JOSKIMAD

i found a really great car in washington. (im on the east coast.)71k,excellent shape in and out. i was looking for advice on whether the 305 engine is a good or bad thing before i pay for the vehicle.

Nowhere Man

a 305 is a good running small block I got one in my monte with 180k and still runs stong, and i know with some well over 200k on them. :chevy and welcome to the forum :seeya

aharte

Its really really slow...

R. Bruno

:iagree:

mapman

Welcome to the Forum.

The 1980 305 was the first Corvette with computer control of the engine. It was sold in California as the 350 could not be made to pass CA smog in time. In 1981 all Corvettes got computer control.

The desireability of this car will depend somewhat on your local emissions testing (if any). Bringing the 305 to specification may involve considerable expense, especially if parts of the emission system are no longer operating or are missing. Nothing that can't be done, just plan that it will cost some money.

The LG4 (305ci) was 180 HP, the L48 (350ci) was 190 HP, and the L82 (350ci)was 230 HP. None of them made much HP, but then again, HP is pretty inexpensive to add.

I would be more concerned about the general condition of the car, frame rust, windshield header rust, body mounts/bolts rust, collision damage, etc.

I've got a 1980 in restoration, someday it will be finished. Buy the BEST car you can afford, repairing one is more expensive than just buying one that is ok.

Good luck, you might also try searching the archives for information.

Corvette_fetish

I guess if you want a mellow, and I mean MELLOW cruiser, then I guess the LG4 would certainly work. Believe me, I'm sure that engine would NEVER have found it's way into a Corvette if GM could have found a way to get the L48 to pass CA's emissions standards for that year. I guess it was either put an engine not worthy of the car into it, or not sell Corvettes in CA in 1980. GM couldn't have done that, so I guess they had to give in. I get the impression that a lot of Vette enthusiasts look at this particular car with pity.

Again, if you want a mellow cruiser, this car will work, but if you want a Corvette for what it's known for, and that at least some amount of performance, then look for another Vette. Here's what I'd consider if I were you. IF the car is in good shape, no rust, straight frame, etc, offer the guy a modest amount for it reason being it's an LG4 Vette. That's enough to make it inexpensive in my opinion. If he accepts purchase the car and find a qualified Vette mechanic in your area, and have that mechanic put a better engine in it. GM makes great crate engines. A ZZ4 350 would rock that poor car. There are also 383s, 454s, 502s and bigger available new from GM.

Still, hold on to the 305. Keep it tucked away in a corner. You never know. There were only a few thousand made. Now, understand, right now this car is probably the least desired Corvette ever produced as far as collectability goes, but 20, 30 years from now when there are only a couple left simply because nobody wanted them, it might have some amount of value if it actually becomes rare. Then again sometimes rare still does not me desirable. Don't buy it as an investment. This is the last Vette you'd buy for that.

It's up to you, but the only appeal this car would have to me is the fact that this is one Corvette I could rip the original motor out of and replace with a powerful new crate engine and not hurt the car's value, but actually possibly increase it's value by not having the number matching 305 block in place.

Whether the 305 is a good or bad thing I guess depends on what your definition of good or bad is in this case. As Nowhere Man said, it will run well in the sense of reliability. That's a good thing. Great motor for a Monte Carlo and the like, but were talking Corvettes here, right? Is it a good motor for a Corvette? If you want ANY performance then NO. It is not a good engine. It's a dud with little potential. It will run and run and run, but so what? You want gas mileage and reliability you could buy a Honda. This is a Corvette, not a Monte.

Just DO NOT pay a lot for this car. :nono:


[Modified by Corvette_fetish, 11:27 AM 3/18/2004]

stingraymaniac

that motor is reliable but.....
its not gonna be a racer!
i woldnt pay so much for that car

JOSKIMAD

thank you for your advice. this particular vehicle is in great shape in and out.no paint spidering and the interior is virtually perfect. the selling price is 6600, so its not too big of an investment. its to be used by my wife to drive to work on saturdays.

Corvette_fetish

Cool :thumbs: The car will make a nice part time pleasure driver for sure. I'd offer him less for it. I think 'round 5K - 6K is fair if it's in that good of shape, but that's me. Good luck and WELCOME! :cheers:

Smokehouse69

The 305 is a good engine, it is woefully underpowered, if all you are looking for is a cruiser then it is ok, but you should know up front that most modern mini-vans will out accelerate it. Also transporting a car 3000+ miles is sort of expensive.

JOSKIMAD

thank you. what can one do to increase the hp in that engine? or is putting in a stronger engine the best way to go.

Cali,68,L-79

:leaving: :leaving:

Fevre

check out www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/ for 305 hop ups but I would just get a 350 or 400 sb and drop it in.


