Well,this pretty much sums it up but i have not had the funds for a engine for the swap at all due to deaths in the family,and part time work. Well, a neighbor of a family has been helping my grandfather out since my grandmother pass away 6 weeks ago. We walked down to his house to borrow a 3lb hammer. The guy races at a dirt track. Well, we got to talking about my swap and he mentioned he purchased a engine from a older man for a backup for one of his cars.

All he remembers about it is it has "vortec heads" (not sure if its the true 96+ heads yet.) He said engine was "complete". Its been one of them utility storage containers for a few years. He said he didnt need it now and was looking to get rid of it. He said i had first dibs if i wanted it. He only wants what he paid for it and thats $150 bucks. I'll know more about it later in a week or 2. I'll write down the casting numbers etc. He said he wasnt sure if it was a 305 or a 350. Well as far as i know unless the heads were added,true vortecs didnt come on 305s did it? il see if its the 062 or 906 castings on the heads. As far as the block im not sure other then pulling a head and measuring the bore etc.


I hope its got a oldschool manifold. I'll bring a battery and a squirt bottle and see if we can get it to kick over.

He also said if i can find some double hump heads or a 9" ford rear he'd trade...but i doubt i could find either one for any cheaper then 150.

 

If it has an old school manifold it wont have vortec heads and yes both 305`s and 350`s came with them.They make a manifold thats caberated that will fit on the vortec heads.There a little pricy depending on your budget but check out summit.com.Oh one more thing if you want to know for sure if the engine has true vortec heads or not they will have saw tooth marks across the front of the head.The vortec heads flow nice but they are also pita to adapt to old school intake manifolds.

 

Flow better than 202/double humpers.

I got a gen 1 4bolt, 4 bolt mains, carb intake with tbi plate I'd trade for an iron block aluminum head LS engine 5.3 or better.

Get the numbers off the engine and I can look them up for ya if ya need.

 

When i said oldschool manifold i ment by just a manifold setup for a carb.
Any way to tell if its a 305 or not?

 

It should say on the back part of the block or there will be casting # you can look up and it will tell you.Other than that take the heads off and see how large or small the cylinders are.A 350 will have a 4 inch bore.
I also knew what you meant by a old school manifold The vortec heads use a completely different bolt pattern than the old school intake thats why I say it wont work if the engine has vortec heads.You can but 4 barrel carberated intake for vortec engines for $300 beens and up.

 

Maybe il get super duper lucky and someone spent the 300 bucks on a intake? I doubt it....but heck,if it runs good the heads there selves are worth the 150 if they are the true vortec.

 

only time will tell... =P

 

Yeah hopefully it is a 350 theres alot more oppurtunity for making it a high performance engine but spending a little extra $ its not to hard to make a high performance 305 either.When you get the engine let me know I`ll give ya some tips on getting some performance out of your engine if your budget allows you todo so.

 

Ive got some knowledge on performance when it comes to cams etc, Just wasnt sure on ways to identify the block. I talked to a friend today and he said to look at the harmonic balancer. The 350's were narrow but wide. The 305s were thick but smaller. Not sure if its true but hes been around alot of small blocks.



edit :
oh yea,talked to him tonight for a quick sec while i was visiting my grandfather. He was in a rush to leave and I asked if it was carberated and he said yes then left. SO either its not vortec,or someone spent some money on a conversion.

 

Yes thats true about the harmonic balancers the 350 will have one about 2 inches thick and solid.the 305 balancer is different depending on the year of the engine.