How to wake up your 305
 

Here is a budget way of waking up your 305 without swapping motor to a 350. good read

305 Chevy Engine Blocks - Engine Masters Magazine

good read. personally i think that it seemed like a lot of work for the power they made not to mention that the motor was tested with a nice set of headers, and no belt driven accessories. the motor made decent torque at a usable rpm, but it looked like they had to spin it pretty hard to make there hp number. under 4500 it was a pig. i wonder what the real world numbers would be. i dont think i would want that motor in a monte if it was any heavier than 3300lbs which is just about every one of them except the third gens. still a viable option though and a good read.

yeah i know thier hp numbers stupid high. but they did put both set ups under the same conditions. and in the real world probably about 25% power lose to the wheels depending car set up. not a drag car but better then the emissions hog the 305 starts from.

i remember we had an '82 caprice wagon when i was 5-6, with a 305. my dad spent some time tuning the quadrajet and playing with the timing, crap like that, and that car would run great, not like it could smoke the tires with all that weight over the wheels but boy would it scream along if you punched it.... and still got about 20 MPG on the highway.

your best bet to wake it up is to switch the position of the 0 and the 5 in the 305 buy yourself a 350! haha Nice read though, mine has the 305 which as low as the HP, the torque feels good enough for me. its the 87 ss so its a little better than the 85 and prior years. Call it what youd like monte carSlo, 5.slow ive heard them all lol

i like the read. their hp numbers could be inflated based on how generous the dyno is. but if they used the same dyno with the same conditions then you cant argue with the 151 hp gain. i'd say its impressive. but then again you could apply the same exact technique to a 350 and make more power lol. good for a guy on a budget though.

I realize the 305 will never be a stormer...but because i have one in my 85, it will have to do..lol..I just keep remembering ..back in the 1960s, and early 70;s...there were some pretty quick 283's. and 265s out there..and 307's..basic rodding never changes..close to 1hp per cubic inch is pretty good for a 'unloved' street engine like the 305..thats my mission..lol

In 1987, GM started putting OEM hydraulic roller cams in their passenger car v8s. If anyone out there wanted to build a 305 I think one of the roller motors would be a better foundation but an aftermarket roller cam and lifters costs like 550-600 bucks, as opposed to 100 dollars for a brand new flat tappet cam and lifters. I had an 86 305 (flat tappet) and I have an 87 305 (roller tappet) that's blown up and its got way more power than the 86 blowin oil all over the place!

I didnt actually read the article...

However, 305 is an oldschool motor we use to do something fabulously with.
We'd bore them out 30 over, throw a set of 1.5 hyrdraulic rockers on a set of camel hump heads (190/202's)... a cheap set of hooker headers, a torquer intake and a holly 650 dbl pumper spread bore. Followed by a 411 gear and a set of lakewood traction bars. That turned a lead sled into a 12.5 street machine that was worthy of a killer paint job,Cragar wheels and M/T white letter tires....That Not did it only look good...But it ran good enough to run with the Big Dogs every weekend on the streets and at the Strip!:thumbsup:

If you want an easy mod that will make a noticable difference get a custom burned computer chip. I can make you one that will really wake your car up! Spark/timing maps completely reworked for max torque, torque converter lockup settings changed, fueling,etc. Let me know