ok so ive got a 92 rs with a 305tbi im wanting to swap to a 350 what all is involved in the swap? will everything match up? and would any 350 work? this is kinda a budget build so i dont really have alot of money to sink into it thanks

 

How much is your budget? Is it a manual or automatic transmission in the car now? Are you doing all the work yourself or are you going to pay a shop to do it? Are you planning on adding any go-fast parts or are you going with a stock engine for now?

 

chevyguy

i suggest that you engage with ebony. I believe that he tried the budget route first and it ended up costing way too much in the end.

there is no cheap way to do it right

 

i dont really have much of a budget about 50-100 bucks a week till it gets done its an automatic imdoing all the work myself i dont really want a bone stock motor but i also dont want a race car motor just sumthing that i can cruise and it still has *****

 

I would suggest saving up all of the money first before you begin. Just belts, fluids, filters, mounts, new fasteners or sending units will be at least $400, not to mention radiator, fans, and hoses.... I would budget $1000 for a reuild trans or $2500 if you are buying new. I would budget at least $4k for a good 350 with good internals, good heads, and good exhaust....it adds up quick. There are guys who have done this for less but were patient or ended up pretty lucky in finding good parts or salvage motors. Be careful and realistic and you should have a lot of fun when its done.

 

seriously, PM st ebony and get all the details and dolalr amounts, it aint cheap. The number of succes stories of doing cheaply are fewer than those who do it correctly.

You are best to do it correctly vs paying twice.

 

i agree with torque_is_good, my dad and i "cheaply" put a 350 in mine when the engine blew... and cheaply means 700 bucks after everything... and now i already have the engine out to replace the block (put 3600 miles on it)... finding just a good block and having a shop machine it and all is going to cost about 5-600, and if you dont have that done, you'll end up like me doing it over again very quickly... save up and do it right the first time

 

Hell, I'll post the numbers here.

I paid $2200 for a 1988 L98 350 with less than 100k miles on it. I tore it apart and found out the block was cracked.

Cost $1500 to have it rebuilt after that.

I spent $1400 on a set of Edelbrock Performer TPI heads, and $300 on a CompCams camshaft. $200 on a PROM chip

Probably another $500 on miscellaneous parts like lifters, pushrods, gaskets, bolts, and such.

Then finally another $3800 to have the 305 pulled out and the 350 installed, along with a new water pump, air pump, heater core, flex plate, oil cooler and a couple other things.

Final total was just under $10,000. Even doing a swap like this where the engines are the same externally, it's not a cheap project. You're gonna find stuff you didn't expect, everything will cost more than you thought, and it will take 5 times as long as you expect.

The results? Well, my car is faster than an '04 Mustang GT and a 2010 V6 Camaro, it starts and runs great, but it only gets 15 mpg on 94 octane, the steering and brakes need work... and I know I could easily spend another $8-10k on go-fast parts before it's really performing like it should.

Dude if you're on a budget, keep the 305 till it blows up, and then think about swapping, maybe. Your better bet would be to look for a car that already has a 350 and upgrade it from there.

 

that thud you heard was chevyguy fainting. Thanks to st ebony we probably won't see him again ;-)

 

i have a junkyard by my house i can buy a 350 from for about 150 i plan on rebuilding it before i put it in but im not sure what all vehicles i can use a 350 from i know they have a lot of pickup trucks with them would one of those work? im not planning on having a build motor i was thinking more of stock with a aftermarket cam and headers type deal and i already have a new transmission to go in it i know that rebuilding the motor itself isnt going to be cheap and im doing all the work myself so im not worried about having to pay sombody to do the work for me