I have an 82 k5 with 305. Its been 20+ years since ive done a build or engine swap. Was wondering the best swap and or engine fixes to do with a very small budget. I am 41 so i really dont HAVE to have tons of power or torque but dont want a briggs and straton power plant either. Would really like to find a nice running sbc that runs good. Any advice or possible buisness would be greatfully appreciated.
CK5
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Need veterans advice.
- Thread starter JDK
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B
Bohemian
Guest
305 sbc was always a dog from the get go, prone to cracking heads, cause the 305 heads were thinner, 2 bolt main blocks... just not worth putting money into imho. the 80's gm sbc's were all dogs cause of the epa regs, but the 305 was a pos from the get go whether it was in a camaro, vette or truck. The 4 bolt main big valve heavy head castings 350's had better bones and potential.
Budget, is where you need to start, to see your best path forward, how much can you pony up at a time? i don't need to know that but you do, then you can start planning how to do it all at once or in phases.
Over the last 5 years I've bought directly from Blueprint Engines their shortblocks and bought their aluminum big valve heads later & longblocks. Good stuff not crazy prices & they've been doing it here in the usa a long time... decades.
BluePrint Engines - The Authority in Crate Engines
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Jegs has a variety of sbc crate engine options as well from stock gm factory crate engines and up.
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I have a 82 k5 and mine came with a four barrel carb'd 350 sbc with a 4 bolt main block, no computer. Which has a better block, heads than the 305 did. I originally was going to replace my worn out 350 with another gm crate 350 sbc 4-bolt main, which can still be had for 2 grand or less to your front door.
I changed my mind and went for a blueprint 383. Still carbed, I like my cars, trucks, bikes and women stupid... no puters for me.
305 sbc was always a dog from the get go, prone to cracking heads, cause the 305 heads were thinner, 2 bolt main blocks... just not worth putting money into imho. the 80's gm sbc's were all dogs cause of the epa regs, but the 305 was a pos from the get go whether it was in a camaro, vette or truck. The 4 bolt main big valve heavy head castings 350's had better bones and potential.
Budget, is where you need to start, to see your best path forward, how much can you pony up at a time? i don't need to know that but you do, then you can start planning how to do it all at once or in phases.
Over the last 5 years I've bought directly from Blueprint Engines their shortblocks and bought their aluminum big valve heads later & longblocks. Good stuff not crazy prices & they've been doing it here in the usa a long time... decades.
BluePrint Engines - The Authority in Crate Engines
We give you more than just an engine — but engineering at its finest. And those who drive it, know it. The fanatics. The families. The thrill riders. The joy riders. And everyone in between. No matter who we serve, we share a genuine passion that unites us all on these streets, strips, or any...
Jegs has a variety of sbc crate engine options as well from stock gm factory crate engines and up.
JEGS Aftermarket Auto Parts & High Performance Racing & Replacement Accessories Online
Shop Aftermarket Parts For New & Classic Cars Online at JEGS High Performance. Browse Our Collection Of Replacement Automotive Parts Including Engines & Car Accessories. We Have Over 1 Million Parts & 800 Brands To Choose From.www.jegs.com
I have a 82 k5 and mine came with a four barrel carb'd 350 sbc with a 4 bolt main block, no computer. Which has a better block, heads than the 305 did. I originally was going to replace my worn out 350 with another gm crate 350 sbc 4-bolt main, which can still be had for 2 grand or less to your front door.
I changed my mind and went for a blueprint 383. Still carbed, I like my cars, trucks, bikes and women stupid... no puters for me.if you dont
If dont mind me asking how much was the 383 you bought? I have around 1500 or two but if the cost isnt too bad i might consider same. If you dont mind asking. Thanks for fast response.305 sbc was always a dog from the get go, prone to cracking heads, cause the 305 heads were thinner, 2 bolt main blocks... just not worth putting money into imho. the 80's gm sbc's were all dogs cause of the epa regs, but the 305 was a pos from the get go whether it was in a camaro, vette or truck. The 4 bolt main big valve heavy head castings 350's had better bones and potential.
Budget, is where you need to start, to see your best path forward, how much can you pony up at a time? i don't need to know that but you do, then you can start planning how to do it all at once or in phases.
