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Background
When I did the intake manifold gasket replacement on the 305, I did a poor job of sealing the surface between the block and the manifold, at the back. I wondered why my engine was using so much oil, even though the engine didn't seem to be burning it. There was no puddle underneath the car either, because the oil was splashing out on top of the transmission and around the bottom of the car.
One day in March 2006, on a longish drive, the oil level finally ran low. When I took the exit ramp off the freeway, and began to slow down, the car began to shudder quite badly. I kept driving, because there was really nothing else I could do. A little while later, the oil light came on when the car was pointed downhill. I knew from there that this was pretty much the end of the 305's career. I could still drive it when it was cold, for about 10 minutes. After that, the shuddering was unbearable; I would even physically move all over the seat. I put up with it for about two days, when I finally decided to park it. In fact, the only reason I kept driving it at all is because I got two tickets on that trip: one for having no front plate mounted, and one for not having registration. I had to take the car to the police station to show them that a license plate had been mounted. Once that was taken care of, the car was parked.
Here is what one of the spark plugs looked like on the 305. It's no wonder the engine ran so rough!
Why get a 350?
The decision to move up to a 350 was an easy one to make. I knew that I could get another 305 for pennies, but I decided to take the step up to a 350. The 305 is not a good motor as far as motors go. All Chevy small blocks have the same valvetrain geometry, which only works well on motors with a bore greater than or equal to four inches. A 305 has a 3.736" bore, which means the valves are either small (resulting in poor airflow) or they are too close to the cylinder wall (resulting in poor airflow). It's not the displacement that makes 305s suck, it's the fact that it can never breathe well, and therefore not produce much power.
The 262 and 267 small block suffer from the aformentioned problem even more, especially the latter. A 267 would have a hard time producing even 160hp with a big cam. Basically, a small bore Chevy small block has the performance of a four cylinder with the physical mass and fuel consumption of a big V8. In fact, the only advantages to these motors over a four cylinder is their ability to produce a bit more off-idle power to help pull heavy vehicles up to speed.
There were also some semi-emotional reasons to go for a 350. I knew that if I was going to go to great pains to replace the motor in my car, something bigger, better, and more powerful had to be going in. Also, I may someday put the 350 into some other car, boat, or something, and I'll want a lot of power. The 350 meets all of these requirements.
| 305 | 350 | Change | |
| Torque | 240tq | 270tq | +13% |
| Power | 145hp | 170hp | +17% |
Locating a 350
I looked on the internet for shops that sell rebuilt long blocks, and nothing was really in my price range. Instead, I grabbed the phone book and started calling local shops to see what they had. Three phone calls yielded two choices: one was a 350 from a 1974 Nova with over 125,000 miles on it, for $700. The other was a 350 from a 1979 Camaro Z28, with just 60,000 miles on it, for $950. The catch was that it had been recovered from a flood in Toronto.
I went with the "flooded" 350, because I was given a 90-day warranty, and because it had so many less miles. It also came with everything from carb to oil pan, and flexplate to accessory brackets. Below are some pictures of it when I first got it.
I had to pay cash, because I paid them when they dropped it off at my house. I could barely get my wallet closed.
Engine Preparation
For the next couple of weeks, my friends and I would take an hour or two every few days to clean the engine up and make it look nice. We also did the following repairs and upgrades:
We drained and wiped up the water from the crankcase and lifter valley. Luckily, there was no corrosion because the oil was protecting everything.
We cleaned the intake manifold surfaces on the cylinder heads.
I replaced the timing chain with a Comp double roller. The original was a bit stretched.
The timing chain cover had a tear in it. I took the chance and used it anyways. I also put in a new seal that came with the engine gasket kit. So far, no problems.
When I was putting the harmonic balancer back on the crankshaft, I stripped the first 1/2" worth of threads in the nose of the crank. This happened because I was not using the proper balancer installation tool, but just the bolt that is used to hold the balancer on. I got away with that same method when I had changed the timing chain on the 305 some months earlier.
To fix it, I bought a tap, and ran it inside the crankshaft carefully. I ended up somewhat recovering the threads, and made it to the remaining threads that were still good. I also rented the proper tool from Partsource for a cool $169, which all got refunded when I returned it with all of the pieces. From there, installation was fairly easy, although I couldn't get it back the remaining 1/16" of an inch, no matter how hard I tried. To this day, I'm not sure why. Oh well.
We also cleaned and painted everything. The motor was a bit dirty to begin with, and painting things didn't take much more work once the cleaning was done. Pretty boring stuff, but here are some before and after pictures anyways:
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New gaskets were installed throughout the engine. A Fel-Pro small block gasket kit was used.
