Can you get a lot of power out of a 305?

[malibu78]

Hi There,
Just curious if I can get alot of power out of a 305, and what it intales to do so. so far I put a 350 cam in it and it seems pretty good sounds like a big motor. just not really sure if it's worth putting to much into. any feed back will be greatly appreciated.

 

[RITTER]

With a lot of money :idea:

Get ready to hear people tell you to just get a 350

 

[81M109]

no replacement for displacement.

it can absoloutely be done and it has been.... the line gets drawn with how much you want to invest.

The motors in the car and you can fun driving it, id build a mild 350 on the side. Just my 2 cents

 

[-83MONTESS-]

no replacement for displacement.

Oh yea!!!

 

[454muscle]

Hi There,
Just curious if I can get alot of power out of a 305, and what it intales to do so. so far I put a 350 cam in it and it seems pretty good sounds like a big motor. just not really sure if it's worth putting to much into. any feed back will be greatly appreciated.

You have the right idea already, not worth putting much into. If you got it sounding real good with the cam, that's where I'd personally stop until I replace the engine. You can spend a lotta time and money for a little more power or you can spend a reasonable amount for huge power in a different engine (350+). There's a few threads on here already if you do a search.

 

[malibu78]

Thanks guy's, I was thinking of rebuilding a 350 over the spring and dropping it in. But wasn't sure if I could just fix up the 305 in the car just weighing out options thanks for the input so far.

 

[NY87SS]

If there is no replacement for displacement, why are we considering even a SMALL BLOCK and not a big block.
I really find this argument as being asinine.

First one must understand what the goals are.
You looking to get over 350-400 H.P.?
If you are then displacement will come into play considering cost ideals, but a lower build big block will yield results with more room to grow for within reason of a larger small block build, like a 350.
Not looking to get more than 325-350 H.P. then the 305 should stay in contention.
The block is all ready ready, saving you a few hundred or more than having to find and purchase the 350 block.
That few hundred dollars equals what extra you might spend on building the 305 against building a 350.
Thats it, not what your hearing now about how much more it'll be with no explaination.
And thats even on the high end itself.
The only more expensive part you'll buy for the 305 will be piston cost, but its maybe $100 more on the high end.
Everything else is shared amongst all small blocks, like cams, head works so on and so fourth.

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/engine ... index.html
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techa ... index.html
http://www.hioutput.com/tech/343hp/343hp.html

These are just a couple that have been done and you can vary in different parts and yield lower amounts to higher amounts, but this gives the gist.

All motors once they've hit the 1 h.p. per cubic inch arena start to get expensive.

 

[67rstbkt]

If there is no replacement for displacement, why are we considering even a SMALL BLOCK and not a big block.
I really find this argument as being asinine.

First one must understand what the goals are.
You looking to get over 350-400 H.P.?
If you are then displacement will come into play considering cost ideals, but a lower build big block will yield results with more room to grow for within reason of a larger small block build, like a 350.
Not looking to get more than 325-350 H.P. then the 305 should stay in contention.
The block is all ready ready, saving you a few hundred or more than having to find and purchase the 350 block.
That few hundred dollars equals what extra you might spend on building the 305 against building a 350.
Thats it, not what your hearing now about how much more it'll be with no explaination.
And thats even on the high end itself.
The only more expensive part you'll buy for the 305 will be piston cost, but its maybe $100 more on the high end.
Everything else is shared amongst all small blocks, like cams, head works so on and so fourth.
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/engine ... index.html
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techa ... index.html
http://www.hioutput.com/tech/343hp/343hp.html
These are just a couple that have been done and you can vary in different parts and yield lower amounts to higher amounts, but this gives the gist.
All motors once they've hit the 1 h.p. per cubic inch arena start to get expensive.

I mostly agree with you, but there are some limitations that the 305 will have compared to a 350. First thing, with the 350 you get the extra displacement without the weight penalty of a big block, so the big-block - small block argument does not really apply here. Other things to consider are head/valve choice. The 305's smaller bore has some limits here, and what about the thinner casting of the 305? I'm not saying it's a boat anchor, but for just a little bit more cash invested in buying a 350, you'll be ahead from a performance standpoint. Additionally, you can build up the 350 while driving the car with the 305 (if the car is a driver and not in pieces). It's really just comes down to preferance and power goals.

 

[Blake442]

Even if you're only looking for 300-325 hp, building a 305 is a waste of time.

For the same money and parts to make a 305 hit 325 hp, a 350 would probably be over 400.

The only reason I can think of for building a 305 is if you live somewhere with ultra-strict motor swapping regulations like California, and even there they have ways around it... Otherwise you're just pissing up a rope.

 

[NY87SS]

Even if you're only looking for 300-325 hp, building a 305 is a waste of time.

For the same money and parts to make a 305 hit 325 hp, a 350 would probably be over 400.

The only reason I can think of for building a 305 is if you live somewhere with ultra-strict motor swapping regulations like California, and even there they have ways around it... Otherwise you're just pissing up a rope.

I guess you've never really looked into this much or you didn't comprehend what I posted about 1 h.p. per cubic inch in a small block in relativity costs the same.
All these motors are going to require the same exact type parts to get to this level.
All will need head work
All will need a cam
All will need a intake
All will need headers
Etc etc etc etc.
Parts are all shared one way or another throughout the product lines of small blocks, so they cost the same.
The only price differences you will see in this is due to demand etc and thats limited to pistons and rings which are slightly more, not absurdly more.
Only when you want to gain 1 1/4 H.P.+ per cube does this begin to separate into your line of thinking, til then its negligible.
Then again once this separation begins, then a big block with even more potential than a 350 can now start to be considered since you are now entering the realm for the cost of a big block at 1 h.p. per cube. Then why settle with a 400 H.P. 350 when you can have a 500 H.P. big block. See this why I call this argument asinine it does go on and supports what you hear people say about , No replacement for displacement.