Over the last 5 years I've bought directly from Blueprint Engines their shortblocks and bought their aluminum big valve heads later & longblocks. Good stuff not crazy prices & they've been doing it here in the usa a long time... decades.
BluePrint Engines - The Authority in Crate Engines
We give you more than just an engine — but engineering at its finest. And those who drive it, know it. The fanatics. The families. The thrill riders. The joy riders. And everyone in between. No matter who we serve, we share a genuine passion that unites us all on these streets, strips, or any...
Jegs has a variety of sbc crate engine options as well from stock gm factory crate engines and up.
JEGS Aftermarket Auto Parts & High Performance Racing & Replacement Accessories Online
Shop Aftermarket Parts For New & Classic Cars Online at JEGS High Performance. Browse Our Collection Of Replacement Automotive Parts Including Engines & Car Accessories. We Have Over 1 Million Parts & 800 Brands To Choose From.
I have a 82 k5 and mine came with a four barrel carb'd 350 sbc with a 4 bolt main block, no computer. Which has a better block, heads than the 305 did. I originally was going to replace my worn out 350 with another gm crate 350 sbc 4-bolt main, which can still be had for 2 grand or less to your front door.
I changed my mind and went for a blueprint 383. Still carbed, I like my cars, trucks, bikes and women stupid... no puters for me.
Defiantly ditch the 305. 1 piece rear main seal roller cam 350. going efi or keeping the carb ? efi get vortec heads, or carb with electric choke. carb set of old school iron or aluminum heads. no need to spend dollars on big valves. Any square not flying through the dunes or sand draging, should keep the torque curve as low as possible. < budget
383 or sbc 406 stroke'r same 1 piece rear main and roller < not budget.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12691672 iirc is 100% new engine.
383 or sbc 406 stroke'r same 1 piece rear main and roller < not budget.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12691672 iirc is 100% new engine.
What gears are in it?
Without displacement or forced induction, IMO no budget build 350 is going to be enough difference to notice from a 305 to make the swap worth it. Rev it higher, faster, and I bet you will enjoy it more.
My '83 was a 305/700R4 combo with 3.08 gears. Dog, although if I held it in gear quite awhile it moved ok. I've helped replace a 350 with a 305 (both factory stock engines) in a C30 with 4.10s, and I couldn't feel a difference, nor could the trucks owner.
Blasphemy I know, but a running engine already in the truck is cheaper than any you will install lol. Replacing a 305 that runs good with a stock replacement 350 is pointless IMO. Run it until it actually needs replacing. Then replace it with something significantly better...vortec heads, roller cam, or just go LS and be really happy.
Headers wouldn't be a bad swap. Even for a 305 they would help, and would swap over to a 350 in any case.
Without displacement or forced induction, IMO no budget build 350 is going to be enough difference to notice from a 305 to make the swap worth it. Rev it higher, faster, and I bet you will enjoy it more.
My '83 was a 305/700R4 combo with 3.08 gears. Dog, although if I held it in gear quite awhile it moved ok. I've helped replace a 350 with a 305 (both factory stock engines) in a C30 with 4.10s, and I couldn't feel a difference, nor could the trucks owner.
Blasphemy I know, but a running engine already in the truck is cheaper than any you will install lol. Replacing a 305 that runs good with a stock replacement 350 is pointless IMO. Run it until it actually needs replacing. Then replace it with something significantly better...vortec heads, roller cam, or just go LS and be really happy.
Headers wouldn't be a bad swap. Even for a 305 they would help, and would swap over to a 350 in any case.
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B
Bohemian
Guest
383 sbc 4bolt long block main block, big valve heads, 2.02, 1.60 valves edelbrock 4bbl performer carb manifold, comp cams 4x4 extreme series cam for wheeling and normal driving, forged pistons, a real torque monster engine $3,689, all in, no core charge or deposits to my door in march 2018 direct from blueprint. There was no shipping charge or taxes, they're in nebraska, i'm in las vegas. At the time 5-6k was the going rate for something simular elsewhere.
At the time this bpe was pretty much the best 383 long block deal i could find.
Fedex delivered to my house, took it off the semi with a lift gate trailer and pallet jack and rolled it into my garage for me.
blueprint crated it up well, totally enclosed in a wooden box, and screwed, metal banded to a pallet. came with a dyno sheet for your engine, they dyno their long blocks.
