Okay guys I got a 305 from school. I've had it since april last year I think. I brought it home, towed it through the snow with a snowmobile, and stuck it in my buddys back yard. I figured out it would cost me about ~1500 in rebuild parts. Then theres no machine shop in my city... so its sat outside on its side, uncovered for almost a year. Valve covers are on it, distro, intake, carb.. however the valve covers are loose and the heads have plugs snapped in them. there may be a tinny bit of water inside, but I doubt it made past the valves, and it wont be enough to crack the block. Should I pick it up? I may tear it apart. Run the cyl hone through it, and stick some new pistons and grab some stock vortecs or something and drop on it. you think it'd be okay or is it FUBAR?
305 Chevys are ok for a mild build ,it's easy and cheap to get get 250 hp using the common #416 heads and pistons with more compression and a moderate cam.Votec heads aren't the best choice on the smalll bore 305,the conbustion chamber is really sized for a 4 inch bore. But unless you really want a 305,it's more cost effective to build a 350.Anyways,there's usually a lot of 305's available for short money in good condition.
Good luck! A "tiny" bit of water? That tiny bit of water will make a mess. It will be stuck, so take it apart carefully and try not to damage it any more. You will learn something from this. Lucky667
Chalk this one up as a 2 part lesson. First part being the price of starting with "free" Second part being how easily ruined good parts are when stored in a lazy/halfass manner. What you have now is a parts engine, good for small parts like oil pump pickups, fuel pump adapter plate, etc. Depending on the dragging, maybe you can reuse the pan. With the cost and availability of small block chevies, starting with a 305 that's been open to the sky for a year does not make sense. Good luck
I've gotten wiser in my old age. Unless you have a jones for a laborious rebuild project, I'd prefer to go with a crate motor or pick up a 350 instead of the 305. Bob
This is why I left it. But its sorta hard to find a SBC. well at least around here, I'd be fine with a used motor but nothing with 2-300,000K on it. I was thinking of getting the 250hp crate, but people say its not worth the $1500 price tag.
That 250hp crate motor is worth every penny. It also responds very well to basic improvements like milling the heads, small intake and small headers. It's great bang for the buck and a solid foundation for future build.
If this thing was a usable motor when you drug it home, it's worth taking a little time and checking a few things. You might even get to the point where you can see if you can make it run. What makes you think it might have gotten "a little bit of water in it"? Does the thing have an air cleaner on it? Are the throttle plates frozen or corroded? Have you pulled the carburetor and looked to see if there is heavy rust scale in the intake ports and plenum from standing water? If it looks like it hasn't turned into a solid lump (or even if it has, you haven't got much to loose), dump a little ATF down the intake and pull the plugs and squirt some in each cylinder, replacing the plugs finger tight. Let that sucker sit for several weeks, adding a little ATF every few days. Block it up where the pulleys and flywheel don't touch anything (or if you're a weenie, put it on an engine stand), pull the plugs out, make sure it's got a load of oil in the crankcase, connect a hot battery to the starter, and let her rip. If it turns over, spin it long enough to rid the cylinders of ATF, screw fresh plugs in (or the old ones if they look any good), wire in the ignition, connect a fuel line to the carb and drop it in a one gallon gas can (held higher than the engine after you've primed the line for a siphon feed). Crank it over. Who knows, you might end up with a running usable engine (you must have thought so or you wouldn't have drug it home in the first place, right?).
I didn't have much choice when I rebuilt the 360 FE for my truck. If there had been crate motor available, I would have bought it. For a special purpose or an oddball engine, rebuild it. For a street motor, if you want to go the cheapest way possible, find a complete running used engine and have fun. Second cheapest is the crate motor. You can easily get caught up with small part and details, and end up with more into a rebuild. As far as having trouble finding a small block Chevy, there shouldn't be much of a problem, they should be damn near everywhere in North America. Check with local wreckers, you never know what is laying around.
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