coptzer

iTrader: (2)

I have had enough of comparing prices of either buying a 350 or rebuilding my 305. I love my motor but for the money I will spend I just cant justify it right now. I dont want anything too extreme but after comparing #'s I hate the thought of putting up to a grand into my 305 again. I have done alot of upgrades to it already and and now need a new crank. Well, I sat down and racked my brain on what to do. I guess I'll just save the time and money from throwing it at the 305 and buy a brand new motor. A brand new ZZ4 shortblock(I figure if I am going to spend the money I might as well go for a good strong motor).

Now here comes my main question......

Can I use my heads on a new ZZ4 shortblock?. Before you shake your head at me, let me tell you they are not the stock heads. I have done a lot of searches on this and other sites relating to this topic. Now what I have is a set of world products 305 S/R torquers. I used them for roughly a year on my 305 and thought they were wonderfull on that motor, But will they be good enough for now on a 350? I dont plan on leaving them on there forever just dont want to spend all kinds of money right now. I think the heads on the complete ZZ4 are 58cc and so are these. So with these heads and my headers(1 5/8) bigger injectors, different prom, my bigger cam(comp 218-130@.050/462-480)will this work good in your opinion?

What else should I consider? Sorry for the long post....I would like any advice or inputs as I am ready to place my order right away if I can make it work well.

Thanks

kfoley

To answer you question directly, yes they will work on a 350 short block. As you already know they won't run really well like a set of vortecs would, but they'll work fine for the time being. If I wanted a short block, I personally wouldn't go with the ZZ4. Nothhing against it, it's a great short block, but it's a tad too exspensive for a poor college student like myself. You can build a good short block for much less (unless you want something that will handle boost). You can pick up a used 350 block and have it machined for about $3-400, cast crank $200, new rods $250, new hyper. pistons $200, for a total of $900 to a grand compard to like $2000 something for the ZZ4. Sure it won't be brand new or quite as strong as the ZZ4, but for the street use you'll be using it for it will hold up just fine for thousands of miles. With saving all that money, maybe you could pick up a set of vortecs, RPM intake and XE cam and you'll have a 400+ horse motor that will take a beating. (Just throwing out a thought here...)
Anyways, IIRC the ZZ4 engine comes with 62cc chambers. If you do decide to stick with the S/R torquer heads for a while, I'd suggest an XE268 cam (224/230 dur., good lift numbers, but I can't remember them off the top of my head). It's a great cam for a modified 350.
Sorry about such a long post and if I confused you, hope it helped...

-Kyle

zerotosixtyV8

I always thought of a ZZ4 as a 4-bolt L98 w/a bit more HP. you can get ZZ4 performance levels out of your 305 with a nice rebuild and some wisely selected performance parts. the XE268 in your 305 coupled with a ported tunedport (or a Holley 950 TBI unit, if you've got an LO3, or 750 double pumper if you've got a carb'd motor), L98 injectors (TPI only), S/R Torquers, some 1 5/8" headers, and tuning could get you 280-290 HP with that 305 easy. All of the above^ would cost less than a ZZ4 and give you similar output. If you're insisting on a 350, www.goautocenter.com sells a 300 HP 350 TPI motor for $1955 for a complete long block. for about $2300 dollars you could get fuel injected ZZ4 performance. seeing as how a ZZ4 long block goes for $3500, that's a steal.

Momar

Actually, the ZZ4 has 58 cc chambers, but I believe that they are aluminum heads. I believe the motor is basically a Vette L98 with a cam. I think that the heads are pretty much the same as the Vette heads, and it has 4 bolt like the Vette. Anyway, it is a pretty good motor but you may be able to come out a bit cheaper with a different block selection as stated.

As far as using the the 305, you can make decent power out of it but a 350 will obvioulsy make more. What kind of intake do you have (carbed, tbi,tpi)? If you decide to go with the 305(I wouldnt)the XE268 is kind of on the large side for the 305, but may be able to be done in a carbed motor). If you are running fuel injection, you will want to get something with a larger LCA(and probably less duration).

Just some stuff to think about

Ben

kfoley

OK, let me address a few things here. There is no possible way you can get the same performance out of your 305 as a ZZ4. The ZZ4 puts out 355hp and somewhere in the mid to high 300's tq. A ZZ4 is much stronger than an L98 on the bottom end. It comes with powdered rods, steel crank, and hyper pistons (I'm pretty sure they're hyper.). IMO, you do get what you pay for when you buy it. It is a really strong motor, but for street use it's a bit overkill. A cast crank, rods and pistons will deliver years of reliable service on the street. Second an XE268 cam is WAY too big for a 305. An XE262 would be the biggest I would go for the steet in a 305 and I would only use that with a 5 spd. or a 2500 stall. Momar is right about a smaller cam with FI, it doesn't play nice with big duration high lift cams. Alright, enough ranting for now, just wanted to set a few things straight.