I think now days if you want a 2 grand or less long block 350 4 bolt main, big valve, heavy casting heads; your going to need to find a Genuine GM Crate Engine from jegs or summit. Autozone & oreilly's have some rebuilt sbc crate engines as well i think spartan out of phoenix builds em. They want like a 400 core charge and you'll pay tax and you'll need to pick it up from store. But you can get a 350 4 bolt main, heavy casting, big valve heads, froged steel crank from them in the 1700-2000 range plus tax, core. To get the 4-bolt main, steel crank block, with heavy casting, big valve heads, just tell em it's for a k30 1-ton. that was some inside info from a buddy working at az when i was looking for a long block with the best internals, so it would scale up whenever i wanted to add a better cam, etc in the future. it's a good bargain base to start with for future scalability. And if it shits the bed autozone or oreillys is pretty good about replacing shit, and if it's a store you frequent they probably won't even ask any questions.
for the money a true dual exhaust with headers and a gear change is about the most perceived bang for the buck upgrade you can do on most any gas, diesel engine.
when i was a kid everybody used to say gears were cheap horsepower.
At the time this bpe was pretty much the best 383 long block deal i could find.
Fedex delivered to my house, took it off the semi with a lift gate trailer and pallet jack and rolled it into my garage for me.
blueprint crated it up well, totally enclosed in a wooden box, and screwed, metal banded to a pallet. came with a dyno sheet for your engine, they dyno their long blocks.
I think now days if you want a 2 grand or less long block 350 4 bolt main, big valve, heavy casting heads; your going to need to find a Genuine GM Crate Engine from jegs or summit. Autozone & oreilly's have some rebuilt sbc crate engines as well i think spartan out of phoenix builds em. They want like a 400 core charge and you'll pay tax and you'll need to pick it up from store. But you can get a 350 4 bolt main, heavy casting, big valve heads, froged steel crank from them in the 1700-2000 range plus tax, core. To get the 4-bolt main, steel crank block, with heavy casting, big valve heads, just tell em it's for a k30 1-ton. that was some inside info from a buddy working at az when i was looking for a long block with the best internals, so it would scale up whenever i wanted to add a better cam, etc in the future. it's a good bargain base to start with for future scalability. And if it shits the bed autozone or oreillys is pretty good about replacing shit, and if it's a store you frequent they probably won't even ask any questions.
for the money a true dual exhaust with headers and a gear change is about the most perceived bang for the buck upgrade you can do on most any gas, diesel engine.
when i was a kid everybody used to say gears were cheap horsepower.
B
Bohemian
Guest
you also might try haunting your local craigslist for a rebuilt 350/383 sbc i see em pop up now and then folks run out of money and or abandon projects. it's a gamble but sometimes you can score a good deal.
B
Bohemian
Guest
another bummer about the 305, small valve, thin head casting, 2 bolt main engines with a 700r4 option on the back in the 82 k5 blazers they shoved 2:73 gears in to dog it down even further, i suspect it was another epa thing for better advertised gas mileage.
personally i don't like the 700r4 in a 4x4, i think the turbo 400 is the best automatic you can put in one of these trucks if you're ever going wheeling or towing anything.
personally i don't like the 700r4 in a 4x4, i think the turbo 400 is the best automatic you can put in one of these trucks if you're ever going wheeling or towing anything.
The 305 and 350 both went to light casting heads at the same time.
Martin
Martin
This is very true. I had a set of 1.94/1.50 cast heads on a good 350. One cracked by a casting part line so I decided to just buy a new set of aluminum Edelbrock heads. These are 2.02/1.60 valves. It lost some low end torque, not a ton, but it did move the torque curve up. I wouldn't look specifically for larger valves when shopping for an engine or heads.
I do like the suggestion of watching for an engine to pop up for sale, but be careful and don't buy on impulse.
B
Bohemian
Guest
i could be wrong but i don't think 305's ever had anything but lite castings on them the 307's had heavy castings. I don't remember what vehicles got lite head castings on the 350's but my 82 og 350 had heavy castings on it.
when i worked at a automotive machine shop in the 80's every set of 305 sbc heads that came in were thin castings and cracked, sometimes we could fix em with valve seats and cold welding with screws and sealer.
