I turned 299,000 miles on my El Camino daily driver yesterday. I have owned it for 20 years and plan to drive it another 20.
I am thinking it is time for an engine rebuild after I hit 300,000 miles. It has the original 305 engine in it now and the heads have never been off! 1000 miles after an oil change the oil is still so clear it is hard to see on the dip stick. The blow by is getting pretty bad. The valve covers leak, the oil filler cap oozes oil and the PCV valve gets full of oil regularly. I put it on the dyno just after I converted it to fuel injection 100,000 miles ago and it was pumping out 115 HP and 215 lb ft of torque.
I know the majority of you will recommend to scrap the 305 and put in a crate 350 and that is one option. I really don’t care about a lot more HP in the car, I just don’t ever plan to street race, and it has enough power to get me on down the road. In 20 years I have never wanted to do a burn out or drag race.
I want to take apart the engine just to see how worn it is. I am really leaning towards doing a full rebuild on the engine. My thoughts are that I can pick up a used set of 305 heads for little or nothing. Get all the machine work done and have them ready to go before I even pull the engine. I feel sure the original cam is worn so I will replace it with the RV cam. I still want low end torque and really don’t want to go to a high rev engine.
Right now it has the original cast iron exhaust manifolds. I think the new engine rebuild would be the right time for headers and dual exhaust. I already have a dual hump cross-member.
What other “while I am in there” things can add a few HP and not cost a lot? I figure if I can get to 175 to 200 HP I will have a ton more power than I do now and an engine that should go for another 300,000 miles.
