Creslin89

i bought an 89' camaro, RS, t-tops, yall know what it looks like hopefully lol

Anyway, it had been switched to carb from EFI, and the ppl that did it didnt know a bloody thing about putting cars together...every bolt in the intake was different, even had a torx and an allen head in it...So i tinkered with it and got the carb set right, then decided i wanted to upgrade some stuff

One of my friends runs a pretty big garage, cut me decent deals on vortec heads, a PBM mild circle track (not sure exactly, box was wore out) cam, hydr lifters, pretty much the whole top end for 500 bucks...i was happy

But all that was for a 350, pulled the engine out of my camaro, 305...oh...****...lol

He had a 350 block that was .40 over that he didnt need, so i got it for free (friends r nice...) and the intake i had was a holley street dominator

So now, to cut out the rest of the bs, im upp'ing the 350 to a 383 (well...385 cause .40 over)

And i was wondering if anyone had anything else i might wanna look into...it has standard gearing in the rearend, its 5 spd maual, limited slip rear

what r the best (and relatively cheap) type of crank/pistons should i get?

and are the piston rods from the 305 okay to use in the 383, or do i need new ones?

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Welcome aboard thirdgen.org.

Well, there are a lot of potential "issues" here. .040" over is more than the "safe" .030" over, so a full Magnaflux would be a good idea. Vortec heads are lift-limited, and the stock valve springs are junk, so know what you're getting there.

Is the Street Dominator a Vortec intake? Don't listen to anyone who says a "regular" intake is "okay" if the heads are drilled for the mount bolts - the ports won't match up properly, so just use a real Vortec pattern intake and be done with it.

383 kits are plentiful. They start at around $500 for external balanced kits, the more you spend the more likely you are to get a quality kit. Stock 305 rods are okay for a low-RPM, low-power engine, but just get good rods with the stroker kit if you want it to be reliable.

A stock 5-speed absolutely will not stand up to abuse. Seriously consider a T56 from an LT1.

Creslin89

okay...well this is the first engine ive ever tried to upgrade, first car really...ive rebuilt just stock ones and stuff, so ill admit i have no clue lol, nothing but basic knowledge of how it all fits together, none of the specifics...thats why i posted haha

For the vortec heads, as far as i know they were off of a pulling truck that was pushing 550hp, thats about all i know...

"Is the Street Dominator a Vortec intake?" all i know is that its a holley street dom, but all the bolt holes and ports match up pretty well

The thing i started to do was just yank my crank out of the 305 cause i remembered the stroke and such was the same, but it was about 1/2 inch too short for the 350 block, and i had just ordered .040 pistons for it, wasnt going to turn it into a 383, just a 357 and leave it alone on the bottom end, but since the crank was too small, i started looking around and found the 383 crank and pistons for 175 locally, decent names, but i didnt have the cash on hand and they were gone the following tuesday i went to get them

Soooooo...yea...lol now im stuck with my camaro sitting outside the garage cause its kinda a family-use garage (everyone uses it lol) and im without an engine to go in it, and im pushing the bottom of my $ barrel...

So entire kits would b possible...but id prefer not to if u get the drift...

If i just found a stock 350 crank would the rods and tranny be okay as is? or would i need to upg them...?

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

They probably aren't Vortec heads, then. Get the casting numbers from them, located under the valve cover between a couple of valve springs.

That doesn't make any sense. The only difference between a 305 crank and 350 crank is the final balancing. They use the same casting blanks, same bearing journals, same stroke, etc.

You do understand that 350 and 383 pistons are different. If you use 5.7" rods (stock 307/305/327/350 length), the wrist pin has to be at a different place relative to the piston crown for 3.48" vs. 3.75" stroke. To use 350 pistons with 3.75" stroke, you need to use shorter rods (what the factory did for 400 SBC's).

Depends upon the rods and tranny you're talking about.

mario82z28

if you need 350 crank i have one its a 2 piece currently installed at the moment was tinkering with a 87 350 block but im burnt out on it all for the moment if your interested let me know

Creslin89

the crank from the 305 didnt quiet fit over the rear main seal (the rubber one)...

Yea, the diff tween 383 pistons and 350 r the 383 r shallower so they can have the longer stroke and not bust holes in the heads...then the 383 crank pushes them higher into the over-engineered space in the cylinder

That is right isnt it? cause please, correct me if its wrong...lol

@ mario: I can get a 350 crank really easy, i was just wondering if it would work, but thx

oh, and @ five7kid, they'd b the rods from the 305 and the 5spd...(but it would b nice to have that t56 haha...)

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

The reason the crank didn't fit is probably that the 305 is the '86-up one-piece rear main seal style, while the 350 is the '85-earlier two piece rear main seal.