B
Bohemian
Guest
the thing about small valve vs big valve gen 1, gen 2 heads is if you need another set of heads for a sbc gen 1 or gen ii, the big valve heads with different combustion chamber sizes are more common, nobody wants the small valve heads anymore cause they don't flow as good as the big valves do, anything you can do to increase air intake and exhaust output makes the engine happier and will give you more performance, you're strangling it with small valves. You're also usually not paying more money for bigger valves, better valve springs. Even if you're not going to use them to their full poiential, it gives you scalibility, flexibility when you want to upgrade, down the road like a cam swap or some kind of power adder.
I'm not advocating replacing anything that's not broke, worn out, but if you gotta replace don't limit your scalibility from the get go by putting in small valve heads on a new or rebuilt gen 1 or 2 sbc.
I'm not advocating replacing anything that's not broke, worn out, but if you gotta replace don't limit your scalibility from the get go by putting in small valve heads on a new or rebuilt gen 1 or 2 sbc.
Engines have gone way up in price. Blueprints "base" 350 longblock is over $4k.
https://blueprintengines.com/collections/bp350-engine-options-new-block-341-hp-371ft-lbs
GM re-introduced their crate engines and priced them out of this world too...went from $1900 delivered for a crate L31 (Vortec) longblock a few years back to over $4k now.
Machine shop/self rebuilds are probably economical again, if the engine components havent increased the way the crate engine prices have.
https://blueprintengines.com/collections/bp350-engine-options-new-block-341-hp-371ft-lbs
GM re-introduced their crate engines and priced them out of this world too...went from $1900 delivered for a crate L31 (Vortec) longblock a few years back to over $4k now.
Machine shop/self rebuilds are probably economical again, if the engine components havent increased the way the crate engine prices have.
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My K10 came from the factory with the 305, and unfortunately 2.73 gears with p235s. Best thing I ever did was swap in 4.10's. The truck could then actually pull a grade and not want to fall on its face, even with 32's,33's and ultimately 35s. I would never win any races but that darn engine was super reliable. I ended up getting over 200,000 miles and 34 years out of that 305. And it never broke I was just ready for an upgrade.
As most have said, putting money into a 305 is likely going to net minimal gain, and anything that is going to produce any kind of worthwhile result is going to require a different engine-which can result in a high degree of variability in both cost and performance.
If your budget is limited, I'd go with a different route and take a hard look at the truck itself. Are there any key components that need to be serviced/upgraded with more power in mind? Any maintenance that has been deferred? I'm of the mindset to make sure the vehicle is prepared and fully serviced before dropping big coin on engine projects. You can start knocking out nickel-and-dime needs (keeping yourself motivated and the project rolling) while setting aside money for the new power plant and keeping an eye out for a deal or opportunity. Just an idea. Best of luck with your build.
If your budget is limited, I'd go with a different route and take a hard look at the truck itself. Are there any key components that need to be serviced/upgraded with more power in mind? Any maintenance that has been deferred? I'm of the mindset to make sure the vehicle is prepared and fully serviced before dropping big coin on engine projects. You can start knocking out nickel-and-dime needs (keeping yourself motivated and the project rolling) while setting aside money for the new power plant and keeping an eye out for a deal or opportunity. Just an idea. Best of luck with your build.
An '82 350 had light casting heads from the factory.
Martin
Martin
The 305 sucks because of it's small bore.
That's it. All the other stuff is meaningless.
Martin
That's it. All the other stuff is meaningless.
Martin
B
Bohemian
Guest
I'll agree to disagree.
Peace.
B
Bohemian
Guest
guess i won the lottery then, someone put heavy castings on the 350 4 bolt main 4bbl that came in my 82 k5, that lined up with my vin, build sheet. theres no mistaking thin casting iron heads from the heavy castings. It's been 35-40 years since i was in the automotive machine shop business, I know I 've forgot a lot of details over the years. But i did not foget what a pos every 305 was that came in the shop.
Maybe they were all road hard & put away wet idk.
peace.
There was no four bolt main 350 in an '82 K5. Someone had swapped engines before your time.
The only state a 350 was available in an '82 K5 was California. The other 49 states could have a 250 6 cylinder, a 305, or a 6.2 Diesel.
Martin
The only state a 350 was available in an '82 K5 was California. The other 49 states could have a 250 6 cylinder, a 305, or a 6.2 Diesel.
Martin
