rebuild or buy new motor

[2dooreighty5]

have a 1985 caprice which i plan on owning for a while and besides a somewhat rough idle do to the camshaft and the carb... the engine is runnning good. I already have taken out all of the emissions equipment and added dual exaust. however i find myself wanting to do more....new carb, headers, intake and so on.. what im wondering is if i should wait untill this motor is wrecked and build up a 350 or if i should buy a crate or rebuild a used one....ps my stock 305 has 88 thousand so i think it has some life in it. i just have heard that if you build up a old motor you can actually spend more money than getting a gm 350 for llike 2,000 bucks.... any ideas for me

[RahX]

There is definitely a lot less downtime with a straight up engine swap. Getting a longblock crate engine also takes out a lot of variables that can plague rebuilding your 305. If you order through summit or a similar place they can also recommend things that probably don't come with the engine so that you won't have many issues.

[777stickman]

Originally Posted by 2dooreighty5

have a 1985 caprice which i plan on owning for a while and besides a somewhat rough idle do to the camshaft and the carb... the engine is runnning good. I already have taken out all of the emissions equipment and added dual exaust. however i find myself wanting to do more....new carb, headers, intake and so on.. what im wondering is if i should wait untill this motor is wrecked and build up a 350 or if i should buy a crate or rebuild a used one....ps my stock 305 has 88 thousand so i think it has some life in it. i just have heard that if you build up a old motor you can actually spend more money than getting a gm 350 for llike 2,000 bucks.... any ideas for me

1st thing is to make sure you keep all the smog stuff you took off. You're illegal as hell and if you get busted you better have all the stuff available to put back on!!!

At www.jasperengines.com you can get an idea of rebuilt engine costs. If you did it your self you may save some $$.

[rhandwor]

If you have a good Automobile machine shop buy a rebuilt. I've had friends who bought new crate motors and weren't satisfied. I found parts cost more than a rebuilt short block.

[MrPbody]

The old saying "You get what you pay for" applies here. If all you're looking for is a stock engine to pull you around, and the 305 isn't "cutting it", a reman or "crater" 350 would do the job. Just don't "assume" because it's new or rebuilt, it's GOOD. Chevy engines, for the most part, are good runners. They're also a bit "sloppy" from a machinist's point of view. Craters are no exception, unless you buy an Eagle or Edelbrock or the like ($$$$). Those GM craters aren't all that.

For a car that size, and true "performance", you really need to go "383" (stroked 350). That will provide the low-end torque a behemouth of that girth needs, as well as some good mid-range and high end power.

If you're careful and have a "good eye", you can get all the main stuff relatively cheap, and in cooperation with a good machine shop, you can "build" a great 383 at a reasonable cost. NOTE: "Reasonable" does NOT mean "cheap". It means you won't get taken advantage of by unscrupulous parts sales people.

Rahx,

IMO, the LAST place to look for information building an engine is from sales people that don't actually BUILD engines. The employees of phone-sale and e-sale companies seldom have a clue about anything more than what they're told is "the hot item of the week". Sites like this one, with professionial builders lurking, is among the best ways to get information. Beware the guy (or gal) that always posts their business info at the bottom of each post. We're here to help, not to sell.

Jim

[2dooreighty5]

thanks.... yea my buddy has a 383 in his 1987 and it has tons of power... i just dont want to spend 5,000 on a motor... i wanted to stay under three... but what i will probably do is find a decent 350, have it rebuilt and bored and then take it from there...

[denisond3]

I dont know if the St. Louis area has smog testing or not, nor whether a 1985 is old enough to be exempt. So what he is doing to his original engine may be completely legal. All states have slightly different laws: Some states implement the emissions requirements based on the county/minicipality where the car is registered.
Where we live in Texas there is no emissions testing, and no requirement about engine modifications. In ten counties in Texas there is emissions testing.
Where we live in Fairfax County VA, they have emissions testing, but a car is exempt once it is over 25 model years old as of 1 Jan. BUT, if you have modified the car with a different engine - the exemption is based on either the different engine, or the original car, whichever is newer. Not that many hot rodders are eager to tell the DMV they have put a later engine into an otherwise exempt car.

[kitten2686]

A friend of mine has been rebuilding his motor for over a year now. It always seems to take longer than you expect.