I have a 1995 GMC Sierra 1500 4X4 Manual. It has a 305 in it right now and i want to go bigger. I'm wondering what year and type of 350 I should get

 

I did a 1995 Chevy 305 to 350 swap and used a later model vortec 350 and bought an intake from GM performance that bolted to the vortec heads and was able to use a throttle body on it. It ran OK, for the money I invested it really wasn't worth the difference just to say I have a 350 in it though.

 

I was told to use a LS1 motor

 

i would also go with the ls1 its a better engine then a 350 sbc from a donor silverado
i guess it just depends on all what your gonna be useing the truck for and what mods your gonna be doing to it
if i could i would have my 350 tbi from my 94 bored .30 over
but thats just to say its bored over as im leaving mine stock fro now cause i haul alot and pull alot but first i have to focus on my issues getin fixed first with it

 

Well I want more power, i thought I would be happy with the regular 305 half ton but not anymore, which brings me to my next question, can you put lets say a 4 in lift on GMC Sierra with a 305 in it? If I did how gutless would it be?

 

yes you can lift it that high you can lift anything these days ive seen elcaminos with lifts on them
you would probably loose power with the lift are you planing on putting bigger tires on if so i would change the gearing in the rear end to adjust for the size of tires
and if you want more power the ls1 is your best bet
for the money as you can do almost anything to them
my 94 has the 350 but lacks power but its got over 200,000 miles
my 88 had a 350 in it and was imaculate when it came to power but the guy i baught it from took very good care of it and put alot of aftermarket stuff
if your wanting a work and mud truck 350 ls1 would be great but again it all depends if you want alot of torque or alot of speed and quick accelration you will loose acceleration if you lift it but if you do the right stuff to your engin you can balance things out

 

Alright thanks. Seems like I could get into a lot of work and money. I may just get an 80's model chevy pick up with a 350 in. They're cheap you can find parts and easy to work on

 

i would suggest getting the same year engine as yoru truck as in a 350 from a 94 it would be better and also there everywhere and wont have as many miles on the engine that your gonna get also you may have to change out your computer and wireing harnesses also your motor mounts and possibly the radiator might no be able to handle the heavier load but i cant remember if its the same in a 350 truck then a 305

keep us posted and take pictures )

 

Alright here's what im thinking. I wanna get a 4 in lift for the sierra 1500. Also what are some mods i can get to get some more power out of my 305

 

search the forums for them there are plenty on here somewhere on thing i would say is add a shift kit to your trans it will stretch out your gears and shift higher
i would also go with a k&n air filter and i would go with a better exsausht cat back would be good also cut your cats off and put thrush tubes or cherry bombs on it leave the muffflers on so it still has back pressure so you wont loose torque
also i wold say a cold air intake from k&n or other brands depending on what you want to do
i would go with a bigger altenator i am planning on useing a 200 amp altentor on my truck
also i would get rid of all the emsion control crap that the engine has like the smog pump if it has it and also i would put some performance heads and camshafts on it also would think about headers
also i would try to advance the timing a little bit to give you more power
i would suggest a chip for the computer if any one makes a chip for that year of truck i would put a throttle body spacers on it i would also go with a new one also i would do some re gearing in the trans and rear ends
also would go with a new distributer and spark plugs and wires better ones
you can also get more power by doing a redneck ram air intake theres a tread about how to do it
also port polish and blueprint the engine different crankshaft different intake different pistons you may be able to bore yours out bigger