[camarov]

I have just purchased a 1992 305 V8 25th anniversary camaro. I have heard that the 305 is not a good motor. Is this true or should i swap it for a 350? Any help would be great. Thanks.

[rogue68]

305 = small bore, long stroke - not so good for performance. Other than that its the same block as a 350. Perhaps you can find some on this site who've managed to get good power out of it.

[Farm Boy]

The 305 is definitely not a high horsepower engine but the 305 is the longest lasting, most reliable SBC ever built IMHO.

High mileage 305's don't turn into oil burners like the 350's do. Just like the Energizer bunny the 305 keeps on going and going and going.

[DjD]

There is a cool 305 article I was reading where they used bolt on heads and other parts and added I think 150hp over stock. I'll look for it tonight and post the mag name.

[pdq67]

Do a search under me b/c I have posted a bunch of info on creating a powerful 305 that I gleaned over the years from mag article actual build-ups..

Never mind here's the info........

"I found the old article telling about the maxed out combo for a 305 so here goes. It was in Hot Rod Action Series Volume 2, Number 1, early 1984 booklet.

They started w/ a stock 9.5 to 1 CR. shortblock, cast pistons and all! Then added 350 rods b/c the 305's are too skinny!!

They made a 10.6 CR. 305 using -041 number heads that were reworked to 59 cc w/ 1.94"/1.5" valves. Deck height is .035" w/ a stock 305 head gasket, so is close to say the least! Intake ports were untouched w/ only bowl work done. They taped up the pistons and ground some exhaust valve clearance so the valves had enough room! Did some bowl work on the exhausts too. Manley Pro-Flo valves.

The cam was a CC magnum 292H w/ 244 duration at .050", 110 lobe centers and 501" lift. They used .100" shorter pushrods to correct the valve train geometry.

Headers were 1.75" four tube w/ 23" collectors and a pair of Supreme Super C turbo mufflers!

Carburetion was a Victor Jr. and a reworked 650cfm Holley double-pumper!

Ignition was an MSD-6A and an MSD extra duty distributor(?). A 4" K&N filter. A windage tray and crank scraper in the pan!

Here are the Engine dyno numbers!

3500rpm - 210hp -- 314t - .398 BSFC
4000 - 243 -- 319 - .394
4500 - 270 -- 320 - .411
5000 - 316 -- 331 - .417
5500 - 361 -- 344 - .419
6000 - 376 -- 335 - .444
6500 - 378 -- 305 - .451
6850 - 386 -- 296 - .461
7200 - 402 -- 287 - .479

Here it is!!

From a 1995 Chevy High Performance article.

305 Engine Build-up.

1 ’69, 041 double hump 1.94”/1.50” valve heads cut to 59 cc’s. Bowls blended and only the exhaust ports polished.
2. Manley Pro-Flo valves, PN 11560 intakes and PN 11559 exhausts.
3. CC 292 Magnum hydraulic cam, 292/244, 110/106, .501” lift.
4. 350 rods rebuilt with good bolts and nuts.
5. L-69, 9.5 to 1 CR. LU5 fuel injection short-block engine with stock head-gasket gives 10.6 to 1 CR. Or a
6. LG4, 8.6 to 1 CR. engine will give 9+ to 1 CR.
7. Deck height was .014” down with stock four valve notch cast pistons.
8. Quench was about .035”.
9. Hooker 1.75” four tube long headers with 3.0” collectors. PN 2110 for a Third Gen. car.
10. Holley 650 double pumper PN 4777 and an E-brock Victor Jr. intake.
11. 4” K&N open filter.
12. Good Electronic ignition

The little bugger made like 402hp up top!! They ran it until she spun a bearing or just came unglued!

