Baby needs a heart transplant...

[ArticWhite]

My baby is a 1992 Camaro Z28, of which i recently became the 2nd owner. She has all the right stuff for a nice daily driver including, but not limited too: 4 wheel disk brakes, 245/50-R16 tires, performance limited slip differential with 3.46 gear ratio (G80/G92), dual exhaust, engine oil cooler, A/C, P/W, cruise control, and the subject of this discussion, an HO 305 engine.

I bought the car from the original owner for $1600. With the exception of having coolant in the oil, and worn tires, the car was in otherwise excellent condition, with 89K miles. So I paid my money and had the car towed home.

Into the garage she went. Drain the oil/coolant mixture from the crankcase, drain what remained of the coolant in the cooling system. then off came the snorkle, throttlebody/plenum, intake runners, distributor, and intake manifold. Then the drivers side valve cover, exhaust manifold, and head. I started on the drivers side hoping to get lucky and find the leak on that side. Those of you familiar with the engine compartment on a v-8 third gen with air know that the passenger side is very crowded and dificult to work in . Anyways the right head looked ok and the head gasket showed no signs of leakage. So far, so good. next I took a much closer look at the intake manifold, gaskets, and the intake side of both heads. I discovered definate signs of leakage on the front and rear coolant ports on both sides (I should have done this before pulling the head off ).

I decided at this point that i would put it back together with new gaskets and if the problem turned out to be in the left head after all, I would pull the motor rather than attempt to pull the left head while the motor was still in the car.

So back on went the right head, with a new gasket and torqued to 65 lb/ft in three stages and in the proper tightening sequence, then the exhaust manifold with new gaskets, then the EGR plumbing. Then the pushrods went back in the same order they came out. Next, on went the intake manifold with new gaskets and torqued in the proper sequence. Then I put the distributor back in (I marked its position before I took it out). Funny thing, on this particular engine the rotor points dead right in the #1 firing position, instead of pointing toward the #1 cylinder as is the norm. Anyways, after putting the dist back in, I adjusted the valves on the right head, put the valve cover back on, re-installed the intake runners and throttlebody/plenum.

Next came the hardest part. Now mind you, none of this is rocket science, but I sure wish I had taken some pictures before I started so I would have a visual reference when it came time to reconnect all this wiring and plumbing. Fortunately, most of the electrical connectors will only go in one place (much like the cables inside a personal computer) and the vacuum lines are routed such that its pretty obvious where they go.

So I got all the wiring and vacuum lines figured out and reconnected, checked the plug wires for the proper firing order, put the alternator back on,reinstalled the serpentine belt, added oil and water, then checked everything one more time.

Now it was time for the moment of truth....

Now I wont lie and tell you it fired right up and purred like a kitten, but after some tinkering and fine tuning I did get it running well enough to pass California emissions. And theres no sign of coolant in the oil.

But it does have a bearing knock, and a noticeable lack of power (it wont burn those 245/50-16's) and poor fuel economy.

Today my 350 4-bolt main L98 long block arrived and this time I am taking pictures......

[ikeyballz]

haha welcome to AF man, sounds like fun..i want to tear into my engine like that one day =P

[silicon212]

Enjoy it once you get it installed, the 350 is IMO the best SB made.

[ArticWhite]

Originally Posted by silicon212

Enjoy it once you get it installed, the 350 is IMO the best SB made.

I debated between a 305 extreme from Recon, or the 350 4-bolt. They say there is no replacement for displacement. Besides, I may want to put baby on the bottle in the future, and the 350 has more chance of surviving NOS.

[stepho]

You think you had a hard time figuring out where stuff goes... was this all in one day?

Because I took my engine part and its been part for about a month, and I just put a new engine in and had to remember where all the wires went from a month ago.

Also I spent about 3 hours looking for the oil pressure switch which I stuck in a box and on a shelf so it wouldn't get broken...

[ArticWhite]

Actually I got distracted on another project while working on the camaro and it was a month between take apart and put back together. I also bought a factory service manual (2200 pages, about $90) but found that it was less than straight forward regarding the routing of vacuum lines and such. Too many different possible combinations of optional equipment etc to have a one-size-fits-all type of diagram.
I now have a 350 long block waiting to be installed and I am procrastinating while I determine whether I will be able to get at the bellhousing bolts on the passenger side behind the head, or will I need to pull the engine and tranny as a unit, which will be a lot more work. Either way it will be done, but I need to take the time to do it right. I can't wait to feel the power and smoothness of the new engine!

[stepho]

Ok, a month does put a damper on remembering stuff lol.

I have a Chiltons manual that covers every chevrolet from 1990-1997 or something. The weird part is it has more information than my haynes manual that just covers 4th gen camaros. At only twice the price it was a bargin too!

anyway man, sounds like a really good project!

Best of luck!