I'm swapping out the little 305 in my 85-z for a 4-bolt 350 from a 94 pickup. Is there a kit I can buy to rebuild the engine back to spec but with forged pistons and rods?
Or would it be better to buy the rebuild in individual pieces since I'm keeping it mostly plain?
I want to keep the car daily driveable with REASONABLE gas mileage, but have the option of spraying a 100 shot into it every now and then without having a meltdown.
Also, I've been trying to find forged pistons and noticed that most are oversized, is it rare to keep a stock bore and add forged guts? or am I just looking in the wrong places?

 

If you aren't doing anything to the truck engine "powerwise", other than spraying a 100-shot, you don't really need forged parts. Lots of people spray a 125-shot on a stock engine with no problems.

When you rebuild an engine, you frequently have to bore the cylinders to eliminate surface irregularities (scratches, scoring, lip at the bottom of the piston stroke, etc), out-of-round bore, etc. If you find that your block does not need to be bored, you can order a set of stock diameter pistons. Even if the don't have them on the shelf, they can make them.

 

Are you rebuilding just for the purpose of forged pistons? If so then don't do it at all for only a 100 shot.

 

We see stock bottom end engines go 10's and get hit with 150 jetting all the time. You should be just fine. I'd make sure to run a 5 heat range spark plug instead of stock(4), and always keep premium gas in it. Keep the timing conservative also. low 30's probably. Make some WOT runs with new spark plugs and see what they look like right after a full throttle run. Do some research and you'll be able to tell if the engine is in a safe state of tune or not. goodluck

 

The engine was blowing oil pretty bad so I ripped it all apart and decided that since I HAVE the bottle I'd use it every now and then. I just wanted to have the bit of extra insurance that forged pistons would give as well as an engine that is "that much" stronger.

 

I would rip that engine apart and put some better heads on it. I would say the motor will be lucky to have 180hp. The heads don't flow much and the compression can be raised a fair amount. 88-95 or 96 truck motor are lacking in the performance area. But like the others said small shots aren't that hard on parts.