AND

An old RHS, Memphis, TN, 305 motor build-up that makes right at 300hp. http://www.goingfaster.com/spo/290hp305.html
Chasis Dyno Test
7000rpm --- 300hp

And Hotrodding the 305!
http://www.goingfaster.com/spo/modthel03.html

And an article from mw66nova
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/or...wo-walter.html
new bests for two Walter Racecraft 305's!

well, Kody and I were able to get out to the track for one more night of racing tonight before we called it a season. i was totally stoaked at the times we got as i totally didn't think we were going to do as well as we did. remember, these cars are 100% daily driven and 100% naturally aspirated. race weight for Kody's car with him in it: 3255, race weight of my car with me in it: 3220

i'll start with Kody's car cause i haven't really told many folks about it. combo is super simple:
-305 out of ssean92's 1992 RS
-416 casting heads with backcut valves
-lt1 cam
-crane energizer aluminum roller rockers
-hedman longtubes with manderal bent y-pipe into a 2.5" dynomax catback with homemade cutout
-holley street dominator intake (the smaller of the two, basically a performer) and an edelbrock 1406
-2100 stall converter w/ 700r4 and 3.23's with a 275/50/15 mt ET Street Radial.

previous best was in the upper 15.2x range, tonight with the cool air it went 14.67@93.7mph. we went from a 28" tire to a 26" tire and rebuilt the carb and added more timing. the car needs some more gear bad. timeslip for that pass looked like this:
r/t: -.123
60': 2.205
330': 6.166
1/8: 9.441
mph: 75.20
1000': 12.276
1/4: 14.678
mph: 93.73

we were hoping for some 14.9's, so to get a high 14.6 out of the car was like walking on sunshine.

now for my car. alot of you know that the solid camshaft that was in the car was hurt and i put in a used 280H cam that my friend Eric gave me. i totally didnt' expect to even break into the 12's and i did that at the shootout we had back in the end of september with a 12.97 @ 103mph. air was SUPER nasty that weekend and i was trying to run a 13.0 index class so i wasn't looking to go blazingly fast anyhow. the previous best for my car with the solid cam in the 305 back in may was a 12.50@106.8mph. that was with hotter weather, a water pump drive kit and manual steering. this evening the car had full accessories (water pump, alt., and i put the powersteering back on) so i was going to be happy with 12.7's. i figured that would be possible because of the cool air. after screwing around on a few runs trying to get reaquanted, i clicked off a 12.42@107.49mph! the timeslip for that pass looked like this:

r/t: .088
60': 1.694
330': 5.035
1/8: 7.862
mph: 86.33
1000': 10.328
1/4: 12.425
mph: 107.49

after that pass we decided to see how fast we could actually get the car to go. i knew that the powersteering was worth atleast .1 so i snatched the ps pump belt off the car and proceeded to go 12.39, followed by a 12.34, and then finally a 12.31@108.48mph!!! that pass looked like this:

r/t: .150
60': 1.678
330': 4.994
1/8: 7.797
mph: 87.05
1000': 10.240
1/4: 12.318
mph: 108.48

as you can tell, i'm so pumped about it that im writing a thread about it at 1:18am to tell ya'll. anyhow let me know what ya think. oh, and check out a pick of Kody's ride all ready for the track wearing the mickey t's!"

pdq67

[67pat]

Originally Posted by Farm Boy

The 305 is definitely not a high horsepower engine but the 305 is the longest lasting, most reliable SBC ever built IMHO.

High mileage 305's don't turn into oil burners like the 350's do. Just like the Energizer bunny the 305 keeps on going and going and going.

I second every word of this...lots of 305's over 300k and still rolling!

[italiano362]

The article is from Car Craft. look it up in their tech section on Carcraft.com

[ace's68]

I thought the 305's cams went flat quickly because they were not heat treated? Or am I thinking of the 307? Every 305 that I have torn apart looked REALLY good internally for its high mileage.

[DjD]

The article is called "Hate Me - Add 150 HP to the Chevy No One Likes" and it's in the May 2007 Camaro Performers... They got 372 HP and 350 ft lbs of torque out of the 305 they built.

[South Side Goons & Hitmen]

Guys,

Are you kidding me? The 305 is the BIGGEST TURD of a V8 engine Chevrolet ever produced. Especially the carburated ones. I had one in my 1984 Z28 which was a H.O. 305. The camshaft went flat around 92k or 93k miles. First it started running bad, then I lost manifold vacumm etc. A buddy of mine had one in a 1979 Camaro and that engine was also crap. These things were lucky to get 100k if produced from the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's. They were all junk!!

The 305 smokes, burns oil, valve seals are just as bad on those if not worse than the 350. The camshaft on a 305 is softer than a wet Kleenex. You can put the 305 in the same class as the Turbo 200 transmission. Both are junk. I've BDTD with 305's. Never again!! A Chevy 350 usually goes double the mileage of the boat anchor 305!! And sometimes triple the mileage if the 305 fails earlier.

