xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

I have people telling me its an LT1 which I doubt now that Ive seen one. But the people I bought it off of said it was an LT1 that they pulled out of an old corvette? But when I post pics people say its a 305 TBI which it sais TBI right on the top where my fuel injectors are but thats just that part. I had people telling me it was a 350 also but I cant tell so Im going to do some investigation and would appreciate the help.

The vin is at the most hard to find location ever and I think I can only get to it when the engine is out of my car. So I heard something about the numbers under the valve covers. How can I tell from these numbers? I got the valve covers off here are the numbers

on the drivers side: 14101083 ;And some other number/letter: D230

Its bothering me a lot not knowing what engine is in here so any help would be GREATLY appreciated thank you.


Since I have the valve covers off is there anything else I can do to determing if its a 350/305?

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

The number under the valve covers only tell you what heads you have, not when the engine is.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

the numbers under the valve covers will only tell you what heads are on it. what you need is the casting number off the back of the engine on the driver side. theres a flat piece behind the head that has the casting number and sometimes has the displacement of the engine in liters. the stock 305 says GM5.0L. its kinda hard to get to and see, but you get that number and post it here and we can tell you what block you have. that will give you a general idea atleast.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

from the pics you posted in the other thread, you have what looks like a stock 305 TBI. also known as the LO3.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

yeah I know lol, I have to many mixed opinions. I will look for that number now thanks

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

I guess its a stock 305 then because it said GM 5.0 wth guess im going to buy a 350 =D.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

looks like either the person you boguth it from was told it was anf lt1 when they bought it and had no clue, or they just straight lied to you and sold you a car with a completely stock engine.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Yeah thats what I was wandering but its so weird there is are wires that have no home (at least I cant find them). I need someone to help me out lol Im 19 working on my first car trying to learn about it. But no one wants to help a "noob" do you mind helping me out really quick with these wires if you know anything about them. I can take pics and send them to you or post them.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

i can see what i remember, i ripped out my LO3 a while ago.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

083 heads are the ones on 87-up L98 350 TPI motors in F bodies. (these cars)

Did NOT come in Vettes.

Not a "LT1" out of anything.

"Out of a Vette" is the single most popular lie in all of hot-rodding. Unless there's ABSOLUTE PROOF, if I hear those words, I automatically assume that EVERY WORD coming out of the speaker's mouth IS A LIE. As it obviously is in this case.

Decent heads though. FAR FAR better than any TBI heads.

Given that, there's a good chance that it's an old Camaro/Firebird L98 long block. No guarantee, but maybe. Then, with the car's original TBI stuff bolted on top of it.

The casting number on the block will tell what engine size it is, but won't tell if it's still an "original" L98 or whatever. You'd have to physically examine the pistons and the cam to tell that.

See my signature for how to reconstruct things like this. Concentrate on the meaning of the words "simplest", "explanation", "fits", "all", and "facts". Basically telling you, the fewest number of changes that could have got whatever parts you find sitting there from wherever they started out life into whatever form they're in now, is the most probable.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Thank you! I appreciate the hope that I dont have just a reg 305 in my car. Yeah those people were liars big time. Are you saying my heads are decent? How did you find that out? Thanks for the response.

@ Travis, Thanks Ill post some pics then have to wait for this camera to charge up. It feels awesome I feel like im making some progress now

I cant wait to get driving this thing =D

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Oh I was reading in the haynes manual about lifters and how they could cause a knocking sound when in idle. This is happening to my car how can I tell if its a lifter? (this is another reason I was thinking they sold the car) You know its knocking they probably thought it was a rod or something and just wanted to get rid of it. Idk about all that im keeping/rebuilding this car no matter whats wrong with it. I probably am not going to get my money back (Selling it for a profit) for it so no point in selling. You guys know why people are saying my car is an RS & not a IROC Z. When I type my vin in it says its a IROC Z idk wth is going on. I know the car wasn't stolen or vin swapped becuase he has a title in his name.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

the tapping coud be lifter tap, youd just have to adjust the lifters to get rid of that. its a pretty simple procedure and requires only basic hand tools. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/post...112-post3.html

post by sofa stolen from another thread. great info on adjusting lifters


can you post the first half of the vin and well be able to tell you if it was a iroc or z28. (just dont include the actual last half thats the serial number specific to your car)

vette9190

iTrader: (2)

You should also look at your rpo codes. They will either be on a sticker under the middle console lid or in the locking glove box in the hatch area on the driver side. the sticker will have the vin on it so you can confirm that it is for your car.
there used to be a vin decoder on this site somewhere or you could post up some of the rpo codes and people hear can help decode some of them.

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

With the 305 TBI engine the VIN cannot tell you if you have an IROC. Ignore what the VIN decoders say.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Im talking about the actual vin, I go to a thing like carfax and it tells me its a z28

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

hahahah! before you even posted that I already adjusted them it runs great now! That is awesome I was extrememly happy they probably sold it thinking it was shot and now it runs like it should. Now all I need is tires (next friday)

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

Let me say it again, NO vin decoder can tell you what model it is. The 305 TBI was the upgrade motor in the RS and the base motor in the IROC. The vin decoders that DO say something else are WRONG.

Lets break down your VIN:

1 - Place of Manufacturing - US
G - Car Company - GM
1 - Division - Chevy
F - Series - F-Body
P - Model - Camaro
2 - Hatchback (3 for convertible)
1 - Manual Belts
E - Engine - LO3 305 TBI
4 - Check Digit
J - Year - 1988
L - Manufacturing Plant - Van Nuys

Nothing in there will tell you RS from IROC. All Camaros have the same 5th digit of P, no matter what model. That is why those VIN decoders are wrong.


