hey guys, need some advice on which engine would be better projects for a daily driver and get the most torque from? been searching the net and other forums for information on what to do to build a very good street motor. i am a novice on the SBC engine, so i picked up some books and dvds on how to modify/hotrod the engines. right now i have the 305 on a engine stand so i could be my first engine breakdown, have been taking notes/pics so i can understand what the parts look like and hopefully understand how each part works in the future. got both engines from a friend, the 305 has never been rebuilt and is just a block and heads, minus cam,intake,etc. the 307 was supposdly rebuilt and modified to a 327, if that is possible. i have read that the walls on the these engines are to thin to be bored out to that, i am not sure??? would really like to hear what my options would be and what direction to go, thank you all for advice and look forward to making this a great life experience. thank you all again. Gary
Use the 307/327. I have run this combo several times over the years and had very good luck.. Of course i have always liked the 327 best of all the small blocks. I think it has to do with the rod ratio, they just seem to run better/ smoother to me.. If you ever manage to gather up the parts to build a 377 ( 400 block, 350 crank) they have the same rod ratio as a 327 but 50 cid more..great motor! have fun dave
Look up the tech post "putting perfume on a pig" by fat hack. Info abounds. There is also a 305 post by hi, too. I had both, kept the 307. Jay
hey sixgunner, thanks for info, i did a thread search on the 305 earlier and saved it, but somehow didn't come across the 307 thread. thanks i have both printed out. the 307 will be going into my 93 stepside, it has the 4.3 right now with 5-speed. some friends of mine said it should bolt right up, what about the gears in the back? how do i find out what they are and if they are the right gears for this set up. i love manuals so i don't want to change. do i have a good start of vehicle choice? Thanks for all the help. Gary
307 the same bore as a 283 (3.875) and stroke as a 327 (3.25). I wouldn't trust a 307 bored out to 4". Those cylinder walls are going to be pretty thin. the 305 will have more torque due to its 3.48" stroke.
Look at the option sticker in the glovebox. The gear ratio code will be either GU6 (3.42), GT4 (3.73), or GT5 (4.10).
Dont forget to get the right flywheel for whichever one you go with. the 4.3 liter flywheel wont work on either. 4.3 is externally balanced unlike the 307 and pre '88 305's.
Exactly. If you want a 327, use the crank from the 307 and get a 350 block. If you wanna make that 327 talk, put some 6.00 or 6.125 inch rods in it and build it with a tight quench through zero decking or piston selection. Although I know that a 305 can actually be made to run, I'm not a fan of them.
307 will be a better performance engine since the larger bore unshrouds the valves and lets em breathe
not always true. With good gears mine smokes the hell outta the tires through 3 outta 4 gears but gets **** mileage and runs over 3 grand at 50 mph.Just like any other motor, if it can breathe, has a decent cam good carb and intake with good headers it'll run good
Can't help with build advice, but my wife and I had a 72 Rally Nova 307, 2bbl. Quick, reliable, awesome. It's been gone for 25 years and we still talk about missing it.
look to gm for your answer. the 307 was a short lived engine and the 305 was in production for a longer period. the 305 runs on torque of the 350 crank that it uses, and for street driving torque is far more important than high rpm,s
hey guys, thanks for advice, every little bit counts. don't know the history of the 305, but the 307 was bought from my friend, he told me that his son had rebuilt it and bored it out to a 327. so far i have stripped it down to crank,cam,oil pump, and balancer( don't have tool for the removal of balancer yet) but everything is clean, or brand new. my friend told me that they got the engine out of a truck, but the numbers on the engine says it came from a car orignally. anyways, he told me that they were a stop sign and took off and a rod broke, they stopped immediately and pulled it home, i pulled off the pan and flipped it and took a look with a light and saw the broke rod, when i examined the piston and shaft there was a slight nick at the bottom towards the crank. i hope this doesn't mess up the block.(sorry FatHack, forgot to put this part in the PM) from here is my best bet to go ahead and strip her down and take her to a machine shop? i plan to work on the 305 as the money rows in later. just want to says thanks to all you guys for the support. man i am excited about getting my hands dirty. will update you all later. thanks. Gary
307 - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45615 305 - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1494 305 - http://www.streetmachinesoftablerock.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=435
The 305's always get bad raps and its true they are slugs ,but any engine with **** heads and low compression would be.As far as a magic number on cubes, cant say.I have a friend that swares a 301 Chevy (1.25 over 283 ) is the magic #.I hear this same **** from people about magic #'s all the time and any bore and stroke combo wont work worth a damn without good flowing heads ,cam , and decent compression ratio .If you dont believe me just compare the 454 L-S6 1970 to the 454 SS P-ups from 1990.Both are 454 cubes and both are Chevys but not even close to the same animal.
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