Another suggestion would be an L05 350. They came in Chevy trucks, and some GM passenger cars from 87 - 95. I believe they have the same throttle body as your L03. Keep your ear to the ground and you will find something. Sometimes you can find a truck or car that is almost junk but has a good engine in it. Junk the car, take the engine.

 

for the money spent to buy a set of gears and have them installed, you could locate a rear for less. most late 4th gen rear axles from v6 auto's are 3.42 ratio. they bolt in, but need the 4th gen wheels.

 

The tpi hits a wall at 4500, but my quadrajet 305 wants to rev past redline very quickly. I watch my tach carefully when getting it on.

 

I was referring to the engine's power band, as opposed to how far you can press your luck.
His TBI 305 is rated 170 h.p.@4,000 rpm, and 255 lb. ft. torque@2,400 rpm (eek). As you can see, the h.p. isn't in a terrible place, but torque is way low in the power band. Torque is what turns the tires, which is great, but you want to keep the engine going strong well beyond that 2,400 rpm point. This engine has a double whammy actually. Low torque, and because of the restrictive swirl design of the intake runners, the heads can't breathe worth a crap (allow the engine to perform well in the higher rpm's). And they can't be "fixed" either. If you really want to make this 305 do something worthwhile, throw the heads in the garbage can and get some HO heads or aftermarkets. Headers and better intake are great to an extent, but the heads will still be the big choker in the middle. That's when you want to start being realistic and decide just how much you want to get out of your 305, and how much money do you want to dump into it.

 

NONE. Yesterday about 3pm i took the car out to a friends house. His dad has a 350 out of a vette built that pushes 600 at the wheels apperently. 1000$ for tranny and engine. Later that night was talking to a buddy that runs a tow truck for a junk yard. Just so happens to have a 383 stroker sitting at the lot in a z28 that no one has claimed. Talked to his boss and he's letting it go for right around 400$. Nothing is final yet but when I caught wind of that I about fell over.Maybe doing that 350 swap sooner than I planed. =)

 

Yeah, like yesterday!!! Both of those are smokin hot deals....provided the engines are still good and strong.

 

Be carefull. Its funny how every tired old SBC some one has laying around in there barns or garage all of a sudden becomes a 383 stoker or a 400 horsepower monster. I have seen guys buy 355s from good friends to find out its a stock 305. It happens all the freaking time. For your other buddy how does he know its a 383? I seriously dont think he has had the heads off and verified the bore and stroke. If so what chamber are the heads, what is the piston dome, piston to deck height, etc.

I can tell you a 600 horsepower at the wheels small block is about 700 at the crank and is going to run you close to 10K. Its also not going to be very fun to drive on the street and is going to take constant maintenance and probably a rebuild every 3-5K. At the same time nothing but a well built Th400 or 4L80 is going to take that kind of abuse and your talking about 2000-2500 bucks for a decent one plus a triple disk converter at that point so that's about 800 bucks.

Also you are about to have another major problem. You probably have a open diff in your rear end. Traction is about to be a huge issue. you could swap to a LSD unit but guess what. Any thing over 400 horse power is going to eat that 10 bolt for lunch so might as well plan on dropping a 12 bolt or 9 inch under her while your at it.

START SMALL and build your way up man. Gears are a great place to start, So are headers and exhaust. Once you get that done save your money because your going to want to dump that TBI set up when you steep up in displacement or go with a TBI set up out of a truck.

 

I haven't looked completely into the 383 yet. Your right though, it could just be word of mouth. I'll find out tonight and if I can get over to the yard to hear it run. If I got that, I for sure swap the rear out.

 

But your talking about working on a budget and worrying about 400-500 bucks. Also hearing a motor run tells you very little about how much power it might make. With a big cam and plenty of timing you can make a 200 horse small block sound pretty bad $%!. Not trying to turn you away from a project but take your time.

 

Once you pull that stock motor out, you just have a metal hole that you throw a lot of money in. Just make a plan and total the costs up to see if it is workable or not. Better to have a slow ride than a fast one not running because you cannot afford to put it back together.