OK -it's time to replace that 23 year old (160,000 miles) 305 ci on my 81 Conquitsa. I shopped around and got a good price on having the engine completely re-built. I don't have the ability or time any loinger to do it myself. Now that it's at the shop I'm trying to decide if I should spend the extra $ and go for the performance of a 350 instead of simply restoring it back to stock. I drive the car primarily on the freeways of CA and would eventually like to hook up a tow bar. Raw horsepower is not my ultimate goal - a smooth ride, with power to tow is really what i'm after. Any suggestions?

Add some headers and a cat back exhaust system and you should have decent power from your 305. But if you want much more power then the 350 is the way to go for sure. And don't forget about the SMOG inspections..

That's the age old question.... It's all about what you want balanced by your cash flow.

I recently swapped out my 305 for a hi perf 350. I now wish i wouldnt have. The performance gain i see is not much at all. The mileage drop is. Since this is my daily driver i will now be dropping in a rebuilt overdrive tranny.Just my experience/opinion.( Either i had a SMOKIN 305 or i am missing something with this 350)

Nothing says I can pull you better than an engine with lots of raw torque. So a 400 or maybe a 383 on the SBC side and bigger if you can. a 383 has more raw pulling power than a stock 305 or even a 350. But I have a 93 Pickup with a 305 that I pull a Bass Boat around with. It pulls fine for a 305 and I have over 180,000 miles on it. It doesn't burn oil, smoke that sort of stuff and for a work vehicle it is pretty good. It could get better fuel economy but then I'd have to change a bunch of stuff so for now it works fine.

Just some thoughts.

I just swapped my tired 305 out for a Goodwrench 350. The 305 needed a rebuild and lots of the parts were bad, so the 350 was a great improvement. If you need your car to be smogged, this is THE BEST way to go. I have the 350, Edelbrock 50-state legal manifold and TES headers, and a tuned Rochester 4bbl carb, and it feels really nice. It sounds a lot nicer too. I'm getting a nice cat-back system done this weekend with either a Flowmaster or Borla muffler (to be determined based on the shop's suggestion. I'm leaning toward Borla.)

Good luck with your project!
-Kris

I would go with raw power... But of course, this is coming from a 16 year old guy... :-D :-D 8)

I don't know what the budget is but you could check into a fuel injection setup, it should give you the power, mileage and idle quality you want and with a pair of converters get the emissions you require.

Thanks for all the suggestions. In the end I decided to go with a rebuild of the 305 with some performance modifications that the shop owner suggested: A slightly modified cam (to improve torque), dome top pistons, engine balanced and assembled. As expected, they're going to replace all belts, hoses and engine parts that are worn and should be replaced, rod out the radiator, clean up th engine compartment, and inspect & service the transmission. I'm sticking with the stock exhaust manifolds and exhaust system, but might look at putting on a glasspack (what the hell, I'm spending the better part of $3500 to rebuild the engine, it might as well SOUND good).

I estimate to replace with a 350 would have cost me at least $1000 more, probably closer to $2000-$2500 by the time all is done, and I just couldn't afford to do it now. I rationalize my investment by figuring if I can get another 23 years or 160,000 from the rebuild, it will be money well spent. Will let you know how it runs once it's done.

$3500?!?!...I'm no doctor mind you, but I'd get a second opinion if I were you. For that amount of money I could get a new aluminum radiator with electric fans, rent a high pressure washer, buy a nice exhaust system and oh yeah rebuild myself a really nice 350 4 bolt main engine ($100-200 from a boneyard) with some aluminum Edelbrock heads. Rebuilding the 305 would cost $1200 if that much depending on what parts can be reused (ie. crank reground and rods resized and the heads getting a valve job) not counting labor to pull and re-install the motor (appox $800) I'm not trying to bust your bubble but do some looking and shop around some more.

Everything cost more in California! My best advice is that you MOVE! :lol:

well so far on my engine built i've spent:
(ebay) means i got it from ebay, number after that is price from summit.

vortec/block w/heads - $100
Eagle 383 crank- $195 (ebay) 285
Speed Pro 383 pistons $190 (ebay) 320
Edelbrock #1904 Qjet carb -250 (used) (ebay) 460
Edelbrock performer intake -130 (ebay) 160
ZZ4 cam - freebie :)
harmonic balancer - 60
flywheel - 60
parts/labor from machine shop (all new bearings, piston rings, and block work) - 600
Distributor and coil - 100 (used) (ebay) 160
timing chain -40
valve covers -70 (ebay) 120
gasket kit - 50
.550 lift valve springs - 160

GRAND TOTAL: 2005

Total if i didn't buy stuff from ebay 2645

savings: 640

My rebuilt 350 has seen over 170k miles so I am in the process of building another mild 350 to drop in when this one gives up. It's great having another engine so you can take your time. Then it will be a weekend swap.