I am amazed at the amount of dogging the SBC is getting here. I ran cicle track for years, and the cheapest power you can make is with a Small Block Chevy. . . period.
Never spun a bearing. . . but I never had a lubrication problem, ergo-no broke oil pumps or no oil loss = no spun bearings. I always resize my rods though, when I build a fresh one. ANd this helps to avoid failures that are build up related (If you skip a required step in building, it is not the engine fault that it broke it's your fault) I never built and raced the 305, but I raced against several. They ran very good in a stock class where we were limited to a two barrel carb. A cam with .450 to .500 lift will wake it up considerably, and will only require that you switch to a set of $29 Z-28 valve springs. (Increasing lift on stock used springs is a bad idea). Like was said earlier, it will pretty much make it run as good as a stock 350.(about 200 horses) The issue with 305 is much more about the sorry @$$ cam than the smaller displacement. But hey, If I could get a free or cheap ($200 or less) 305, I would happily spend $100 an a cam and springs to make a good engine out of it.
As for the 350. A .500 lift cam, Vortec heads, 750 carb, good intake, and an upgrade your Hei. . . You have created a monster which will scare anyone brave enough to stick there foot in it. A cheap Monster- LOL
