305 No power.

[Rule_So_Hard]

For starters, after you finish this swap you will have full appreciation of the SBC. Not many other vehicles you can get most of your parts in stock and complete a swap by yourself in a day.

Secondly I had the same exact problem in my old 88 truck that you are describing in your soon to be 350 engine. I had what I thought was a blown head gasket as described. I found a low mile junkyard engine for a few hundred bucks and bought the gasket kit and got to work. My replacement engine was missing the intake manifold so I had my old on in. After allllll the work I found in actuality my intake manifold was warped the whole time.

My tips:
1.Buy the whole felpro gasket kitat once because it's much cheaper that way even if you dont need all the gaskets.
2. Opt for a craigslist special intake manifold. Around here you can find mild aftermarket intake manifolds for 75 bucks or less and on a 350 its worth the effort.
3. Put headers on while you have the 350 out...also easy to find cheap and worth the effort on a 350
4. If you can Afford it run ANY head other than the TBI heads. Even the plain old truck heads from ore TBI. TBI heads are gutless.

And of course... Have fun and enjoy yourself.

 

[Rule_So_Hard]

Few more tips I didn't mention
Pulling the radiator out is easy and makes it a whole lot easier.
Be careful to not wreck the trans cooler lines when pulling the engine...not hard to do.

 

[350runner]

Idk bout to heads being gutless... mine ass rape the road 15 to twenty feet no power brake... they aren't ment for hp I'll say that but the are stump pullers

Sent from the dust in front of you!

 

[Rule_So_Hard]

If you want to make power around 2000 rpm which is good for drivability then yeah TBI heads will give you that but that's because of their restrictive ports.
Not to get into a debate or male things technical but tourque is and horse power are one in the same. Horse power is just a measurement of tourque over a given time. So its force (torque) over distance(RPM)= HP. Look at ANY dymo sheet that measures HP and TQ at once and you'll see the two cross at 5252 rpm. That is the point which we say 1 TQ is equal to 1 HP. So if you are making all your TQ at 2k....you are gutless.
Some engine designs will make a nice flat torque curve such as Harleys which gives you the seat of the pants feel of power. But as a old Harley owner my 50 ftlbs of torque does me no good when a sport bike makes 40 ftlbs over twice as long as I do.
Not trying to make things confusing but TBI heads ate not known for making HP at all.

 

[HotRodPC]

It's a fact, TBI heads are smog riddled and designed for MPG with lower emissions. They came out at the time the gubment was sqeezing the hell out of mpg ratings and emmisions standards but technology was not yet here so that's what we got. It was the best available back then. So no, they will not perform like and LS motor, but they do get the job done and are very reliable heads. If you're getting a good deal on this TBI motor, and honestly feel that nothing more than new head gaskets will make it run good, then go for it. I just wonder how much rust has developed in the 2 cylinders. You'l break your damn rings in those cylinders scurbbing the rust in the cylinder walls and if that's the case, that would kill the deal for me.

 

[MadOgre]

Horse power is just a measurement of tourque over a given time. So its force (torque) over distance(RPM)= HP.

Look at ANY dymo sheet that measures HP and TQ at once and you'll see the two cross at 5252 rpm. That is the point which we say 1 TQ is equal to 1 HP.


So torque over time? Torque divided by RPM = HP ? Torque X RPM = HP ?

 

[MadOgre]

If you want to make power around 2000 rpm which is good for drivability then yeah TBI heads will give you that but that's because of their restrictive ports.
Not to get into a debate or male things technical but tourque is and horse power are one in the same. Horse power is just a measurement of tourque over a given time. So its force (torque) over distance(RPM)= HP. Look at ANY dymo sheet that measures HP and TQ at once and you'll see the two cross at 5252 rpm. That is the point which we say 1 TQ is equal to 1 HP. So if you are making all your TQ at 2k....you are gutless.
Some engine designs will make a nice flat torque curve such as Harleys which gives you the seat of the pants feel of power. But as a old Harley owner my 50 ftlbs of torque does me no good when a sport bike makes 40 ftlbs over twice as long as I do.
Not trying to make things confusing but TBI heads ate not known for making HP at all.

Torque = twisting force

Horse Power = rate of work accomplished

Although the 2 are related they are not the same otherwise we would just have dyno sheets with a single power measurement.

For instance a high revving 327 has high HP but not high torque like a 383 does although the 383 may have less HP. Although at 5250 rpm The Peak efficiency of power for each motor is achieved.

That means That at 5250 you would shift to the next highest gear as you have achieved max Power and HP at the same time any further past that point and one or the other starts to decline. Although once achieving that spot at 5250 rpm does not mean that that is the limit of power production it just means that it is now more difficult to make the vehicle go faster or in other words you are not making efficient power to go faster.

Now torque is related to Twisting or Pulling power. So an engines peak Torque may be lower at say 3500 rpm. This means that when traversing an incline you will have the most efficient pulling power to climb the hill at 3500 rpm. This does not mean that you are limited to 3500 rpm rather that you have the most efficient and most available power/Torque at 3500 rpm to keep your vehicle moving up the incline at a set speed. In other words at 3500rpm you will be able to carry the maximum amount of weight up said incline with out slowing down.

An Electric motor can have phenomenal amounts of torque at 1rpm but virtually no HP until spun up to speed.

You see High Torque can be applied at a very very slow pace where as HP is the measure of the rate or speed at which Force or Torque is applied.

