305 vs. 350

[BubbleBrad]

I own a 305 5.0 '91 Caprice with about 108k miles on it, and was looking at buying a '92 350 5.7 with about 113k on it. Is the difference between the 305 and the 350 worth it?

[vette_7t9]

nope...well atleast from my perspective. i own an 89 305, and its a fun project to make the 305 fast.

[PeteA216]

I agree . A 305 is a really good engine, that can be fun to tinker with. I'll admit that the 350 is definately a more powerful engine, but I wouldn't say it'd be worth it to get a different car with a 350 instead of a 305... especially with gas prices as high as they are. A 350 will drop you mpg by about 4-7 depending how you drive.

[HLandin]

I agree with both of the above statements. In the end, it really depends on your priorities. Is power more important to you or is fuel economy? How much more important is either? Are you willing to sacrifice any care about economy for power or vice versa. Everyone probably has different answers to these two questions because they are not necessary one extreme or the other. Everyone has slightly different priorities because they place a different degree of emphasis on each one. If you want higher performance with no regard to economy or price, then go with another car with a 350. If not, work with what you have. As one person said, don't ask what an engine can't do, ask what an engine can do. Check out the following link by that same individual:

http://www.goingfaster.com/spo/praisetbi.html

It talks about the differences of the 305-cid and 350-cid. In his view, you can do plenty of things to a 305-cid and inexpensively. As PeteA216 said, 305's are fun to tinker/experiement with.

Hope this helps

[bob 000 marley]

i also have a 305 91 and it is fun to play with there ar quite fast i set the idle up a bit and i can tell a big diff. much more fast on the get up and go since these big cars are sluggish on the take off

[bob 000 marley]

by the way does any one know what kind of trans are in these cars i think there a 7500 but not sure

[HLandin]

'91 Caprice should be a 4L60 transmission. The 4L60 was the successor to the 700R4 found in '90 version of 350-cid and 200R4 in 305-cid.

[bob 000 marley]

i just beat my friends dads 350 4 bolt main in a race with my 91 305 i thought for sure he was going to take me but i guess i was wrong

[HLandin]

Oh, do tell more. People don't realize what a sleeper a Caprice really is. Lets put it this way, since the Caprice won the Michigan State Police trials for 10 years (1987-1996 when production stopped), Chevrolet must have been doing something right.

[Caprice86]

I want to increase the performance of my 86' Chevy Caprice 305 engine. Goingfaster.com talks about a fuel injected system, but I want to add a traditional 4 barrel carburetor. Does anyone know of a good 4 barrel carb for the 305?

[HLandin]

While it is mostly dedicated to fuel injection, it does discuss the common mods to increase performance. These include larger valves, higher lift/performance cam, less restrictive exhaust, better flowing/higher compression heads, less restrictive air intake, and less restrictive intake manifold.

[400wagon]

Originally Posted by Caprice86

I want to increase the performance of my 86' Chevy Caprice 305 engine. Goingfaster.com talks about a fuel injected system, but I want to add a traditional 4 barrel carburetor. Does anyone know of a good 4 barrel carb for the 305?

Your car should already have a 4bbl carb on it. It should have a computer controlled quadrajet on it. I would say the first thing to do to increase performance are headers and dual exhaust. (make sure it is a good system, with small primary tubes, true duals with crossover or x pipe, and good muflers) You want to do all you can to keep low end power and torque, since these cars are heavy.

[vette_7t9]

good tips. got my set of headers today from UPS....=)

[HLandin]

Just curious, why do you want small primary tubes?

[wafrederick]

The 305 is not worth anything.Put the 350 in it and it is worth it.One out of a truck will fit too.