A 305 is also called a 5.0L it should be called a ZERO Liter because 305's are worth crap!! I'd take a Chevy 283, 302 (the REAL 5.0L), 327, 350, 400 SBC; a 396 BBC, 402 BBC, 427 BBC, 454 BBC or 496 BBC over that boat anchor/turd ball known as a 305!!

Bottom LIne: Thankfully Chevy discontinued that turdball engine known as a 305 and I hope it never returns again. Especially with a carb. on it.

[zdld17]

305 is not any differant that any other motor, it was made for plain ole grocery cars. I will let it go at that, but don't tell me you have a Z28 Iroc 305 HO with crossfire injection and expect me to stand at attention. Not gonna happen. The motor was ecomony minded, period. Its still made of pig iron like all the other hecho in mexico. If you want to do anything better for it, just change oil and filter.

On second thought, I would give you the prevlige of running me, but being that you have 3 more cubes than I do, I need a handicap. Hey,, 305 is more than 302, right?

[Larger Dave]

If ever there was an answer to the bore versus stroke question I think the 302 vs 305 answered it. By the way the 305 was not the worst motor Chevy ever made the 262 was.

Larger Dave

[Farm Boy]

Originally Posted by Larger Dave

By the way the 305 was not the worst motor Chevy ever made the 262 was.

The 262 was a dog but it wasn’t the worst engine Chevrolet ever built. The Vega engine holds the title of the worst engine Chevrolet ever built. The Vega had an aluminum block with no cylinder sleeves. To say the aluminum cylinders did not hold up well is an understatement. Most of these engines would be burning oil at 30,000 miles or sooner.

[South Side Goons & Hitmen]

Farm Boy is correct. The Vega 4 cylinder engine was an even bigger turd. This can be confirmed here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Vega ...... But I was referring to Chevy V8 engines. Read the quote from John DeLorean in that artile under problems for the Vega engine if you want a good laugh.

Lord, I forgot about the 262, but I did not include that in the engines I would take over a 305. Yes the 262 was a turd. Lets not forget the turdball 267 V8 installed by GM into the 1980 Camaro. I believe the 267 V8 engine stayed around until 1981 which was the last year for 2nd gen's. Was the 267 only for Camaro's sold new in California?

Ok I will revise my earlier statement to be more clear. THE 305 WAS THE BIGGEST TURD OF A V8 ENGINE EVER INSTALLED BY THE FACTORY INTO A MASS PRODUCED CAMARO!! Especially between 1976-1984.

Guys, sorry but I can't stand 305's!! I've hated them since my buddy bought his 1979 Camaro in 1985 and I bought my 1984 305 H.O. Z28 in early 1991. Junk!! Junk!! Junk, they are...That's why when I bought my 1988 IROC-Z, I made sure it had a 350 and not the pile of crap known as the 305!!

The real 5.0L is the 1967-1969 Z28 engine not the boat anchor 305!

P.S. The REAL 1LE IROC-Z's came with 305's and not 350's. How many 305's were raced in NASCAR? How many were raced in the IROC series? The 305 $*CKS!! It was a disgrace on an engine for Chevy and I'll never buy a Camaro or recommend a Camaro with a 305 to a friend ever again. Then again I said I would never own a Ford in 1994 either and my daily drivers have been nothing but Ford's since then. Ok the Ford haters & 305 Lovers can send the hate mail.

[pdq67]

Don't forget the 3.50" bored 350" engine, the 267" jobber!!

As for the worst car GM ever made, try the old swing axle first gen. Corvairs that Ralph Nadar hated!!

Reading John D's book, "On a clear day, you can see GM", he said that some of GM's exec's gave them to their kids for HS graduating presents, only later to have some of them killed in them as they flipped going around a curve at speed as the rear axle jacked on them which caused them to ROLL!!

My Buddy back in Jr. College rolled his the VERY same way!!

pdq67

PS., here is a link to the book!!

http://www.serenska.com/IdealGarage/...1293&BookID=27

As well as to Ralph Nadar's book, "Unsafe at any speed".

http://www.serenska.com/IdealGarage/...1293&BookID=20