1980 Chevrolet C10 Custom Deluxe 305 V8
Summary:
A great truck for a great price.
Faults:
There is a lot of dry-rotting inside.
It has a lot of rust.
Many fuses have gone out.
The gear shifter occasionally gets stuck.
General Comments:
This truck is very dependable.
The seat is surprisingly comfortable.
It runs like a dream and is good on gas.
The truck is very wide and can easily seat three.
It does not have air, but the vents are very adequate.
It has to be pumped to start at first, but after some drive time it will start right up.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 8th August, 2002
8th Jun 2003, 15:01
I had an 81. Mileage sucked and it rode very tight, kind of rough, but it was a truck. The motor had 232,000 miles on it when it developed a knock. I had put a lot of money in the engine (cam - 81's w/305's are notorious for wearing the factory cams out supposedly, starter, water pump, rocker arms, and tons of nickle & dime stuff) and was pretty surprised it was knocking, but at 232K it was believable.
I went and bought a 350, drove it to my cousins' house and we proceeded to change motors. Turned out the 305 wasn't knocking at all... the flywheel was cracked all the way through between 2 different sets of 2 holes, and the other set of 2 holes was almost all the way through. Another 1/2 inch travel on that crack and it would have been completely broken free. Too late to take the new motor back and wanted a 350 anyway.
Well, I couldn't GIVE the 305 away believe it or not. That motor, even when knocking, and as old as it was, would smoke the heavy grip tires. Plenty of power when you needed it, especially with the light (RV) cam I had put in it before.
The 350 wasn't any stronger than that 305 was, or not much. It wouldn't spin the wheels as easily, nor did it feel as comfortable going down the road at 75 on the highway. Never could get it to run completely right either... but I blame that on the quadrajunk carb. even though that was rebuilt too. The 350 supposedly would get better mileage, but fact is, it got worse mileage.
All in all I wasted my money going to the 350. I just sold the Chevy, but was very reluctant to do so.
24th Apr 2005, 11:18
Well obviously you're going to get worse mileage with a bigger motor with a 4 barrel! DUH!
23rd May 2006, 15:49
Chances are the 305 had the quadrajet on it first. The 350 should get better mileage as it would have to do less work than the 305 to do the same thing. I agree a stock 350 does not have much more power than a 305.
8th Apr 2007, 07:32
I got ahold of a good one and put a 350 4 bolt main in it from a 72 Nova that was rebuilt. Not much rust underneath at all and the interior is mint! Put an Edelbrock 600 electric choke to make starting easier, headers, and cherry bombs. It is awesome.
23rd Apr 2003, 11:26
The truck only has a 305 man I would have a 350 in that bear and it doesn't have air well that's alright. Is it standard or automatic? Hopefully standard.