[Modified by Fevre, 3:35 PM 3/18/2004]

Corvette_fetish

As I said, if you just want a fun cruiser, the car is fine. If you want performance either replace that 305 with a 350 or better or find another nice Corvette with a 350. For the money you throw at a 305 to make it sort of do something, you could spend a little more and get a new ZZ4 crate motor for that car. It would then be respectable. Just drop it in and GO. The 305 is a fine motor as long as it's not in a Corvette. It's a performance dud, I'm telling ya.

JOSKIMAD

thanks.do you know of any good sites to get that motor at a good price?

Van Steel

As I said, if you just want a fun cruiser, the car is fine. If you want performance either replace that 305 with a 350 or better or find another nice Corvette with a 350. For the money you throw at a 305 to make it sort of do something, you could spend a little more and get a new ZZ4 crate motor for that car. It would then be respectable. Just drop it in and GO. The 305 is a fine motor as long as it's not in a Corvette. It's a performance dud, I'm telling ya.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:iagree: 305's are good if you have a 18 ft or bigger boat. they make great anchors. :lolg: :thumbs: :chevy

Corvette_fetish

You could try GM Parts Direct
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/
* click on the performance tab
* then select crate engines to see what all is available
Here's the ZZ4:
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/perform...ATID=1099.html

daves80

6600 is a great price - the 305 gets a bad rap - stock its only 10 less hp - if you let one breathe a 305 will give you plenty of thrills in a light car like a vette - if you decide you want more power - pull the computer - lose the air crap , put a carb , distributor, cam, and true duals on it - it should already have the stock shorty ss headers and you'll have plenty of reliable power for your cruiser - for a very reasonable price - the nice part is that if you get hungry for even more power ( which many vette owners are prone to do - those parts will swap right to the 350 - how are you going to get it back east? - need a driver? - heh-heh - dave :reddevil


[Modified by daves80, 11:32 PM 3/20/2004]

Corvette_fetish

and deservedly so in this context because it's inadequate for the application. It's an everyday passenger car engine. It has no real business in a Corvette. If you're satisfied with a 305, then perhaps an I.R.O.C. Z28 Camaro is more for you. We are talking Corvettes here, and I'm confident GM would never have put a 305 in the CA '80s if there had been other more desirable alternatives. And that primitive Computer Command Control it uses is a P.O.S. too.
LOL, poor - 10hp = **** poor. The 190 was sad enough. 180 is really pathetic. And that 180hp 305 probably produces like no real torque whatsoever.
:skep: A C3 Corvette is NOT a light car. The '80s were "lighter", but 3,336 lbs is not what I'd consider light. The best way to let that 305 breathe is to pull it out of the engine compartment and set it out in the open air on a stand.
Why waste the time, money and energy to gain very limited results farting around with the 305, THEN realize after all that you're still "hungry", like most Vette owners, for more power that you're not going to get from the 305? You will have to waste more time, money and energy removing all that stuff from the 305 and transplanting to a 350. You will look back and say "gee, I wish I would have just gone 350 in the first place instead of having to deal with this motor business twice". Look, I've been down that road and wasted a LOT of $$ on a drivetrain that was not worth the effort. I quickly wised up and realized that all the advice not to waste my time was indeed sound. So I stopped throwing $$ away bought my Vette. Sadly, I look back and have to consider how much more my Vette would be improved by now if I had not dumped all the money I did on my T-bird in vain and instead had just gone with a Vette in the first place. I now have a high performance 4R70W transmission with a Trans Go shift kit that can handle over 600 horsepower in a T-bird with a 165 horsepower engine. I wish I would have used my head, saved that money, and the TH400 in my Vette would have that Trans Go in it today, which it currently does not. See, I was foolish. Now I have to live with the results.

Again, if you want a nice mellow cruiser that looks hot, buy your LG4 Corvette and enjoy it just the way it is. Otherwise, if you want what Vettes are know for, and that's performance, then pull that Monte Carlo motor out and put a 350 in it. I'm telling you, that ZZ4 crate motor is a lot of performance value for the money. The money you waste attempting to make performance upgrades to the 305 could have gone towards a real engine that would most likely have satisfied you in the first place.

Russ Bellinis

As has been reccomended already, save your money and enjoy the car as is. As far as smog goes, in Cali, you can put in a newer engine with all of the newer smog equipment on it in an older car without any problems. In effect you are updating an older car to newer specs. I can't imagine anyother state being more **** about such things than Cali. You can update to a 350 tpi motor from an 85-91 Vette or 85-92 f-body. You don't really need to get the 350 out of one of those cars, you can build any 350 sbc to those specs and use a tpi from a bone yard. I have a 87 Firebird TA with a very mild 350, it is probably putting out about 275-280 hp at the flywheel. Guys in the f-body club I belong to are getting over 300 hp at the rear wheels on smog legal motors without power adders.