THE REBUILD
The Info:
After we took the engine apart, we got it tanked, the holes ported and polished, new piston rings, bearings, the crankshaft was shaved .10 over to renew the surface, the heads were totally rebuilt (everything was replaced that needed to be, since there was only 90000k on the engine nothing was really wore out). and we traded a guy the old 305 and he rebuilt the tranny for free.
- 1980 350 Orange block 4 bolt main.
- Bored .30 over
- Flat Top Pistons
- Crane Blue Racer RV cam
- Edelbrock Performer Intake (2701)
- Edelbrock 600 cfm carb (1406)
- Hooker Headers (their used, they came out of a 54 chev 4 door. they were only used 1 summer).
- Flowmaster 40's Mufflers
- TH350 tranny
- Double roller timing chain
- MSD Street Fire distributor
- Chrome valve covers, timing chain cover, air cleaner and a bunch of little shit.
^ wow that 305 was spotless, no leaks, and the tranny went right into gear when you put it in reverse, it didnt take 5 seconds...ya right. My dog keisha, shes a german sheperd.
the oil was changed regularly as there was many bills, but that was not going to fix this engine. u can see my dads 81 GMC, its a bit rusty, but it has a 425 horse olds 455 with a TH400 and a confederate flag, thats all that matters haha.
fenders, hood and rad support off. This was surprisingly easy to do and only took maybe 30 mins.
you can see how dirty it was up there.
all clean, this probably took 3 hours. there was probably half a centimeter of grease build up in some spots.
close up, you might be able to see scratches because i took the wire brush on the end of the drill to it for probably an hour.
Painted with tremclad high gloss rust paint. looks sexy.
close up. looks brand new.
firewall painted. If you own a truck like this you know how big and bulky the cover is for the heater motor. (the two holes on the left side have to be joined). one of my dads friends is a metal guy and hes building a custom box for that to keep it clean under the hood. will post a pic when he finishes.
the 350. looks pretty clean actually. only 90000k.
no leaks there. amazing compared to the 305.
on stand ready to be ripped apart.
random pics.
stripped down.
another
oilpan all ready to go. this took probably an hour because i got it down to shiny metal with the wire brush and drill. alot of work for something you dont see, but whatever.
all the parts cleaned and painted. this was before we got the idea to get it tanked or to add performance parts. the heads, intake, and the water pump were all cleaned and painted, for no reason because we got a new water pump and intake, and the heads were dunked. waste of time.
picked up the dress up kit, theres also a double roller timing chain, gasket kit, and the grille in that pic
Crane Blue Racer cam and lifter kit. i threw out the box before looking at the specs. i called the place and he told me the numbers, i totally forgot about 2 seconds after he told me but he said tat its just a little bigger than an RV cam.
Magnaflow mufflers, there quite small, and chrome 3 inch tips
one part of the bill for proof. it was 1800 in total but we had hook ups and friends so i only paid 500.
other part.
crank in.
didnt get any pics of when we first got the block back , this is close enough just the pistons and cam and crank were in.
good shot of heads. they were rebuilt but only what needed to be. since the engine had such low ks they were in pretty good shape.
Intake and chrome timing chain cover on and i put the breather and valve covers on to kinda see what its guna look like.
from back.
front end on. cant wait to get a chrome altenator the whole engine is brand new except that.
engine bolted down and rad support on. this was incredibly easy with no fenders or rad support. look at how many wires were on the firewall compared to the pic below after the fender. all that was for EFI, no longer needed.
fenders i painted black on the inside and underneath i sprayed asphalt undercoating
electrical done and headers and fender mounted. i didnt get any pics of the tranny but you can see it is painted orange as well. check out the blue split loom, its all the little things that count.
Before.....
After...the sylvanias are not in in this pic. but you get the idea of the painted bezels and the smokin grille.
Carb mounted and mostly hooked up.
Just with breather on. looks pretty sweet i think, just wish it was done.
here the engine is done, just have to set the valves before we fire it up. had to get a different air breather because the other one was resting on the fuel line into the carb and the electric choke. i think it looks better anyway. u can see the little chrome plugs in the intake. some reason we had a hard time finding them and finding the right ones. and im not sure what that black bolt is doing there haha.
drivers side of the engine. thought id get one from this angle because all of the other ones are from the passenger side because theres no fender. you can kinda see the throttle and kick-down all hooked up.
driveshaft almost ready to go. have to get new u-joints.
Im finally getting a chrome altenator. but this deal is crazy. one of my dads friends who is a heavu duty mechanic is coming to set the valves and hes selling me the chrome altenator, the real steel chevy valve covers, and the chrome altenator bracket for 100 bucks. will get pics up as soon as i get it all.
The problems that we had getting the truck moving was the U-Joints. we had a bitch of a time finding the right ones because we converted the previous split driveshaft to a solid one. The wiring was right f*cked up to. we spent probably a good 6 hours getting it right, and i still have no heat, and all you fellow Canadians out there can feel my pain. for about 3 weeks i was driving without the charging system charging, so i had to disconnect my battery everytime i stopped and had to get a boost every once in a while. everything but the heat is good now. I am never converting a TBI to a carbureted engine again though, alot of work.
Page 1: Intro
Page 2: The Rebuild
Page 3: Exterior (your here)
Page 4: Interior
Page 5: Next on the list
