What's the going price on a good 305 engine these days ?

Yeah sorry but I missed the fact that it was class specific for racing initially. I see them on marketplace all the time combined with a transmission, usually leftover from a LS swap or similar. I think they usually ask too much but I think also they just aren’t sure what to ask so you could probably offer them a couple hundred bucks and they would let loose of it and although it might be tired still highly rebuildable.

Free to a couple hundred bucks. I got one for free several years ago. It was probably was from a Monte Carlo SS or Z28 because it had the good cylinder heads and a roller cam. Unfortunately, when I got it home and took it apart, I found a couple rusted cylinder walls, due to the seller storing it near an open garage door, where rainwater got inside it. It had already been bored +.040, so there was no hope for it. What a waste of what would have been a perfectly fine engine for an old pickup used to run weekend chores.

I am old enough to have run a few 307s when they were still in their original vehicles.
Oil burning, low power, valve stem wearing, 2 barrel pooches. It was easier to recognize a 307 as it passed by the blue haze following than trying to read the badge on the fender. But they started without fail, ran and got a mile or two better gas mileage than the L48. They also helped sell a lot of anti fouler plugs, lol.
The 305 is all the above minus the oil consumption.

GTX63 said:

I am old enough to have run a few 307s when they were still in their original vehicles.
Oil burning, low power, valve stem wearing, 2 barrel pooches. It was easier to recognize a 307 as it passed by the blue haze following than trying to read the badge on the fender. But they started without fail, ran and got a mile or two better gas mileage than the L48. They also helped sell a lot of anti fouler plugs, lol.
The 305 is all the above minus the oil consumption.

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There were a lot of oil burning 283 and 327 pooches too. The 307 was no different from any other Chevy small block of the era. But being the base V8 engine, they were treated as such.

bucket said:

There were a lot of oil burning 283 and 327 pooches too. The 307 was no different from any other Chevy small block of the era. But being the base V8 engine, they were treated as such.

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Yep, I agree. Whether because of stereotype and/or much better alternatives, they haven't held much value. 15 years of working on GMs during the era I can count on one hand the # of 307s someone spent good money on, trying to turn it into something it wasn't meant to be.

Hah, I actually just had this conversation with a good friend on Saturday. The only people that I have ever met who WANT a 305 are people who run Monte Carlos in what used to be known as "dare stock", I know they have a different name for it now. Some classes of racing that allow 3rd gen Camaros also require a 305. Some classes are based strictly on size and can run a 307 or 302, but some must be "period correct" and have to run a 305. Even those guys don't want to pay junkyard prices, they usually come up and say "hey I heard you got a squarebody, it's got a 305 right?" and when you smile and say "nah it's a suburban, those heavy bastards came with a TBI 350 in '87" they walk away. I don't care how well it runs, around here you'd be lucky to get $300-400 for a really great low mileage 305. They are not sought after at all. Unless someone needs one for their race car, when a normal person's engine blows up and they need a replacement anyone with a half a brain will just buy one of the 10 million used 350s that literally grow on trees for a few hundred bucks instead. A carbed 305 made what, 140hp if lucky? They're boat anchors, throw away engines wirth their weight in iron scrap and that's about it. No offense, just being real.

My criticisms aside, I had two 350sb squarebodies that I was working on making roadworthy. They mostly needed bodywork. However, I started looking for another 350 to rebuild and be ready when if/when needed for future projects.
Not much luck doing a local search. Then I realized I had an old Bonanza sitting in the back that I bought for body parts. It had a 305 of unknown condition. No keys. I didn't even lift the hood when I bought it.
For the cost of a new distributor, battery, some fuel and vacuum lines, and an ignition switch, I got the 305 running and discovered it was a solid motor. There was no point in finding another small block to rebuild.
If the time came, I would drop the 305 in a truck while rebuilding the motor that came with it.
For performance, no. For reliability, absolutely.

I used to have an L69 with a Compucam 2030 and about $300 in the #416s including bigger exhaust valves that smoked the livin pizz out of almost anything that would line up. Mean mother f- spun bearings in front of a Corvette.
But whatever.

Get a centerbolt valve cover one, dont waste time on a perimeter headed 305, they truly are dogs. Bad heads and pistons...One piece RMS is your friend. You'll want to get the oil pan too k?

I've only seen one guy put effort into building a 305. He was a broke highschool kid that wanted an engine for his rougher GMT400. The irony is that he probably could've just got a junk yard TBI 350/5.7 That was actually made to work in the truck for a similar amount of money he had to spend to rig up throttle/transmission linkage, and other bits to make the 305 work in that truck. I didn't tell him that though. He looked he was having fun. I'd hate to ruin that for him.

As info and if anyone needs to know.......
Sold my old 305 for $300 today !

Sounds good if you don't count the $500 in parts I bought yesterday..

Sold complete 87' 69k 305/400 TBI w/harness back in Dec for $1600