be a similar lack of gain with a 2.02 valve in a small bore 305 but we never tested it on a dyno. To answer an earlier question. IF not limited by rules for this class of sprint car, we wouldn't mess with a 305 at all. It's mandated by block casting numbers. In out LM stuff and modifieds, we run bigger motors. SPark
The 305 had a purpose, and has served that purpose well. Nothing wrong with a well thought out 305. The biggest problem is, they were econo-motors, not performance motors, even when label as HO with EFI. It's the EFI that kept the RPM downs, not so much the valve/port size, but those did'nt help either. 265, 283, 307, 327, 350, 302, 262, 267, 305 as first gen SBC. Now, we're back to 265's and 327's and others that I really know nothing about (LS1's, etc). My DD truck has a 305 + .030, with a cut down 400 crank, 5.7 rods, and a forged piston. It still has the #601, 53cc combustion chamber heads, an old open plane Edelbrock intake, and an Edelbrock 625 CFB carb. Of course being in a truck it has an RV type cam in it, a TH400 trans and 3.73 rear gears. All in a 3/4 ton, 4668 lbs without me on the scales. It's NOT a hot rod, maybe if it was in a 3000 lb 49-54 Chevy or a T-Bucket it would be; it still likes 70 MPH on the freeway, and is responsive. This motor replaced the Target Master 350 that dropped an exhaust valve, and had the same cam, and there's really not much difference. Take a look at National Dragster, and see what the 305 Stock and Super Stock racers are running with lowly 305's. I just bought a set of REBUILT and RESURFACED stock 305 heads today for almost nothing; they will find their way on a future project, or be used in horse trading. Sure, more can be done with a 350. Unless you overcarb it, overcam it, throw some way wrong 76cc chamber heads on it, or put it in a 2 ton truck, it'll serve you well. Pistons and rings can be had on that auction site, we all know and love, for cheap, so it does'nt really cost more to build one than a 350, IF you go about it right. Now, who wants to build a 262, with camel hump 2.02 heads, a tunnel ram with two 650 carbs on it, a mega-death cam, and drop it in an old International 1 ton pickup truck with a granny low 4-speed and 2 speed rear just for Bonneville; oh, and we'll drive it there? It's really not what an engine "IS", it's how it's setup, and it's purpose. Gotta get those axons and dendrites synapsing once in a while. Butch/56sedandelivery.
I have an IROC 305 converted to a 4bbl in my '55 T-Bird. That 305 move that little T-Bird around very nicely, it's pretty darn quick.
Does anyone have a copy of @fathacks writeup of 305 chevy mighty mouse in underdogs clothing. I can't find a link that works. Thank you
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