 

[Tricky991]

It's a fact, TBI heads are smog riddled and designed for MPG with lower emissions. They came out at the time the gubment was sqeezing the hell out of mpg ratings and emmisions standards but technology was not yet here so that's what we got. It was the best available back then. So no, they will not perform like and LS motor, but they do get the job done and are very reliable heads. If you're getting a good deal on this TBI motor, and honestly feel that nothing more than new head gaskets will make it run good, then go for it. I just wonder how much rust has developed in the 2 cylinders. You'l break your damn rings in those cylinders scurbbing the rust in the cylinder walls and if that's the case, that would kill the deal for me.

Well we haven't talked price yet but, I am sure I will get it next to nothing. And I won't talk price until I pull the head off to see what I am getting into lol. It doesn't have the the throttle body on it. If I were to put my heads off the 305, what would I be looking at? Would they swap right over?

And what kinda power loss/increase if any will there be?

And I was thinking just swapping my intake over too. Is that a bad Idea?

 

[Rule_So_Hard]

Torque = twisting force

Horse Power = rate of work accomplished

Although the 2 are related they are not the same otherwise we would just have dyno sheets with a single power measurement.

For instance a high revving 327 has high HP but not high torque like a 383 does although the 383 may have less HP. Although at 5250 rpm The Peak efficiency of power for each motor is achieved.

That means That at 5250 you would shift to the next highest gear as you have achieved max Power and HP at the same time any further past that point and one or the other starts to decline. Although once achieving that spot at 5250 rpm does not mean that that is the limit of power production it just means that it is now more difficult to make the vehicle go faster or in other words you are not making efficient power to go faster.

Now torque is related to Twisting or Pulling power. So an engines peak Torque may be lower at say 3500 rpm. This means that when traversing an incline you will have the most efficient pulling power to climb the hill at 3500 rpm. This does not mean that you are limited to 3500 rpm rather that you have the most efficient and most available power/Torque at 3500 rpm to keep your vehicle moving up the incline at a set speed. In other words at 3500rpm you will be able to carry the maximum amount of weight up said incline with out slowing down.

An Electric motor can have phenomenal amounts of torque at 1rpm but virtually no HP until spun up to speed.

You see High Torque can be applied at a very very slow pace where as HP is the measure of the rate or speed at which Force or Torque is applied.

Not tourqe over time mathematically. Torque measured over a given time.
Like I said I'm not trying to debate. I understand that stroker motors and different engine designs make broader, flatter, peakier etc... Torque bands. But high rpm torque is what makes power. Low rpm torque I'd certainly ly fun and create a really efficient engine also because that engine is operating in its peak torque sooner while your just cruising around.

It really sounds like we are saying the same thing. And like I said I'm not trying to argue...just trying to give a little more insight as to whybi said TBI heads are gutless.

And yeah if you just want to slap it in and go the plain old TBI heads will do you fine.

 

[Rule_So_Hard]

Another thing to remember is that horsepower is a measurement of tourque. Without torque you cannot make power. And the engines HP and torque cross at 5252 because of the equation used to find HP from torque says they cross there. It is the constant in the equation. Just light time is relative to the rising and falling of the sun Horsepower is relative to torque. Both are just a measurement.

 

[350runner]

If you want to make power around 2000 rpm which is good for drivability then yeah TBI heads will give you that but that's because of their restrictive ports.
Not to get into a debate or male things technical but tourque is and horse power are one in the same. Horse power is just a measurement of tourque over a given time. So its force (torque) over distance(RPM)= HP. Look at ANY dymo sheet that measures HP and TQ at once and you'll see the two cross at 5252 rpm. That is the point which we say 1 TQ is equal to 1 HP. So if you are making all your TQ at 2k....you are gutless.
Some engine designs will make a nice flat torque curve such as Harleys which gives you the seat of the pants feel of power. But as a old Harley owner my 50 ftlbs of torque does me no good when a sport bike makes 40 ftlbs over twice as long as I do.
Not trying to make things confusing but TBI heads ate not known for making HP at all.

No debate on hp needed. Just saying the aren't duds. They do very well in a truck or torque application.

Sent from the dust in front of you!

 

[Irishman999]

Wholly ****! was that thing actually running with a spun bearing?!?! Just more proof that small block chevy's are hard to kill.

I have been in your exact situation so here is my take on it.

Buying a used engine is a huge gamble, last small block I got the owner told me it ran but lost power suddenly. When I tore it down one piston was completely ruined with pieces missing.

Go to harbor freight and get a compression tester, also get a oil pump priming tool you chuck into a drill and a cheap mechanical gauge. whatever your going to buy just make sure its got compression and oil pressure.

I know first hand you cant always afford to do stuff right, scour craigslist and just wait for a good engine if you can. Once you crack into a used engine (replacing headgaskets) your going to find more and more ****. The perfect deal always seems to pop up.

 

[MadOgre]

No debate on hp needed. Just saying the aren't duds. They do very well in a truck or torque application.

Sent from the dust in front of you!

Ya that's the point.

In a truck you don't want an engine with 500 HP @ 6500 RPM cause that's completely useless in a truck. You want max Torque at a usable RPM say 2500-3500 RPM maybe 4k. Also if it takes 5000 RPM to achieve max Torque that does you no good either that's why RV cams are designed to make torque earlier and with a broader curve.

 

[firebane]

RV Cam pffft. Based off a recommendation from a member on this site I dropped this cam into my truck.. http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam-specs/Details.aspx?csid=70&sb=2

Can't wait to get it running.

 

[350runner]

Ya that's the point.

In a truck you don't want an engine with 500 HP @ 6500 RPM cause that's completely useless in a truck. You want max Torque at a usable RPM say 2500-3500 RPM maybe 4k. Also if it takes 5000 RPM to achieve max Torque that does you no good either that's why RV cams are designed to make torque earlier and with a broader curve.

Yea bud we are on the same page here.

Sent from the dust in front of you!