Mattkovitch

im currently running a bone stock 305 tbi, it has an issue with low oil pressure and instead of rebuilding this sluggish old motor i want to swap it for a 350. so was wondering what would be the simplest/cheapest way to go about doing so not necessarily performance just yet. Could i just swap a 350 tbi into it and keep my same trans and computer harness? i wanted buy a 350 corvette motor but i was told id need the corvette trans and drive line as well, and swap the harness to switch from tbi to tpi. I also heard switching to a carb is easier?

Another idea i thought might work is to buy a 350 and put my tbi from the 305 in the car into the new 350, would that work?
Any help is appreciated, I just need the cheapest and simplest option so i keep this car running. (also ill be having a shop do the swap as i do not have an engine lift or probably not knowledgeable about the subject enough to do it myself)

Mattkovitch

Anybody know anything about this?

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

Your transmission will work on any gen 1 (Non LT/LS) sbc engine from 1955 to 2000.

You can put almost any intake and induction system on almost any gen 1 sbc

What year is your car? Chevy made only minor changes to the sbc over the years. 55-85 heads uses a diff intake bolt pattern than '86 to 95, 95-2000 uses another intake pattern.

If yours is a 305 TBI, go find an 80's, early 90's full size chevy/gmc truck/suburban 350 TBI and it's a direct bolt in.

A crab swap is easy and allows you to use just about any year engine, heads, etc

I like carbs myself. I would recommend finding a 96-00 chevy truck vortec 350 from a wrecked truck/suv on craigslist or where ever, buying an aftermarket vortec carb intake, and fuel press. reg, 600-670 cfm carb, and HEI dist.

That is a nice base to work with. Roller cam, 255 hp stock, and can easily be upgraded to 375 hp with just a cam swap, headers, good exhaust, etc.

Mattkovitch

Sweet, i wanna keep things simple just get things running as they should and then ill get to performance upgrades. MY car is a 91 with an automatic trans. And later on would a carb swap be better performance wise than switching to tpi?
would by tbi system bolt right on to a 350, if i found one without a tbi system?
thanks for your help!

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

Going carb makes it much simpler. But, you could put your TBI over on a TBI 350 out of an 88-94 chevy truck, van, Cadillac, Caprice..etc. You just need the bigger injectors from the 350, the 350 knock sensor, esc module, and get a chip burned accordingly. I would do like Mr Nightrider327 said and do a Vortec 350 carbed and re-cammed. They make a very good street engine with great power. That's what I ran on my last 3rd gen.

stephenscamaro

Lots of resources in the engine swap part of the forum~

In the process of the same thing now.

Tbi setup would be fine, you get to keep you torque converter lockup whereas with a carb you would have to make a switch. But, you can't beat the carb setup. My opinion is, go carbed. Its easier to put the money and time in first to make all the changes so that later when you decide to make higher HP gains, it will be a lot less of an investment.

TBI limits your capabilities and when you are ready to upgrade and go for the 400 rwhp, you will have to make all those changes and spend the same amount of money again.

Mattkovitch

ahh didnt realize there was an engine swap forum, that probably would have been a better place to start. I just need a new engine in asap because of the low oil pressure the engine i have now has. so i need quickest and easiest. if i had a 350 tbi could i just bolt it right in and not have to change anything? Id do performance upgrades later and probably switch to carb but i dont have the money for that just yet.

stephenscamaro

look at this thread~

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...-350-swap.html

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

Probably so. Just wouldn't be getting the full potential out of it first. I know a guy that hooked up a STOCK vortec 350 to the stock 305 TBI system and he said it worked fine.

stephenscamaro

Why not put bearings in the 305, run it for a while and save up parts/money to build a decent 350/383? Its not that hard~

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

350 TBI is probably the simplest swap of all. All you need is, a 350 (duh), the TB & injectors off of a truck or Caprice, and the chip, knock sensor, and ESC module from same. Granted, there's more could be done to make it "better", but that's a major kick in the seat of the pants right there for very little jack.

Even better, get a 96-2000 (Vortec) motor, a Performer RPM intake for Vortec, a TBI -> 4-bbl adapter, and the injectors chip and all that. Like was said, that motor even with the stock 305 programming is a YUUUUUUUUUUUJJJJE upgrade; but properly programmed, it's even better. Then add a set of headers and a 3" cat & cat-back, and it adds up to probably a good 60% increase in HP over what you've got now.