Creslin89

yea, thats prolly what it was...but ive got a 350 crank now, so im just going to stick w/ the .040 pistons i ordered, 305 rods, and all the stuff i already listed...all the crank needs is to b polished and i gotta make sure its balanced out right soooo...

I'll let u know how it runs after i get it back together...whenever i get the funds built back up in my little car project savings account (haha) ill prolly spend some money on one of those T56 trans...or find a 5 speed that i can beef up w/ good stuff...i donno, ill figure that out when the day comes i guess

for all the help really appreciated it

Creslin89

Oh, and one other thing i forgot about earlier, is the flywheel from the 305 okay to use in the 350 or should i get another one? would definately not want it flying apart and yea...heh...that would suck

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

If the 305 was '86-up one-piece rear main seal, it won't fit on an '85-earlier two-piece rear main seal crank.

The back end of the crank of a one-piece rear main seal crank is round and wide. The two-piece rear mains seal crank has a weight just in front of where the flexplate/flywheel mounts. The weight was moved to the flexplate/flywheel for one-piece rear main seal engines. If you look at these cranks from the end side-by-side, you'll see the bolt patterns are a different size.

You should look for a 153-tooth flexplate. The '83-'85 f-body 3rd gen V8 application will get you the right part (if this 350 really is a 2-piece rear main seal). There is no difference between 305 and 350 flexplates of the same rear main seal type.

Creslin89

yea, its a two peice rear-main seal, i asked the friend that runs the garage...thats y mine didnt fit into it

So i need the 153 tooth flexplate? or 153 tooth flywheel?

Whats the difference? Is the flexplate the actual thing that bolts to the crank, and the flywheel is the wheel w/ the teeth on it that goes around it?

Any specific brands that u reccomend?

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

By popular usage, a flexplate is for automatic transmission (it's made out of "flexible" sheet metal), flywheel for manual transmission. Both contain the teeth for the starter. You only need the one for the transmission type you have.

Creslin89

okay, im going to stick with the 5 speed for the time being, since i wont b doing too much abuse sides the odd burnout...eventually i might upg to the t56 if i get instantly rich one of these days lol...so i'll need the 153 tooth flywheel...thank ya much

Creslin89

Well, its almost been a year, but i did say i would give an update after i got the bugs worked out as of tonight it starts/idles/revs/moves all by itself...after almost a year of tinkering...*shrugs* im just happy i got it going all by myself

This has definately been a learning curve for me, like i said it was my first car i tore into, so looking back on my posts im kinda scratching my head, and just want to tell you all (specially 5-7) THANK YOU for picking thru the random stuff i was posting and coming up with a solution for me it helped tons, more than i can say really.

So, overview of what i ended up doing:

SB 350, bored .40 over, stock 305 rods, flat top pistons, stock 350 crank, 305 heads (ill elaborate in a second), hydraulic lifters, stock push rods, Holley Street Dominator Intake, 600/750 Edelbrock Performer Series Carb (another freebie, off a truck that was going to get crushed...had a perfectly good 350 in it too, man didnt give me enuf time to yank whole engine....*sighs*) and a 35lb flywheel (153 tooth, just like ya said 5-7), and a high-torque starter.

Anyways, now to elaborate on the 305 heads...

The vortec heads that i got off of my friend were replacements for said pulling truck...and they needed them back, so i was like ?!?!?!, in the end they gave me the head gaskets and said too bad pretty much lol, so i was forced to put the 305 heads i had off of the original engine back onto the 350 block.

I did some research and found that they increase compression by leaps and bounds because they make the chamber smaller...leads to possible pinging/preignition/detonation (all three r different, just same basic action/reaction...blowing piston backwards...eww...) with regular octane gas. Suggestions were to retard timing just a hair so it sparks when the piston is higher/starting back down instead of coming up, or higher octane gas, so i just need an opinion on that whole paragraph, if im right/wrong/IMO's or whatever.

As for the heads, w/ all the research i get that 305 heads can be made better than stock 350's, but not as good as upg'd 350 heads...thats just plain logic lol, no replacement for displacement, etc....i think the numbers that 305 heads can be ground/polished/whatever to are 1.94 or 1.92? and 350 heads can go up to 2.04?

As for adjusting the timing...well, the balancer doesnt have marks, nor is there a timing plate on this engine block...yay? So basically im just hitting TDC, starting it, tweaking the dist. a bit to the advanced side, and taking off down the road.

ATM its got a serious hesitation that i believe is in the carb setting *****/screws b/c they are seriously out of sync...so ive been looking up how to tweak those tonight lol

More or less i was just posting an update, its mostly just tweaking and having a little fun with it now, but i would appreciate it if anyone has any tips on getting it timed right, or any advice whatsoever im extremely open, cause im still learning bout all this.

Edit: Just an FYI and maybe a laugh, my two older brothers have taken to calling it the Frankenstien Camaro lol, even threatened to get decals made