i am trying to help my neighbor put a built up 305 that he has purchased from a fellow he knows. i need some details on the requirements for the electrical side of it. dropping in the motor is a no brainer but im not quite sure what he needs to wire to it for it run. does the 85have any computers that have to be hooked up or will an engine run with the starter and alternator hooked up and of course vacuum lines. the old engine had some o2 sensors and such but the new one doesnt. if anyone knows a good book or website or is just really talented at this please answer. i would really appreciate it. thanks paul

Try here --> http://www.thirdgen.org/

As produced, the 85 Camaro had a computer and either an electronic feedback quadrajet carb or TPI. O2 sensors don't go in the engine, they go in the exhaust, which I might assume you'd be reusing.

The early carbureted 3rd gens didn't have a very complicated computer system. If you put a new engine in it, you can basically toss the whole ECM system and go with a conventional setup; I did. If you disregard and disconnect the emmissions stuff, you will notice some lights illuminate on the dash, like "check engine", possibly "choke" etc. Just take the instrument cluster out and pull the bulbs, you won't need 'em anymore. If you need to worry about emission laws, you may wish to ensure your engine does indeed burn clean, and put a new catalytic converter on your exhaust. Don't worry, hooking up the original computer system won't even put a dent in your emission problems, it barely did anything 20 years ago when it was new, so honestly, just follow my saying "when in doubt, throw it out" when it comes to the ECM crap in that car. The exception being if it was/is fuel injected (TBI on 2.8, MFI on 2.8, TPI on 5.0) and you want to keep that setup for some odd reason or other. Those TBI units were totally bogus if you ask me, and I would sooner boil my nads than have a TBI of that technological era on my engine. The MFI was not much better either. The tuned port was OK, but I still would rather just go carb and save myself the headache.