85 TPI IROC-Z to 85 TPI IROC-Z

[wiserocz]

So my black Camaro project suffered a little bit due to the fact that I went racing this year. I have 2 Black irocs one with a perfect body and one with a good motor. We ended up pulling down the parts car with the race car and just about have the motor out of the parts car. (We blew up at Nelsons and ran out of steam after pulling the first motor and most of the parts car motor). So now I am thinking about putting the parts car's engine into the car with the decent body. The "problem" is I've never rebuilt a motor before and don't have a huge budget (the racing). Does anyone know of anyone nearby Lapeer that's decent and cheap to rebuild a 305. Or should I give up on the motor and go buy a rebuilt one. The parts car was my first project car and took a beating in my divorce so a part of me wants to use the old motor. In any case my new wife is encouraging me to consolidate my collection and I agree 2 un-running cars for one running car sounds pretty decent to me. I've even considered just swapping the motors (heated garage) and seeing where it all lands. Any advice?

[bri2203]

If your on a budget.... just swap the good motor into the car with the dent body. Then you can have the other one gone through later or you can replace it again when you have more funds. After your first engine swap, you know what your up against and the next one usually goes twice as fast. If your into racing it won't be your last engine swap.

As far as crate motor vs a rebuilding yours.... there are lots of plusses and minus. What kind of racing do you do? What kind of limiitiations do you have? We have put a few crate motors in these older cars and they always "SEEM" to fire up/run better than a similar rebuilt motor.

[wiserocz]

We are into Lemon's racing. I chose a IROC because I already had the parts car. I didn't guess we'd blow up early. I ended up with a ton of F-body parts and like 4 cars after all was said and done.

On my todo list for the winter/spring
1. Get the race car in the garage and start prepping it for a fresh 350 and enter into South Haven race.
2. Get my old black IROC out of my old house's garage and swap (the motor)
3. Take the grey Camaro and start turning it into a Drag car. It has a fresh 350 with a Edlebrock carb.
4. Get rid of 4 cylinder Firebird parts car
5. 1976 Cutlass Project...oh who knows

[Darren]

I would swap the good motor into the good body and go from there but if your not dead set on using either one of your blocks you can pick up a 350 or even LT1 pretty cheap now a days. I have been looking on Craigslist a lot and you can get both rebuilt and engines that need a rebuild on CL for cheap... There was a 350 on there claiming to push 400HP for less then $500...

But if you have a good running engine just swap them for the time being and go from there.

[wiserocz]

That was my thought. That gives me time to sort out whatever other issues there are and some time to recuperate my budget. Since my wife's uncle has a "ugly" 350 and tranny for the race car. I'll likely be able to use the Rossler that came out of the yellow beast. The good news is with all these 3rd gen parts rolling around I have some options...That is until the wife gets tired of dodging Firebirds and Camaros.

[shawnc16]

Theres a few of us guys from Lapeer/ Metamora area with third gens, myself included. If you ever need any help, we have had our fair share of 3rd gens torn apart