88chevycamaro

i got a 88 camaro just a few weeks ago and i was told the original 305ho motor was swaped out for this motor and said it was a lt1 corvette motor....i though the corvette motors were all throttle bodys?
can someone tell buy just looking if this is realy an lt1???

Pairof91rss

I havent seen a lot of LT1s, but that looks like my L98...just sayin

88chevycamaro

kool...thanks for the reply....so if its an L98 it would be a tpi?

turbostang7

its definetly not an lt1, they don't look like that, if it was an original l98 it would have been a tpi but obviosly not anymore, they just swapped on a carb to it. one "easy" way is the block on the bellhousing has the engine displacement on it, seems like it is on the drivers side on top but not sure on that

Pairof91rss

I just meant that it looks like my block and heads...it looks like either one of my engines from the heads down...my 350 L98 and my LO3 305.

iroc stangs

im willing to bet its an stock 305 with an carb swapped on, as no 88 camaros came with an carb stock. Also run the casting numbers off the block to be 100% sure.

88chevycamaro

where would the numbers be on it??

88chevycamaro

how can u tell if it would be a 305 or a 350?

89fbirdformula

If i had a dollar for every idiot selling one of these cars, that claims its a vette motor...

id own 6 or 7 TTA's...

id be willing to bet large amount of money, that its just a 305...

that said, on the drivers side of the block in the rear, between the intake and the trans bellhousing...it will most likely say "5.0 lg"

88chevycamaro

anyway ill keep serching and ill go chek for that number...
thanks!

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Id bet money thats the stock LO3 under there still with a dress up breather/cover kit

Pull a valve cover and get a casting number from one of the cyl heads. Get a flash light and mirror to take a peek at the pad at the rear of the drivers cyl head. The stock displacement should be cast directly into the block

For that it's worth, thats a GEN I SBC, not a LT1. It has SBC serp accessories which dont fit the LT1, SBC waterpump which doesnt fit the LT1 (LT1s are shaft driven off the cam), smog stuff is SBC, LO3 painted black intake. GMPP LT1 carb intake is alot taller, etc. In other words, you got fed a load

Hopefully its a L98 long block with the LO3 intake or painted better flowing carb intake. Hard to tell if it's still EFI or if its gone carb yet from the pic. Pull the breather and yoiull know for sure. LO3/5 engines were 2 bbl TBIs

88chevycamaro

i just got in touch with the guy that had the car before me....he told me the car got stolen and when they got it back the stock 305ho motor was knoking so they took a 1992 corvette that was rear ended and just took the lt1 block becuase lots of the motor parts were sold before they got to it....so the rest of the motor is 305 parts....(including the carb) so that could be why it looks like a 305.....that would be possible right?

89fbirdformula

absolutely not, he is lying to you.

Gen1 heads will NOT work on an LT1 block without extensive work.

an 88 camaro 305 tbi was not an H.O. motor either.

Rob's 92 gta

I agree, he is not telling the truth that is not a Lt1. Get the no. off the block behind the driver side head that's the only way to be sure what you have!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I'll give the PO the benefit of the doubt and say he was misinformed.

Many, many reasons why this isn't an LT1, including an obvious one from your photo with the '88-up 3rd gen type accessories, especially the water pump. Won't mount to an LT1 block.

If you are having difficulty reading the casting number off of the back of the block, sometimes the last three digits are cast (in large numbers) on the side of the block, which can be seen from under the car. Get those, and the head casting #'s, and we'll be able to give you a better idea what you've got there.

A closer up shot of the engine with the air cleaner removed would also be helpful (although it won't tell us what size the engine is).

turbostang7

also keep in mind that a lot of people for some reason call tpi motors especially corvette ones lt1's, so he very well could have been told this by someone that thought that.

88chevycamaro

thanks for the replies
when i get back home from work ill try to find that number....can the number only be seen from under the car?

88chevycamaro

can the tpi motor be converted to carb easily?....or vice versa?

89fbirdformula

yes...but there is no real gain from doing so..

My guess is, you have a TBI305, and the seller {like 90% of morons do} lied to you about it being some big bad vette motor to help try and sell the car...

Tbi305's arent all that bad, they get good gas mileage when there in proper tune, and at least have some torque..

I've wanted to build a vortec TBI motor for awhile now...i put one together for my buddys truck last year, i couldnt beleive how hard that truck pulled!

88chevycamaro

is there a big diference with the 305 and the 350??

turbostang7

besides the 45 cubic inches, the stroke is the same, bore is different 305 smaller, heads on the 305 have smaller combustion chambers, and smaller valves. usually have smaller cams in 305s too. and the number is on the topside of the engine, in the area on the drivers side behind the head, it will either read 5.0 or 5.7

88chevycamaro

well just by looking theres no big difference?

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

A 305 and 350 will look identical from the outside. That's why people get taken so often, because you can't tell one from the other just by exterior appearance.

However, they had different blocks, and you can't make one out of the other. The block casting # is the best indicator of which it is. The full casting # is behind the driver side head, on the top of the part of the casting that makes the bellhousing mount, which is often difficult to see with it being so close to the firewall. I suggested looking from underneath, as it is often easier to see those numbers than it is to find the full casting # behind the head.

Also, 305's and 350's had different heads from the factory. However, you can put 305 heads on a 350 block, and vice versa. Although you might get a pretty good idea what engine it has based on the head casting #, that doesn't guarantee that's what it is. The head casting #'s are underneath the valve covers, so you have to remove the cover to see it. Not too hard, 4 bolts, and the gasket should be fine for re-installation.

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

To ad to the choir it's not an LT1 for a very obvious reason. LT1s don't have distributors.
They have the Optispark instead. Sort of a computer controlled crank trigger device that installs under the harmonic balancer in the front of the engine. If you see a distributer it's not a LT or LS engine.

Not that the 305 is a bad engine. I can get 25mpg out of my TPI 305 (when I'm nice)

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

The opti is a distributor in it's purest form. It's moved up front but the function is the same. Also, some people drill a hole in the intake and mount a conventional SBC dist in the rear. The presence of a dist or not doesnt rule out LTx

Also, only 96-97 LT1s got the crank sensor. Earlier years were driven solely from the cam signal from the opti

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Allot of idiots that dont know jack about cars think a L98 from a TPI vette are LT1s because the 92-96 vette was a LT1/4.

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

Cool.. Show me one
(and not some Hot Rod magazine project car that would cost a real person 100 grand to build)

Everybody knows what I mean by a distributor.




An opti is an opti. Every LT has one and they all stink. Possibly the one and only sole reason F-bodies got a bad name for reliability and went extinct. (besides the transmissions of course)

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Heres a bunch of LT1s with conventional distributors






More on 'tech

Actually the opti is a great piece of engineering much more accurate than your old dist. So many are failing now because they are all atleast 13 years old and most just now killing the first waterpump. Im not sure if you've ever gotten a conventional IGN module wet before but it dies just as easily as an opti since the electrical parts are similar. Heres a good article about keeping your opti alive
http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/16758/index.html

Drac0nic

Sort of amused by this notion as they didn't mount the distributor by water on the gen Is. To my knowledge I have never heard of anyone frying an IGN module on a standard distributor due to water. I'd be concerned about sucking water into the engine at that point.

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Mud boggers have a problem with it. Youll see dists wrapped up in grocery bags as a last ditch safe measure. Poorly sealed cowls kill them too

88gta3508

what about the 1970 first gen LT1 350 ??? did they install this in your Camaro
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te.../photo_10.html