1994 C1500 W/T 358" 5-speed

[townsend]

Hey guys, have yet another project to occupy my life and drain my bank account. I bought a 94 1500 longbed regular cab 2wd truck for $500 from a friend. He's a VW kid and bought this to haul parts, drove it for a week, and couldnt figure out what was wrong with it. Supposedly the motor is a '70 350 block bored and stuff to make 358". I dont know how correct the "358" thing is because thats just what the previous owner told him, and quite frankly ive never heard of them. Well, the "miss" above 3000 rpm turned out to be a little more than that.

a sleeve or bushing of some sort was put into this out of shape pushrod hole on the head for the number 1 exhaust valve.


this caused the pushrod to bind and not go through its normal range of motion, thus causing an awesome flattened cam lobe and trashed lifter. ill put a pic up tomorrow of the lifter.

im at the point now that im thinking of selling what i can of the motor, and buying a junkyard/running lt1 out of something, slapping a carb and distributor on it, and driving it through winter. WildBillyT made a good point in my tech thread to be concerned about all that metal that went through the rest of the motor due to the wiped lobe/destroyed lifter. i dont want to spend the little cash i have on a new cam/lifters/pushrods/gaskets/etc and put the time into a motor thats just a ticking time bomb and hear pop after a week.

basic plans: make it run and be reliableish. then lower it and put some nice wheels/tires on it. its mostly gonna be a parts hauler/daily beater so i can finally do the work to the z28 that it deserves.

[1320B4U]

305 tbi off c/l...people are practically giving them away...will bolt in and up to the slushbox w/out incident. An lt1 is nice, but if you want reliability and low budget, this is a better option.

[zraffz]

Originally Posted by 1320B4U

305 tbi off c/l...people are practically giving them away...will bolt in and up to the slushbox w/out incident. An lt1 is nice, but if you want reliability and low budget, this is a better option.

I have one I've been meaning to pull outta my brothers 92 camaro as well...

[townsend]

I can get a lt1 for around 500, the intake is 225 and id just have to grab a 98 5.7 vortec flywheel. More power and a roller valvetrain for a decent price. If i find a 305 for around 300 that runs ill consider it

[chrisfrom nj]

sounds like a good project i still have a lt1 intake for sale if your intrested

[WildBillyT]

You can probably get a running Gen 1 for the price of the LT1 intake.

$300 for a running 305 is too expensive.

Edit:

Post up the casting numbers... you might get lucky.

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Originally Posted by 1320B4U

305 tbi off c/l...people are practically giving them away...will bolt in and up to the slushbox w/out incident. An lt1 is nice, but if you want reliability and low budget, this is a better option.

Truck is a 5 spd according to the thread title and his sig.

[townsend]

Casting numbers for which motor? Even a gen 1 350 on craigslist people want 500 for. Somr 305s are goin for that too. Le sigh

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by townsend

Casting numbers for which motor? Even a gen 1 350 on craigslist people want 500 for. Somr 305s are goin for that too. Le sigh

Your old one. Get the suffix code if you can.

It's not the original engine in the pickup, and some stuff in the early 70's is very desirable.

If some dumbass stuffed an original LT-1 block in that pickup then there's your new engine $. A long shot, sure, but stranger things have happened. Likewise with the heads. If they are 462 camel humps then they are worth a few bucks.

I got an "old tach" in a box of parts once, out of a beat up Dodge. Turns out it was a Stewart Warner 970, worth $400 restored, $250 as-is.

[townsend]

Woah, hope i get lucky like that hah. Im gonna yank it this weekend

[V]

I have a good 305, ran when pulled, sat indoors since 1998. Its in longblock form currently, still with balancer and flexplate. I'd take 180 for it picked up.

its centerbolt heads and said to be an '89 motor. I'll even throw in a TBI intake and TB

[townsend]

V think id be able to throw it in, put oil in it and go? Or would it need a rebuild

[townsend]

Well if you still have that 305 let me know, ill take it

[V]

PM replied

[zraffz]

Originally Posted by townsend

Well if you still have that 305 let me know, ill take it

Hate to interfere since it is yours to ultimately do whatever you want with but honestly man I would not waste my time putting a 305 in a vehicle of mine if the motor was FREE.

[townsend]

Your entitled to your opinion good sir. Ive had a few 305 vehicles and the body fell apart before i could kill it. The cutlass i had at one time was a 305 and we called it no-blow. I ran it out of oil at seaside and drove it home on a quart. Another time i drove it for two weeks without checking and the stick was dry. That motor lives on in my stepdads work truck with 225,000 and counting, never been apart. After talking to V about it its my best and cheapest option right now, i need the truck running. Then i can tear down the other motor or grab a lt1 and do something when i get laid off.

[1320B4U]

^ I agree. 350 is the choice but when cost is involved, a 305 is perfect..its a parts hauler and commuter not a saturday night cruiser...set of headers and it sounds great and still money in your pocket.

[townsend]

^ yup. i just want it to run and be driveable. then ill send the other paperweight to the machine shop (chucks auto machine shop) around the corner and have him tell me what he honestly thinks about fixing it, etc. if its more than the cost of finding a lt1, installing a hotcam and carbing it, then it becomes my father inlaws motor that he can get built for the nova. he has the funds for a motor build, i do not. im not trying to build some monster pick-up. i mean a honda here a acura there would be funny, but thats why i own a camaro, for that type of fun.

also doesnt account for the fact i enjoy being different with anything. zraffz please see the following article:http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng...e_testing.html

that would be fun to build, but with a little better cam since hopefully its a roller block

[NJ Torque]

ive got a 305 thats priced to move too...

[townsend]

Just pulled the block casting number off the one currently in the truck: 80-85 350 4-bolt main. Facepalm....

[townsend]

Well the camaro is broke so i have no choice but to fix this. I pulled the old cam last nite and it had only one trashed lobe. I ordered a summit cam and lifter kit for 90 bux, so if it burns it up, i really wont care. Then the truck gets scrapped and i rush to fix the camaro. This is alot cheaper to try first though. I also pulled the pan and didnt find any debris really. It looks as though the lifter basically cooked to the cam.

Question about roller tip rockers on stock valves. I see on a few of the valve tips that the rocker kinda wore it too much. Theres no real centered wear pattern on them. I have to get a pushrod length checkermagecker and see whats up. It has comp hi-energy stock length pushrods and i think they are too long. Should roller tips be used on stock valves? Should i get lash caps?

[WildBillyT]

$100 says the past owner ran the wrong oil

[townsend]

Actually i just called him. I said "did you do a oil change when you got it? Yeah man mobil 1 10w30. Did you put the zinc additive in. Whats that? unchselfinface: how long after that did it start not running right? Like 40 miles. Oh....."

Yeah so i hope nothing else got damaged that i cant see. Im breakin it in with straight 30wt break-in oil, then switching to valvoline vr-1 race oil since it has the zinc and is sold at the one store by me.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by townsend

Actually i just called him. I said "did you do a oil change when you got it? Yeah man mobil 1 10w30. Did you put the zinc additive in. Whats that? unchselfinface: how long after that did it start not running right? Like 40 miles. Oh....."

Yeah so i hope nothing else got damaged that i cant see. Im breakin it in with straight 30wt break-in oil, then switching to valvoline vr-1 race oil since it has the zinc and is sold at the one store by me.

I knew it!



FWIW I've got leftover comp break in oil if you are interested. VR1 is sold at NAPAs, and each year in the spring they run a 50% off per case promotion.

-B

[BonzoHansen]

so is not OE 94 motor with roller lifters?