New to the forum. 49 years old and wanted a Camaro as long as I can remember. I just picked up an 81 Camaro father son project to work on with my 13 year old boy. According to it's numbers it came off the line with a 6 cylinder. It came with no motor and a TH 350 tranny. The po told me it most recently had a 305 in it. I want my son to have a cool car that can be loud but not necessarily fast. If he wants to put a big motor in it when he's older and on his own that's fine by me. I'm thinking of putting a 6 cylinder or a 305 back in it. There seems to be a ton of 305s out there (some from trucks) and many of the newer ones have fuel injection. Will these all mate up with the TH 350 and the motor mounts? I'm looking for something easy and I'm on a limited budget. I am not ready to rebuild a motor at this time. Any advice of what to look for in an engine would be greatly appreciated. I operate by the KISS principle. (Keep it Simple)

Thanks!

Bill

 

You could stick a 305 in it...or better yet, stick a 350 in it. It's a direct bolt in, and it won't give him too much power to get in trouble with if you keep it stock. But, this gives him a solid foundation for later modification if he should choose to. The only thing that may need modification is the driveshaft.

 

a 355 will be the best bet for hp an bang for your buck the 305 was not a very strong engine unless built ,it had like 180hp stock,you can get a crate 355 for like under 3k or around with like 300hp jegs has wide rang of engines an sbc alot of choises ,i would go big block with all that space under the hood suppose weather your going new or used ,seen a 305 long block on ebay built to 350+ hp $899.99,as far as crate engines the 350 is going to be the biggest choice of ,used can be a crap shoot,i have a sbc 406 in my 95 an love it

 

I would use the 350 .No use in swapping an engine twice.Plus 350 loved to be hopped up. But in the meantime I would put a rev limiter to make sure your son behaves himself.

 

I suggest a wrecked Chev/GMC truck pre-93 and transfer all from truck into '81 Camaro.
Much better drivability, self-tuning, and EFI (TBI) to boot.
You would have to add a fuel pump and a return line to tank and easy enough to do.
Moroso markets a tank fill tube tee for the return.

 

There's nothing wrong with the 305's. If you can pick up a low mileage one, do it. Personally, I would look for a 350. They are much more common and there are tons of parts for them. Making them cheaper overall. Both will bolt to the T350. ... If cost is an essential issue, I would avoid fuel injection and anything else that wasn't offered in a 2nd gen Camaro. Save that stuff for a later date. As you said, keep it simple.

 

Keep an eye out for someone upgrading their classic car to a LS motor. Since everything is difference you can get just about everything you need for one price. Buying a whole driveline can get complicated and spendy if you are buy parts from a bunch of different sources. Same goes for buying a wrecked car.

Avoiding the 305 is a good idea even if you ok with less HP then a modern 4 cylinder. The 327 or a 350 will more then make up its cost up in resale value of the car. An extra $200-$300 spend on the engine could mean $600-$1000 in value of the car. If you do go with a 305 do not pay a lot of money for it. I can't even guess how many running 305's I have sent to the scrapper because no one wanted them