I have a 1986 Camaro with a 305 and carb and need some advice on what to first for some more power. I know I didnt give much info but some people tell me I should get a 350 in there or larger, some say the 305 will do, and others say I can they are the same blocks. What should I do?

 

Depending on the money you want to spend i would go with a 350... but for some extra power get some headers, and a nice exhust system.

 

stick a larger carb on there, depending on what was on it before you will notice a increase of power, not sure what you would have to do to the chip afterwards for it to work, I awalys riped mine out on the first chance. But yea if you willing to spend the money a 350 is your best bet, the 305 ain't going to do enough for ya, or atleast not for me it didn't.

 

A larger carb will do NOTHING for a 305. The QJet is plenty big enough.

Headers and a 3 inch exhaust will really make a difference.

 

It is not true that the 305 and 350 share the same block? Someone told me that the only difference is the length of the stroke and I could make it a 350 with the obvious changes. So do you guys beleive I should stick with the 305 or go to a 350 or bigger?

 

The 305 has a 3.78 inch bore and a 3.48 inch stroke. You woul dhave to bore the block a whole bunch to make it the 4.00 inch bore of a 350(can't do too thin off cylinder walls.)

I would start by making sure your quadrajet is healthy, then add a nice alum intake and some exhaust mods. then save for a 350..lol

Really , if you can afford a 350 it will get you alot more than tinkering with the 305.

 

Alright to be truthful I am only 15 right now and do not know much but I understand what you are talking about. The only thing Im concerned about is buying parts for a 305 that wont work on a 350. Is there anything that I cant swap over when I get a 350 like heads, intake manifold,headers, etc. See I know enough about cars for my age but not that much hands on experience. The only thing I have to tinker with is a f-150 motor and a moped motor.

 

I would scrap the 305 and get a 350. For now though, try headers, exhaust, and maybe even a cam. (After all that, might as well just swap engines ) I have a friend that put a cam in his 305 and it runs ok, but it's no 350. As for the exhaust, I wouldn't go any larger than 2.5 inch. Even better would be 2.25 due to the fact that backpressure helps small block chevys make torque, something that a 305 does not do. All of your upgrade parts will be interchangeable with the 350. The heads would be the only hang up due to the smaller chambers of the 305. Hope this helps.

 

Ya this helps quite a bit, now just to convince my dad to let me purchase a 350, I need to buy heads for the block too though. I'll prob do exaust, manifold, carb, etc for now and then in a year or two after a job I'll put a 350 in or maybe a higher cube. I want some horsepower and nitrous is too iffy.

 

Sittingbull, can you please reduce your sig to 5 lines?

 

How about if I use it sparingly?

I really do try to not include it. I wish there was an option in the control panel to turn it off by default. I just wanted to give the guy some ideas about what he can do with a 305.

 

Everything that exteriorly bolts to a 305 will bolt to a 350 (inmost cases).

So intake waterpump, heads, exhaust all cam be moved over to the 350 when you get the shortblock built or bought. Remember though with a 305 if your getting heads the largest intake valve you can go with without modifications to the block is a 1.94. so if you put a nice set of heads on it make sure it has 1.94 intake valves and not 2.02s.

the 305 was built for torque, not high HP, it has a long stroke (same as 350) but a small bore (bad for breathing). I would put the exhaust system that you plan to finish with on, so make it for the 350, you will have some sluggishness down low maybe, but when the 350 gets in it will be done and youwon't have to redo it.

 

well i can honestly say i was very impressed with the results out of my 305 a few years back.

i had a performer cam, manifold, lifters, headers, 3 inch cat back, 700r4, 3:73 rear, holly 600 cfm. shift kit and i was able to run a 14.2 with it.

but now i have a 350

But i still wonder if i had head work done and maybe a shot of juice what it might have ran then

 

Whats it like doing engine work on a 1986 Camaro? Is it a pain in a the butt the with that polution control junk? Can I swap any part in or out easily or do I have to worry about compatibility?

 

Well, first thing you can do is just get rid of the emissions componets IF you're state does not have inspection. I live in Columbiana county in Ohio, and that stuff went by-by. More room in the engine bay and frees up some horses. As far as compatibility issues, you shouldn't run into anything since just about anything accessory wise will match right up with a 350. This includes your distibutor, headers, cylinder heads (but 350 heads will not work on a 305, just for the sake of knowledge) accessory brakets, alternator (provided you dont do any insane electrical stuff) water pump, water neck, plug wires, fan, radiator. Just about everything. lol.

All in all, it's pretty easy to do work on 3rd gen Camaros. Nothing is really hard to get at, and you shouldn't have any compatibility problems.