Priming the Oiling System
Priming the oiling system is an important step in preparing a new engine (or an old one that has been sitting) for startup. I couldn't get ahold of a priming tool, and I didn't know how to make one from an old distributor, so I made one by hooking up a flat file to a drill with a rubber hose. It almost worked too!
When I was priming it, I forgot to turn the crankshaft, meaning the engine wasn't fully primed. I didn't know to do that at the time.
Once the engine was cleaned, painted, fresh gaskets applied all around, and oiling system primed, it was ready to drop in.
Starter Problems
The 305 had a 153-tooth (small) flexplate, while the 350 had a 168-tooth (large) one. This meant I had to either get a new starter, or switch the flexplates between the two motors. I opted for the latter. I was advised by some members on ChevyTalk Forums that there would be no balance problems with this setup.
Removing the 305
I thought that removing the 305 was going to be pretty easy. It was not, mostly because an inexperienced 21 year old knowitall guy was in control.
The hood was removed to allow for easier access. That was about the only correct decision that was made.
We started by stripping the accessories from the 305, while it was still in the car. The radiator and fan shroud were removed as well. We should have left the accessories attached, except for the power steering pump, and just removed them in the garage with the engine on the floor.
Once we got the accessories taken off, it was time to actually extract the motor. Again, more mistakes were made. We decided that the best method would be to pull just the motor, leaving the transmission in the car, to save battling with corroded fasteners under the car.
That wasn't the mistake though. The mistake was leaving the torque converter hooked up to the engine, instead of unbolting it and leaving it on the transmission input shaft. This made pulling the engine very difficult, because it somehow had to come straight forward to get off the transmission input shaft, while also lifting up to avoid the motor mounts on the frame.
We actually managed to get the motor out though. I can't begin to explain how. Let me just say that it was a total pain and I will never do it again. Next time, I will either take the transmission out with the engine, or at the very least, disconnect the torque converter and leave it on the transmission. This can be done by taking the starter off, and turning the crankshaft to reveal the flexplate to torque converter cap screws.
Intalling the 350
Installing the 350 was also a battle, but not quite as much as removing the 305, mostly because we had a better understanding of how things hooked together. We were still working with the constraint of having to install the engine while lining up the torque converter onto the transmission, and clear the motor mounts.
We achieved this by installing the 350 with no motor mounts attached, and dealing with just the transmission. Once the transmission and engine were mated, the engine was hoisted up high enough to allow us to bolt on the mounts. The Haynes manual said that the torque specification for the bolts was 75lb-ft. This seemed unusually high for how small the fasteners were. Sure enough, one of them broke completely. From there, we went down to 45-50lb-ft for the remaining ones, which is still on the high side. It turns out that 30lb-ft is a better value. I think the Haynes manual was referring to the large mount bolts that go through the rubber sections. The broken one was left as-is. It will be replaced next time I pull the motor.
Once the motor was in and fastened to the transmission and chassis, getting the engine going was simply a matter of reattaching all of the accessories and firing it.
Exhaust Problems
The exhaust manifolds would not attach properly to the 350. They fit, but would not bolt up properly at the cylinder #8 exhaust port. That whole fiasco is documented on the exhaust page. (Actually, it will be documented there when I can be bothered to finish that page. Long story short: shorty headers are the best option on a Caprice).
Firing it Up
The engine did not start up on the first attempt. I did not shim the starter, and it jammed promptly. It was dark, so I had to wait for another day to deal with it.
A few days later, when I finally fixed the starter, the engine started up just fine. I left the driver's side valve cover off, to make sure that the oiling system was working properly.
The oil didn't show up at the rocker arms for a long time. The oil pressure gauge was reading over 40psi, but still nothing was coming. I kept getting nervous and turning the engine off. Eventually though, the oil started coming out and all was well. Not only that, but there was no smoke coming out of the exhaust. A compression test revealed that all eight cylinders were at 150-155psi. This was enough for me to declare the engine swap a success. Well, almost.
I didn't get to drive the car for another week and a half because I caught a really terrible flu. I have never been more sick in my entire life. I lost over 18lb in just a few days, most of which was water. I had to spend 2 hours being rehydrated at the hospital to get my strength back. I was totally out of comission for 10 days, but I didn't fully recover until almost a month later. Needless to say, the car got no attention.
After I recovered, I started to drive the car from Ottawa to Trenton, which is where I was staying for the summer. I made it about 45 miles before it lost all electrical power, forcing me to call a tow truck. It turns out the alternator died and was not charging the car.
Conclusion
We have arrived at the end of the engine swap. There were many problems with the car that managed to jump to the new motor, which I will write about in separate pages. The important thing was the new motor was in the car and in sound condition.
Various Repairs
