305 in the 305..

[jd33173]

1988 k1500 305 w 3 spd auto. White smoke on startup. Exhaust is pretty much hammered and see through for all exhaust components. Exhaust pipe fell off last week(lol). I have purchased long tube headers and am contemplating putting them in and addressing the rotted remnants of the exhaust. Concern is as soon as i try pulling the factory exhaust manifolds, i am gonna snap off the bolts. Once i snap off the bolts, i might as well rip off the heads and get them up to standard and address the probable bad valve seals and whatever eldritch horror awaits me beneath the valve covers. But it are a 305 and after i do all this stuff, i will still be running severely limited non sexy hp numbers. I would like a little getupandgo. Thinking i can skip some pain by just purchasing a crate engine with more power. 300hp probably more than enough, i dont mind staying w tbi, budget is 10k max. Hit me and ty in advance for your collective wisdom.

 

[tayto]

good grief here we go again... just fix what you got. if you think dealing with broken exhaust manifold bolts is a big deal you're not gonna be up for the heartache of having a higher HP engine and it not running right because it needs PROM tuning.

here's a tip on removing exhaust manifold bolts: get the engine hot, then remove them after shutdown.

 

[jd33173]

good grief here we go again... just fix what you got. if you think dealing with broken exhaust manifold bolts is a big deal you're not gonna be up for the heartache of having a higher HP engine and it not running right because it needs PROM tuning.

here's a tip on removing exhaust manifold bolts: get the engine hot, then remove them after shutdown.

Good point, i am not worthy to work on the vehicle, i will go hang my head in shame for asking questions. thank u so much bro

 

[tayto]

my tail pipe fell off, better swap a crate engine in. that's essentially what you posted. does that seem like a logical thought process to you? don't get sad because I didn't jump on the engine swap bandwagon. if you want that sort of carry on maybe go ask on facebook.

 

[Sean Buick 76]

You said the engine has issues so sure swap it out for a 350 that’s what I would do.

 

[jd33173]

my tail pipe fell off, better swap a crate engine in. that's essentially what you posted. does that seem like a logical thought process to you? don't get sad because I didn't jump on the engine swap bandwagon. if you want that sort of carry on maybe go ask on facebook.

So...not much of a reader i see..skip past the whole white smoke / not happy w th existing setup and suspecting a 35 yr old engine may have some unpleasant surprises in store thing? Or did you just feel like a keyboard cowboy today? Give it a rest buddy, let me provide you w a chestnut AT LEAST as valuable as your "let it heat up first advice", if you dont have anything nice to say...

 

[jd33173]

To be clear, every time i have embarked upon a course of action without checking on this forum first, i have been sorry. I have been looking at my options for at least 6 months and as soon as i have the temerity to ask for advice i get this dude. Bruh..

 

[KansasOBS]

For some more advice that you didn't really ask for....put an LS in it.

 

[tayto]

repairing a head gasket failure can be done in a day (not including waiting for machine work). while you wait for the head(s) to get machined you can fix your exhaust and the truck has mininal down time. We have no idea what skill level you have, access to tools, access to shop space, means to R&R an engine, if this vehicle is your daily driver, etc, etc. if you don't like getting advice then why did you post? if you want to swap an engine then go do it, there's plenty of recent (and old) posts that cover this...

BTW my advice about removing exhaust bolts is a genuine one learned from experience. i am not afraid of breaking bolts and extracting them, been there done that.

 

[CumminsFever]

383 and a tune. It'll make use of those headers. It might vacation your transmission though.