79tranny

hey there,

my name is Josh, i have a 1979 trans am, and i just finished an engine swap from my 403 to a 455. it was my first one and i'm only 17, so i guess its a good start. i'm a member of TransAmcountry.com.

anywayss..

well a close friend of mine has an 89 camaro R/S, with a 305. he is buying a chevy 350 that we were told is originally out of a 88-92 (cant remember) pick up. and its now in a blazer. it runs and all. its a tbi.

anyways.. i am going to assist him on the engine swap, he thinks it will only take a weekend to get it done, and i just laughed at him and reminded him i've been working on my car since september and its still not road worthy

well i was just wondering if anybody here can chime in on some advice, what should we be aware of? any typical problems occur with swapping tbi's? there is a small rectangular shape black box on top of the 350 and we are curious as to what it is...

what about engine harnesses? what do they look like? how are they installed? anybody have pics of a tbi engine swap they did? my 403 to 455 engine swap is the only one i've done, and its still not done.. so i'm not very skilled at this but i'm trying to learn.

thanks in advanced

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

What does an engine harness look like? It looks like wires wrapped in tape or flexible plastic tube.

The TBI forum has more specific information about swapping in a 350, because the issues relate to the TBI system more than the swapping of the engines themselves. If you use the 350 TBI and computer, you shouldn't have any particular problems, other than the 305 exhaust being a restriction (it's a restriction to the 305).

You should be able to do the swap in a weekend if you have some clue what you're doing, go about it systematically, and have the equipment you'll need to get it done (engine hoist, for instance).

79tranny

well i was told what i should do, is just swap everything from the 305 onto the 350 and just connect everything back up the way it was before..

the only thing i was told to keep on the 350 is the knock sensor. It's located low on the block, pass side, round looking thing ( i'm sure you know where and what it is, i dont..and i was just posting that part so that i know we are talking about the same thing..)

EDIT:

oh yea, and they also told me i should use the heads from the 305 cause the ones from a truck arent as good, and the 305 heads would create a little more compression...is that true?

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

The 305 heads would create more compression, but they aren't any "better" than the 350 heads. They're basically the same things, the differences being smaller chambers and intake valves on the 305.

I'd keep the 350 TB as well - bigger injectors. Might as well keep the 350 intake manifold, since there's no difference and replacing it will just be more work.

Did you read this sticky on the TBI forum? https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...-350-swap.html

79tranny

i havent read that yet.. but i'll do that right now.

thanks