I got everything ready to go into the car today. Transmission is mounted onto the engine and everything looks good. I messed up the first pilot bearing that I installed and had to reinstall a new one. Almost gave up when I messed that up. Had to chisel the thing out! The old grease trick didn't work.

Now I just hope the engine is good. If it is then all of this work will be worth it. Going to change the oil in the engine and transmission. Should I lubricate the cylinders? I'm not sure how long the engine has been sitting. I believe there are sprays that can be sprayed in through the spark plug holes. Normally I remove the coil wire and crank it to get the oil moving a bit before actually starting it. That should be adequate right?

 

Oh my lord this is going to stress me out all night. Haha! I hope to all things holy that I don't have an issue with the starter. I'll see what I need to grind off if anything.

Seriously thank you for the heads up. I thought it was smooth sailing from here so it will be good to be prepared for some potential butchery. I almost ripped my hair out when I messed the pilot bushing install up haha.

 

The car is staying with my parents which is the issue. I have HOA in my area and would not be "allowed" to park a car on the street. The parents would park their cars in their garage and mine would not be allowed to sit on the street. More HOA fun.

Time to move to another state!!! Or get this car running

 

 

You're throwing good money (and valuable time) after bad with that 305. Bolting up 350 heads on a 305 yields a hp and torque equivalent to a Prius at half voltage. Compression ratio and performance will be horrendous. The 305 is a bad motor fr a performance car.....making good hp is nearly impossible. My advice: take it back to the junk yard where it belongs.

 

Checked this and all is well. Rotated the crank to make sure and it is working perfectly. Swapped the rod from the other engine into it. Should be good!

 

Not much money thrown at it. Maybe $400 total. I don't have the time to take it back to the junkyard and yank another motor. There's a lot of benefit in getting this thing running no matter how slow.

And I did not bolt the 350 heads on it. Everything is stock except the carb and manifold which I will keep for the next engine after I swap this one out. The $400 total I am spending on this engine is well worth being able to drive the car around and continue working on it. Eventually, once the rest of the car is in better shape, I will swap in a blueprint 383 stroker. If I were to take the engine back and just tow the car, I would not be allowed to have it parked at either my townhouse or at my parents' new home due to HOA rules and not having the space in the garage. I would have to put it in storage and would likely not touch it for years. Now I can keep wrenching and improving it since it runs and I will be allowed to keep it around. The 1992 LT1 can be my fun "go fast" car while I improve this one.

I agree that 305's are lousy and think this thing will barely run 19's with this engine. I don't plan on driving it fast at all. Just need the car to move under its own power. I wish I had scraped the grime off to check that it was actually a 350. Lesson learned!

The engine is now in the car and most things are bolted up. Tomorrow I will attach the shift linkage, water pump and accessories. Then time to see if she fires up. Hopefully this work will be worth it and I can begin helping my parents move to their new home.

 

it'll be faster than 19's. low 17's mebbe high 16's... you are SURE the fuel pump pushrod goes in and out when cranking? the block could be machined for pump, but no cam lobe to run the pushrod. if so, 35 buck parts store elec fuel pump is bubbaesque interim fix...

 

I checked this by pushing the pushrod inward manually and having my brother rotate the engine. It moved as he rotated the crank. I believe it should be good to go.

Low 17's isn't bad. I'm trying not to get too optimistic though. I just hope it runs today! Apparently my uncle is coming over today with a big rig and we will be using the trailer to move all of my parents' things. Going to load up and take mostly everything today. Looks like it'll be difficult to get too much done on the car. I still think I can pull it off!

Happy New Year folks! Thanks for all the help!

 

Car is running strong! Just have to slap on the side pipes and it will be good to go. I drove it around and it is smooth with decent torque. It will be livable My 1992 LT1 gave out because the ICM burned out. I've been having quite the week. Good thing I know how to fix that quickly. Now both of my cars are running strong! No leaks, squeaks, or any issues. Very happy.

Thanks again for the help and advice everyone! It helped a ton and kept me motivated.

 

Glad it all worked out, as I've been following this thread. Very stressful, but you made it happen. When you're ready to put another engine in, you might consider my thread in the C3 General forum, about the '87-'91 Chevy factory roller cam blocks. A lot of advantages to running one of these, versus the earlier '68-'86 SBC's.

 

You can also find rebuilds on that block that have functional mech fuel pump guts. Be a cool site the Vette towing the LT1 down the road!

 

 

I will definitely be looking into the 87-91 roller blocks and I'll keep an eye out for the mechanical fuel pump guts! Learning new things left and right.

Jebby, I'm likely going to leave this 305 as is for now. It runs strong enough for me to be happy with it. 15.1 is a solid time for a 305. Well done!


I drove the C3 2 hours through stop and go Bay Area traffic AND full highway speeds. It stayed cool the whole way through, pulled strong, and had no issues. Also makes wonderful noises when letting off the gas. One lady pulled up next to me and started honking and blowing kisses at me. Looks like I'm not the only one who loves these cars!

ONE PROBLEM!
When I accelerate, the oil pressure dips until the car is done accelerating. Then it gets back up to 35 psi. Is it the gauge being funky or is this a real issue? I don't want this engine to blow up as well. THAT would be a truly bad day. I'm going to search the forums for an answer.

On a side note, the 1992 LT1 runs like new again as well. Both are healthy are running strong.

 

Check the oil level. If low-really low, it will do that.

 

 

Glad to hear that the swap went well. Congrats!

 

Thank you everyone. It turns out the engine is leaking oil from somewhere else. It was VERY low when I checked after the trip. I will fill it up and watch very carefully while it is running. I have a hunch that there is a leak towards the rear of the engine near the intake manifold. It seems to have started acting up once the oil got low as Derek mentioned. The gauge was working perfectly until I got close to an hour and a half into the drive which makes sense.

At least now I can work on it and not worry about a time crunch.

 

Let's hope it is not peeing from rear main seal. First, check, do valve covers. Park it on a sheet of cardboard. Oily mess on new driveway?...

 

Just an FYI, some of those had a provision for a mechanical fuel pump off the block and some didn't. I'd advise going with an electric fuel pump, because replacing them on a C3 is a major PITA!. Glad to hear your 'Vette is running well. It'd be a good idea to start an engine build as a replacement, long before you need it, so you have it on hand, whenever what's in it, gives up the ghost, or you want more horsepower out of it.

PS: The 87-91 roller blocks were put in the C4 Corvettes from those years and is known as the L98. Another term for these blocks, comes after the stamp on the block "638 block". And finally, not all 14093638 blocks were set up for roller lifters. You should check for the flat machined lifter surfaces in the intake surface and the three threaded posts in the center of the intake valley, that hold down the sheet metal retainer, that in turn holds down the 'dog bones' that keep the roller lifters from rotating in the bore. The final way to tell, is to see if the holes for the cam thrust plate on the front of the block are tapped.