My El Camino Engine swap

[GH85Carrera]

As many of you know I have been asking for opinions on what to do with my tired 305 engine in my daily driver 1986 El Camino. After 300,000 miles of trouble free running the blow-by is getting too bad to ignore. I explored the option of rebuilding it and everyone but two people said dump the 305 and drop in a 350 crate engine. The choice then became which engine. From the base line cheapest 260 HP 350 to a Corvette ZR1 supercharged 650 HP engine. The Corvette engine was never even considered but it was suggested by several people.

I did a lot of research and finally made my decision. I ordered a brand new 260 HP crate Goodwrench 350 engine. It has a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty. It cost $1622.98 total, engine & delivery handling taxes and everything to get it here.

I had a dyno run on my old 305 and it produces a whopping 116 HP at the rear wheels so the new engine will be double the power at a minimum. Once everything is broken in and running right I will do another dyno run.



The new engine arrived at my office today.




Just four lag bolts and the crate comes apart.



The next step is haul it home in the El Camino and do the swap. I am planning on starting on that this weekend. With luck during the long Thanksgiving weekend I can get the new engine installed and running. I am starting this thread only to document how & what I did for my engine swap. It will not be a how to manual, just how I did it. I will list the cost of parts along the way and in the end list the totals.

[RANDY P]

It's a Cheby project.

Don't forget the beer. Lots of beer.

rjp

[GH85Carrera]

Oh yea. I have a fridge in the garage at home, and even more important a bathroom out there as well.

[Burnin' oil]

I look forward to this thread, especially about any other work you do since you "have the motor out anyway." Will you be able to do an engine-swap only, or will this develop into something more?

[asphaltgambler]

great decision! - you did the right thing - that engine is sooo much better in every way than what you had. Enjoy!!

[GH85Carrera]

Right now the only "while I am in there" I am planning on is some of the no-brainier stuff. I bought new engine mounts. The old ones are 25 years old and have 300K miles. New ones were cheap. I will splurge on new spark plugs wires and spark plugs. The old ones have been in there for many years.

There will be some engine compartment clean up and degrease.

I did buy a set of used manifolds from a 70s engine. There are WAY bigger on the inside. I will have them ceramic coated just to make em prettier. The manifolds, machine work to face them and coat them should come in under 200 bucks.

I just dislike the ting ting ping of headers, and the constant exhaust leaks of headers.

[BRPORSCHE]

Man that's cheap.

Why aren't all of us Cheby guys?

[Burnin' oil]

Something like this?

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Man that's cheap.

Why aren't all of us Cheby guys?

We don't look good with mullets, or drink keystone light.....

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Man that's cheap.

Why aren't all of us Cheby guys?

Yea, I wish I could get a new factory original 260 HP Porsche 911 engine for my Carrera for under 2 large.

[daepp]

That's the answer I always get when I see great old Fords with Chevy 350's in them - it was cheap and it's a great motor.

I'm not a Chevy guy but I acknowledge a good thing when I see it!

Good luck with the heart transplant Doc.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Man that's cheap.

Why aren't all of us Cheby guys?

Image, man...IMAGE!

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Man that's cheap.

Why aren't all of us Cheby guys?

Seriously though man, have you ever driven an Elky? Not terrible in a straight line, forget tossing it around a corner.

[sammyg2]

Color me mullet, I love chebby small blocks. Had one in a 914 a ways back.

Do yerself a flavor and replace the harmonic balancer while yer in there, assuming it has one. Most 350 chebbies do, IIRC some 400s were internally balanced er somthing like that.

Anywho, the inside and outside of the stock balancer are held together with rubber and it gets old and can let go.
Which BTW is way down near the bottom on a good/bad scale.

Oh, and there's a little plastic thing that connects the oil pump to the dizzy drive.
Prolly gots a brand new on the new motor, but that's one of them things that can bite guys if they forget it on a rebuilt motor.

There aint never been an engine as good, solid, and reliable as the chebby small block.
that's why they're so cheap, 'cause they made a gazillion of em!
Plus you can get big reliable power out of em fer cheap too.

[pwd72s]

Actually, good choice...probably should have bought a good crate engine instead of the rebuild on my dodge pickup...the rebuild went well...but by the time I added enough upgrades like hypereutectic pistons, windage tray, heads done by a local dirt track machine shop, etc...would have been simpler to go crate for approx. the same power level.

[Macroni]

This will be fun!

[motion]

I think its just amazing you can buy a new 350 for $1600. Heck, I pay nearly that for a used 250cc two stroke motor for my bikes.

[scottmandue]

Come on... you know you want to...

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by motion

I think its just amazing you can buy a new 350 for $1600. Heck, I pay nearly that for a used 250cc two stroke motor for my bikes.

You can buy a decent reman for under a grand.

[herr_oberst]

It's an unbelievably great time to be in the market for a V8 crate motor.

Cheap, reliable, bolt-in horsepower.

You were smart to get the 260 hp mill; big horsepower will ferret out the weak links in your drivetrain and your wallet in a big hurry. Rear end, tranny, brakes, a big radiator - the list goes on.