Nearly new, the picture was taken in 10/86.
This is a project that has been underway for the past year. I started with a 1983 Chevy Conversion van with a 180 HP 305. Now it makes nearly 240 RWHP and is TBI injected. Backed to a 700r4 and a 3.73:1 posi rear it gets you moving along quick and gets good mileage if you can keep your foot out of it. Actually the original engine wasn't that bad it had about 300 ft/lbs of torque @ 2,000 rpm just not much power after 3,500. The horsepower peak was @ 3,800. It would take my friends 92 camaro RS 305 TBI when it was 100 % stock in the 1/8, he had me after that though.

LQ4 swap plans have been made. With a 224/224 @ .050 cam the 6.0 HO should move it around with authority

I plan to paint it in a scheme similar to this as soon as I get a chance to have it done.

New 10/11/05

Another

One more
This is the heart of the beast. 238 RWHP and 268 ft/lbs @ the wheels. It has run a best of 16.3 @ 84.7 with a 2.34 second 60 foot time. It has run 10.3s @ 66 in the 1/8. It will also still get 22 MPG on the highway and about 17 around town. It averages about 20 MPG. A TBI injected 312 (.040" over 305). It is the originol 1983 4 bolt main high nickel block, that has been bored .040" over. It still has the stock forged crank and X-rods in it. Everything has been carefully spin balanced to within 3 tenths of a gram(results in almost imperceptable running, idle, and smooth operation even at 5,500 rpm). It runs smoother at 5,500 RPM than most production engines do at 3,500. It has coated flattop hypereutetic pistons with 4 valve reliefs. They are sealed to the bore with Total Seal low tension gapless rings. (Don't have the typical oil consumption problem of low tension rings) The pistons give a compression ratio of 9.3:1 with a 64cc chamber and your typical shim style 350 head gasket(worth about .2 of a point by itself) then the heads are angle milled a little too. The heads are stock 350 TBI castings, from a TBI GM Crate engine. They have been cut for lifts approaching .500". They have a heavy duty valve spring on them for more seat pressure, more control, and ultimately more RPM before valve float. The cam is the a stock GM L82 grind Mellings. The cam has a very strong mid-range, very good top-end power, still has decent low-end torque, gets good mileage, yet still has a slightly noticable idle. The oil pump is a mellings M-55HV, which is a high volume pump with a 70 psi relief spring. The oil pressure pegs the 60 psi gauge, anytime the engine is above idle. I like having lots of protection for the bearings. The Federal Mogul rod and main bearings are coated with a friction/heat reducing coating. Everything is sealed up by a FelPro Gasket set minus the GM shim style head gaskets(wanted my .040" quench). Guiding the air/fuel mix into the heads is an edelbrock 3704 port matched to the heads and the throttle bodys bored to 2". The modified 454 GM TBI unit flows around 650 CFM @ 1.5 in/hg pressure drop with the injector pod installed. It is currently being feed fuel by 55 lb/hr 305 injectors operating at 32 PSI. To accomplish this it takes a spring from a late model TBI 454 (actually I used the whole injector pod with injectors). Further modification involves custom chip burning in the still experimental EBL ecm, performed on my laptop. Lighting things off is a stock small cap HEI EST distributer at 6* advance with a Conrad cap and rotor. Autozone lifetime warrenty Bosch wires are currently on it as well. It has AC Delco Rapidfire 2s in it. The spark comes from a MSD Blaster Coil. The module is an AC Delco part.(Only way to go on GM) On the exhaling side of things, I have 2 1/4" rear outlet cast iron manifolds from a 1992 G20 350 and the matching Y pipe. The Y-pipe flows rather well, and exits into a 3" in/3" out cat, it goes rearward to a flowmaster 70 series big block delta flow muffler, with dual 2 1/2" outlets. The 2 1/2" pipes exit in the stock location. The result is an awesome sounding system, that flows considerably better than the old pellet type cat, 2" exit manifolds, 2 1/2" cat, and dual 2" tail pipes, yet it still looks stock. The transmission is a beefed up 700r4 with alot of goodies and a 2,800 rpm stall torque converter. It gives a brake stall speed of about 2,800-3,000 in my application and flashes to almost 4,000 off the line. It retains the lockup feature to help steady state cruising fuel mileage. The guys at Torco recommended it after looking at wheat I had and wanted to do. The end result is something that will put a smile on your face at either the track, doesn't cost mega money at the pump and should run for many trouble-free miles.

The above engine has been swapped for a near stock 350 TBI HD truck crate engine. Stock 215 HP @ 3,800 and 325 ft/lbs @ 2,400. It came with swirl port heads and a roller cam of the ramjet flavor. A holley dual plane square bore carb intake for later heads with a TBI adapter plate on top serves as an induction path. The TBI has ultimate TBI mods. I had JBA headers on it, but they are on my 1980 C10 now. The engine has 1.6:1 roller rockers as well. It is being run by RBobs EBL. See current pictures below

Notice the Innovative LC1 wrapped in heat resistant reflective tape.

DD2000 numbers for the current combination, it makes more torque than a stock TBI 305 and has 100 HP more.

DD2000 numbers for the ALL FORGED 383 that is about to go togather in my garage. 428FWHP @ 5,500 and 456 ft/lbs @ 3,750. 10:1 compression, LT4 Hot Cam, 1.6:1 roller rockers, Dart Iron Eagle 230 heads, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Carb-TBI Adapter, 670 CFM Big Block TBI unit with 80# 454 injectors running at about 30 PSI, Cast Iron exhaust, EBL ECM, plus about everything else in the above list.

Old picture

Time slip from a run against a newer VW Beetle/ 4 cylinder Automatic. It was a money race that I collected on. My friend doesn't bad-mouth 305s anymore. 9.89 @ 69.08 at Kennedale with a 2.18 60' time.

Original 350 TBI

The Vacuum Compensated Fuel pressure regulator with a 18-40 PSI adjustable spring. Set it at 32 PSI WOT, drops the pressure about 5 psi at idle with 12 in/hg vacuum on it. Yes my idle vacuum is that Low. I bought it from Xtremefi on Ebaymotors.com

The adjuster screw goes through the hole and lets you adjust the fuel pressure externally. I always start by adding enough fuel pressure to get the A/F mixture I want at higher RPMs without exceeding 85% duty cycle, then remove fuel in the chip for part-throttle operation. I shoot for a BLM of around 124-126 for smoother running and let the O2 pull out fuel rather than add it. Too rich and you buy plugs-Too lean and you buy internal engine parts.

My latest purchase. $300.00 and I drove this 1993 G30 Van with a 454 TBI and a 4L80E with less than 100,000 original miles. The body is a mess and even torn open in the rear. I only want the drivetrain though.

The Canadian cluster that I converted to a 140 MPH speedo.

The training mode emissions test report from a goof of, slow day at work.

My 4.3 for my 1987 GMC Jimmy

The 396 SBC buildup.

20 mpg highway

My TPI swap, its lame, don't do it. Keep the TBI, it runs much better.

4BT Cummins

Dynamic compression ratio vs. coolant temperature. vs. Octane