Engine recommendation

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1990Obscammed

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Hey guys, I have a 90 Scottsdale that I put a big cam in and started to go towards the street truck side of things. ( it now has a carb) but I miss driving my truck on the norm and want some help with what I should do engine wise, my 350 that I built is being put in my father's elcamino and he's leaving me with the stock 305 from that, I also have another 350 from a tbi truck and a 70s 350 bored .30 over, but I'm now leaning more towards using the 305 but I want to put a cam in it that still makes it daily drivable and so I can tow a trailer, it has 33s with 3:42 gears, any recommendations?
 

SlowZ71

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Imo check and see if the 350 from the other TBI truck has roller provisions. Avoid the pos from the 70’s and the 305. Several other members here can give you better recommendations than I can, but it’s a start.
 

1990Obscammed

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Imo check and see if the 350 from the other TBI truck has roller provisions. Avoid the pos from the 70’s and the 305. Several other members here can give you better recommendations than I can, but it’s a start.
OK, the tbi block needs heads the 305 was complete and the 70s block I believe is a high nickel block and that is basically brand new I had a machine shop go through it to build a 383 stroker but I no longer want to go that route
 

1997

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x2 on the TBI and a link on what to look for to go roller ...

 

alignman88

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305’s have small bore and tiny combustion chamber cylinder heads that limit a good return on investment in camshafts. They are completely unremarkable in almost every aspect. Low torque and horsepower but not way better fuel mileage as you would expect. A good 350 or even 383 with a mild not choppy camshaft will breathe better (even stock heads) and have more torque making it easier and more enjoyable to drive. My 88 came with a 305 and after a couple years of owning it I put a GM 350 long block crate motor in it. The 305 just seemed you had to drive it a little harder to keep rolling and forget about towing anything with it. Guy that bought that engine from me put it in a truck that was only a work commuter. I wanted to use mine. Just my experience.
 

PlayingWithTBI

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1990Obscammed

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After doing more research I think I'm going to put some vortec heads on the tbi 350 and maybe try to research some cam specs for a vortec and get one similar, my 98 burban had much more ass than the tbi, if I can build my tbi block similar to that I would be happy
 

vaquero

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These are reasonably priced and will bolt right up to your TBI intake.


www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-162108
Will these work with any of the TBI 350 years, and are other upgrades needed to support these heads? Just wondering.
 

1990Obscammed

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Will these work with any of the TBI 350 years, and are other upgrades needed to support these heads? Just wondering.
They should, on the last tbi that I built I used heads off an 84 Vette, you will have to use a different intake
 

PlayingWithTBI

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Will these work with any of the TBI 350 years, and are other upgrades needed to support these heads? Just wondering.
Yes they will. They come with guide plates for the push rods so you'll need hardened (Chromoly) push rods and non-self centering rockers. Or you can remove the guide plates, install hardened washers, and use your old stuff but, you'll need to use a length checker push rod to get the correct length push rods. While in the process of upgrading to a roller cam, I snapped this picture. You can see the guide plates, all you need to do is unscrew the rocker studs and install the washers.

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