77 Nova

[boxcarracer963]

Hey my best friend has a 77 nova he got a couple months ago, it has a 305 with a 2 barrel carb 3 speed auto, it has 38,xxx original miles, it was owned by a old lady its whole life my friends the 2nd owner, so i figured it was never opened up all the way, at first it had no balls whatsoever, after like a week of being driven faster it got a lot more power but it still feels gutless, not too much experience with old carburated motors, i was wondering whats some good bolt-ons you guys would recommend.

[Tink]

Rip off that 2 barrel and intake, put on a 4 barrel Holley 600cfm and 4 barrel intake. Headers and a good, free-flowing exhaust. Oh, and crank the timing a bit... 8 to 10 advanced. Of course, make sure it is in a good state of tune. Don't know what gears it has either, but that helps alot too.

We've got a carbed 305 in a 4,100lb truck and that thing will burn rubber! And that is with a mild cam, 600cfm Holley, stock aluminum intake and ram's horns exhaust manifolds. ;)

BTW, If you want an aluminum 4 barrel intake (factory - came on camaros), I've got two that I don't need.

[04silveradomykk]

or you can buy my bored out 350 with over 10-1 compression and really let it rip!

Nah, that 305 will be fine. just let it breath

[boxcarracer963]

well if u dont need it id be happy to take one off ur hands, will the stock carburetor fit on it, or do u need to use a 4-barrel.

lol that thing would be fast with a 350, but i have heard 305's have some potential

[Mikz86TA]

2bbl carbs were intended to be a fuel economy setup. In the 305 there isnt much thats different between the 2 and 4bbl engines. The stock iron manifold is weight and its flow is weak. A Edel Performer or Weiand Stealth intake will be a big imoprovement. Aluminum and better flow, plus its a 4bbl carb setup. A rebuilt 78-81-ish Q-Jet will perform well as a fairly fuel effecient, yet powerful carb. A holley 600-650 is another good choice. But know which of those you intend on getting B4 selecting the carb. Modst Holleys are Squarebore and the Q-Jet is a Spreadbore. They bolt up differently. Some manifolds accept both. Start initial timing at 7-10* BTDC and maybe play up to 15* with it. Listen for detonation and use at least mid-grade fuel. Getting a pre-emission HEI Vac Advance distributor is an inexpensive upgrade. Tho some dont like the coil-in-cap HEIs, they performed quite well. There is a plethera of upgrades and tuning on those too. A advance kit with weights and springs, a adjustable vaccum advance, coils, modules, etc. Dependent on greaing and weight will determine how much initial and centrifigul advance you can give it. What tranny is it? Whats the gear ratio? On older GMs the RPO decals usually had the actual info along with the numbers. So chances are it has the tranny model and ratio on it.

[boxcarracer963]

all i know is its a 3 speed auto, i dont know the ratio, where would the rpo decal be?

[Tink]

RPO list should be in the glove box... might be missing though, the one in my 76 K5 was.

Probably has a TH350... the pan is #3 in the picture in this thread:
http://www.s10planet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4372
If it is a TH350, then it most likely has gears like 2:73s.

I think 305s have plenty of potential... with the right set-up. You put too large of heads on it and it won't get out of it's own slow-ass way. We are running 58cc heads on our's with dished pistons... soon to change to 52cc heads to bump the compression.

If you choose to go with a spreadbore carb (like a quadrajet or this:
Speadbore Holley on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HOLLEY-650-CFM-SPREADBORE-CARBURATOR-6210-CHEVY_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33550QQihZ015QQit emZ250174437922QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW)), and would like one of those intakes, let me know... don't want much for it since I don't need either of them.

I'm pretty sure 77 would be a pre-emission HEI Vac Advance distributor... my 76 was.