98 305 upgrades

[brusch26]

Looking to wake up the motor a bit. Need a few options. I have a 98 silverado 5.0 305.

 

[michael hurd]

Depends on what you have to spend.

Best bang for the buck, have the PCM reprogrammed. Either send yours out, or buy a replacement that is already programmed. Factory leaves a lot on the table. If you have a 1998+, you must do a CASE relearn procedure. ( Crank angle sensor error )

Tech2 scan tool only... this is dealer, or perhaps you might find someone on craigslist, etc that could do that for you.

It would be good to mention what gearing you have, and the tire size.

3.42 and anything larger than the factory size tire is going to be a dog, no matter what you do to the engine. 3.73 or 4.10 would be better.

Is this a daily driver, where mileage would be important or a toy? In Michigan, there is a lot of rusty vehicles, similar to where I am from.

It's not really worth it to start dumping tons of money into a rot bucket.

Cold air intakes are worthless, your truck is already equipped with one from factory, and based on the size of it, it will flow enough to feed a healthy 383 at high rpm.

For starters, check the compression in the engine, is it even across the board?

On a 305, the factory exhaust manifolds are adequate, as is the y-pipe. You could technically move to the 8600 GVW exhaust for the 5.7 with a bit of work, and it does flow a lot better than the one for the 305, but it is not as cost effective as other means.

Factory camshaft, you can't go much more lift on a 5.0, as you run into clearance concerns. Best to keep it stock, if you want a bit more lift and free up a bit of power, you can move to a 1.6 ratio roller rocker arm ( self aligning, narrow body ) designed for these engines.

If the truck is high mileage, consider changing out the older style poppet injectors for the MPFI upgrade kit. At the same time, change the lower intake manifold gasket set if it has not been changed. Might be a good idea to change the timing chain as well, and if the distributor gear has any wear, put a new distributor in as well at the same time.

$40 for a gear, ~$70 or so for a distibutor

 

[Andrew89/98]

Looking to wake up the motor a bit. Need a few options. I have a 98 silverado 5.0 305.

I did the k&n intake, magnaflow muffler, and a programmer. No major power gains but sounds really good. I'd say 373 gears and comp tune for sure. That's my next upgrade.

 

[Justin S]

Swap in a 350

 

[slowburb]

Wynjammer.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Fitch fuel catalyst