i have an bone stock olds 307. comes out of a 85 cutlass supreme.
im boring it .30 over and i want a light cam an intake and im adding a holley 600 carb.
here are some questions i have.
1.what camshaft would you recommend?
2.i heard holley 600 carbs are a pain to tune is this correct?(kinda opinion answer)
3.i had an edelbrock 3711 intake but mechanic said the holes wasnt matching up y is that?
4.how much better is it to put headers on a 307?(thinking about doing that too but in future)
5.is there any books/prgrams that show steps on how to rebuild/break down a 307?

 

Rebuild options for a 307 are extremely limited.

If you're doing a complete rebuild, including bore and new pistons and rings, why not start with a 350 instead?

- Eric

 

I agree just do a 350 more aftermarket parts!

 

350. Much more power per $...
Welcome to the site!

 

Just buy a running 350. Most of the 350s iv bought come with a performer intake and an edelbrock 600.

The only time id use the 307 is if the was a roller cam in it... Even then.

 

X2 with Eric, Steve and Rob.
I think unless you do a lot of work to the heads you won't get much benefit from a cam or carb change. Headers will make it sound nice but again you won't see a leap in power.
Remember the 307 engine managed to meet emission requirements right up to the '90s, but to manage this the heads were very restricted.
There was a post about getting big power from a 307 sometime, but it was more what can be done rather than bang for the buck, the 350 wins hands down on this even factoring in buying the 350 in the first place.


Roger.

 

yea a couple more people said that. but money might not allow me to obtain a 350 and cam,carb,bore over. but there is a 350 thats been sitting on the ground for a little bit. it was covered but its not now. we dont know if its worth a try or not to get.

 

If you go to the Mondello website there is an article on building a 307. After all was said and done, they gained about 75hp. But what you have to remember is they did extensive machining work to the heads. The bottom end was "lightened" by the factory to save weight resulting in a very weak reciprocating assembly. There is no good reason to put money into one of these, your hp after mods might be equal to a stock 350.

 

Since you're planning to rebore, etc., you can pick up a crappy 350 core for as little as $50 (I paid that for one that was in good shape, and would have run just fine).

If you're going to do all that other stuff, there's no reason not to go with the 350.

- Eric

 

Don't mess with the 307, like the others said go for a 350!!

 

yea im going to see whats up with the 350 thats been sitting. im going to ask for that and have it bored and camed.
what cam would you guys recommend for a 350 bored .30 over
just for everyday driving but good idle and can get things turning off a red light if you know what i mean

 

Agreed. If you can find a 350 (that being the main problem nowadays)(preferably a '68-'76 model) You will end up with a sturdier platform, and it can produce as much power and more torque even in 2 barrel form than the 4 barrel 307.

 

Try to see what you can re used. see what kind of wear it has. I have built two engines that have never seen a machinist both are still running with no issues . I polised the journals my self with some crocus cloth. The two olds engines i have built i have found after polishing the journals up on a decent core you end up with ideal tolerances usually .003 . See what dish pistons it has you can get some decent compression from the 14cc dished units. With properly picked parts you will have a fast car and dual purpose car. I built a 9 to 1 350 motor a few years back with a towing cam that ran 13.86 with great street manners it was a 73 block with 72 heads all stock, stock pistons stock heads nothing crazy . I spent under 2k on that engine carb to oil pan.

 

You talking about rebuilding, but yet say money is tight.

Starting in 1985, the 7A heads suck, just plain suck. They were the most restrictive heads, and NO aftermarket intake manifold will fit. It will fit on the block, but the ports are mismatched, so all this money, right there is wasted.

Running 350's are pretty easy to find. I have a running 330 that I plan on rebuilding one day. Until that day comes, it will find it's way into a car, then get rebuilt, after driving around with the 330 for a while

 

The real problem is that they DON'T...