97 305 vortec upgrades

[Chad]

any ideas? i want to still get decent gas mileage but more power.

 

[shortchevy]

ha im in the same boat. everyone is gonna say... 350

 

[Sepiroth]

CHAD, to be a smart ass, you want better mileage, just leave your truck parked, lol.

Seriously, you can follow some of these things here. IIWY, I would look into some sort of ECON PCM flash. Also, if you dont mind your truck, for lack of better words, being more of a dog, go with 3.08 gears. Thats a real nice gear for fuel economy. Thats same ratio is used on the XFE NNBS trucks.

You're not going to gain much from a CAI setup considering the VORTEC.

Remove as much weight as you can from the truck from things you dont need or use. If you havent already, upgrade to an electric fan to get away from the engine driven clutch fan setup. This will free up a few ponies, and put less drag on the engine.

You can even do something as simple as hook up a vacuum gauge. With a vacuum gauge, you can use it to get the best fuel economy by using it as a lead foot status. The lighter you put your foot on the throttle, the more vacuum you will have. The harder you put your foot on the throttle, the less vacuum you will have.

More vacuum=more mpg less vacuum=less mpg

 

[shortchevy]

you have to remember that almost everything from a 350 will bolt on a 305... the only difference Im aware of is the block and pistons... sepiroth, you seem to be focused on strictly economy which is fine but you can do plenty to get more power and mpg... idk how much change you wanna drop so I'll start low...
give your truck a good tune up- spark plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, check your vacuum lines for leaks, change your oil, put some injector cleaner in your gas, make sure your tires are properly filled.
you can put an electric fan in but remember that the electricity your using is making your alternator work a little harder

you can get a cam, intake, exhaust, rly everythings a possibility, just remember to keep in mind that your not building a race car and that you want good mpg and choose your parts accordingly

 

[Aloicious]

we need to know a little more about your truck first. I'm guessing its the truck in your sig. but what size tires are you running? what gears do you currently have? most of the mods listed are appearance related, is the engine/drivetrain stock? how do you use the truck (is it a DD, weekend warrior, etc?) what type of driving does it see the most (city or freeway), etc. what transmission do you have?

without knowing too much I'd agree with shortchevy, a full tune up is what you'll want to do off the bat if you haven't already. fix any problems or issues you currently have first. a tune will help a little, and an efan CAN help a little too....I personally wouldn't recommend 3.08's ESPECIALLY if you do much around town stop and go driving. the XFE trucks have 3.08's however they also have a MUCH different transmission which helps pick up the gearing slack in the lower gears. its not a steadfast rule, but generally, lower gears (larger numerically) help out with around town MPG, whereas higher gears (lower numerically) will help out on the freeway MPGs. the thought behind this is that around town where you're constantly stopping and going, more gear will require less to get the truck going from a stop, whereas less gear will give you lower RPMs on the Freeway, so its a tradeoff and you'll want to taylor your gear to your driving style and location and such. but your transmission also plays a huge role in what gears you should choose. for example, I have a T56, and I GAINED almost 3-4 full consistant MPG's when I removed my 3.73s and installed 4.88s (on STOCK tire size). but thats not a normal situation, and I wouldn't recommend 4.88's on a 4L60e or something if you aren't running large tires.

removing weight is a great idea, so is the vacuum gauge. also anything that will increase the efficiency of your engine will also raise MPG and power output, (mpg will increase assuming that the weight of your foot stays the same.)

as far as power is concerned. anything you can do to a 350, you can do to a 305, so heads/cam/tune/forced induction/intake/bla bla bla.

 

[DRAGGIN95]

6.0 with cam and full tune, that would solve your power problem!

 

[Aloicious]

6.0 with cam and full tune, that would solve your power problem!

yeah there's that too, or a twin turbo 502.

 

[DRAGGIN95]

Now your talking!

 

[DroppedAsAChild]

I have headers, true duals, intake and I keep it well maintained. I have decent mileage. I also the tonneau cover helps a bit too. But I also have a heavy food but cruising on the highway, its not bad. Much better then it was stock.

 

[shortchevy]

DroppedAsAChild what motor do you have?