Motor that has sat for a while

[black rust]

In the process of trying to find some used heads for my truck, I ran across a complete 305 motor out of a malibu wagon. Only problem it, it was pulled in 1988. Would this be an okay motor to use, or maybe just pull the heads from (I'm assuming there is not difference between a 77 malibu 305 and a 85 k5 305).

 

[dyeager535]

Bit of oil in the cylinders, spark plugs out, crank it over by hand, if it feels alright, go for it!

 

[pauly383]

Theres some differences in motors . The 85 motor would have higher compression and the dipstick would be on the passenger side . The 78 motor would be lower compression and drivers side dipstick .

They were able to up the compression and improve power by using spark computers and a knock sensor . I yanked the spark control from my 83 and just used a regular HEI distributor .

 

[black rust]

Is this higher compression from piston changes or combustion chamber changes? For the price, I'm thinking about buying it just for the heads and using the shortblock in my truck that I know is good. Block differences I'm not too worried about, I'll probably just resell that part.

 

[pauly383]

Any 305 head will raise compression on a 350 , most 350's had 76cc chambers , any 305 is well under that . They will give up the ghost at high rpm , but will be allright in a truck .

The newer 305's ( H ) in the 80's trucks had the smallest chambers and the larger 1.84/1.50 valves ( same as Camaro and Monte Carlo HO VIN G . Which is weird H in trucks HO , H in cars LO ) .

 

[black rust]

This is going on another 305, so I don't think losing a little compression will hurt me too much. Thanks for the help

 

[4X4HIGH]

If you use only the heads replace the valve springs. If you on't plan on having a broken valve spring in your near future. If you're going to use the whole engine change rings also. The rings will lose tension from sitting in the same place for that long and the valve springs that sat in an open position will become very weak.