Little more info for you... from this thread: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...-car-iroc.html

upur86maro

its weird that some ppl do not know that in 88 you could get an iroc-z with a 5.0 tbi... my neighbor thought her car was hot stuff, then she was informed about how she was missing out on roughly 50hp and 100ft/lbs of tq!!! GET RID OF THAT TBI!!! or in the meantime throw CFM technologies TBI parts on it to at least get some respectable power LOL!!!

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Don't bother with the RPO codes for identifying your engine.

You ALREADY KNOW it's been swapped, with SOMETHING other than whatever came in it. You can take it to the bank, that whenever they put whatever motor or combination of parts in that car that they did, the RPO codes DID NOT adjust themselves to reflect the new reality.

If you want to know what you have, FORGET ABOUT THE CODES, and instead, look at THE PARTS.

Go get the casting # off of the block and post it here. It's absolute incontrovertible proof of what the BOLCK, and therefore the bore size, is. 100% infallible way of identifying a 350 from a 305.



Look here for the # in question. [sarcasm] It is located in the most convenient, prominent, and easily accessed place on the whole engine, in plain view for all to see; behind the driver's side head, on top of the bell housing flange. [/sarcasm]

Meanwhile, don't bother with all the "IROC's did didn't did didn't did so did not yes they did no they didn't come with .... " crap. All that matters at this point is WHAT'S IN YOUR CAR NOW. A bunch of grade-school-kid playground arguing about that other crap won't get you one iota closer to the TRUTH. Grow up and do the necessary due diligence instead.

vette9190

iTrader: (2)

sorry I ment RPO decoder

As the rpo code should tell jhim if its a iroc or not

I thought we can to the conclusion that its a 305 on his other thread didn't we.

torque_is_good

he already did and in the other thread admits it's a 5.0 (305)

it's as if he is trying to will the engine to be more than it is.

I feel for the kid because he was hoodwinked by the seller

travis401

iTrader: (1)

he admited in this one, in post #6 thats is a 305. And from the looks of it, the PO's didnt even do any kind of engine swap. It looks all stock. I think he just got sold a stock RS or possibly an IROC and was told it got a better engine in it, with parts from a Vette.

Me personally, when I hear someone say its got this and this or that from a Vette, I tune them out and write them off as not knowing much about performance and trying to upsell theire most likely crappy engine.

1gary

Guys,just for me,when a O/P starts TWO threads one with 22 post and the other with 57 posts,I give up.Not going to chase him in two threads.So for me,put a fork in it because it's done.

torque_is_good

I know from exactly where you are coming. The kid almost wants to will it to be more than what it is. Who knows, maybe he's getting "I told you so's" at home and he's looking for some ray of sunshine to give back to his folks.

At the end of the day, his folks have probably been burnt in their lives too and tried to counsel their son.

In one of the threads on the same tired subject he did mention a noise. That means it could be worse than just being sold a pig in a poke. He may also have an engine in need of rebuild.

Once he comes to grips with having a 305 TBI base engine, all we can do here is try to help him with the problems.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

The noise turned out to be lifter tap, fixed with a lifter adjustment. Post #17 here.

And i agree with the whole multiple threads thing. one or the other needs to be locked at this point.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Sorry for two posts, I didn't think anyone would keep responding in the other. Im not trying to make it seem like more lol there is 50 people telling me different things, people here told me its a 5.7 liter when it clearly said GM 5.0. But there is wires that go no where and they are really close to the block thats why its seems weird why would a stock engine not have all the proper places for wires and other things to go? I could care less whats in it now as long as it moves, plus ill think its fast enough until I get a 350. I would like to get an LT1 I look foward to building it. But for the mean time I fixed my car. The tapping/clanking noise is gone it idles nice and runs really well. So yeah its a 305 TBI, someone had to be in the engine because when I took my valve covers off those valve cover gaskets looked brand new. Thanks for all the help, sorry for multiple posts.

vette9190

iTrader: (2)

Yes but not all is lost. In your first post here you gave a head casting number. 083 heads are TPI heads not the crappy lo3 swirl port heads. however they are 64 cc heads originally for the 350 and not the 54 cc heads for the 305 so they are way better then the stocker but you may have pretty low compression, something to check on.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Ok your going to have to explain this a little more not that I don't understand what you said, I just don't want to jump to conclusions on this. So what your saying is they could have took the old 305 parts out and completely rebuilt this engine with better parts, If they went through with a complete rebuild? Im going to be taking my valve covers off here in a little bit so when there off Im going to take a picture of the valves I don't know if that will do anything for you guys but its worth a try. Thanks for the reply.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

its a possibilty the 305 has been rebuilt. but at the very least is the heads were swapped out with a set off a TPI motor. its also a possibilty that they took what was originally a TPI 305 and put the TBI on it. either one of those last 2 gives you the same outcome. a 305 with the heads of a TPI motor, which is better than the TBIs swirl port heads. the only way to tell whats in the engine now, is to take it apart and find out. not worth it if its your daily driver and not in need of a rebuild.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

This is true, Im a daily driver but cant go anywhere really. I would love to know if they rebuilt this, He was talking about the cam a lot even know he was saying 30 over cam. Idk there is always hope I guess lol. Ill end up taking it apart one day find out what I have underneath there. For now Im happy I got it back to a normal running/sounding car. Now that I fixed my valves it doesn't Idle so high anymore and my exhaust sounds a lot better. Im happy, im glad I bought this car =D

travis401

iTrader: (1)

if it runs, be happy and drive it till it stops running, then tear it apart and find out whats in it. no sense tearing apart a good running engine just to see whats inside.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Thanks makes sense, but my brother in law just told me that if you take the screws out of the heads you can take them off and see your pistons. All I would need to do is buy a new gasket. So could I take that off and measure my pistons so then I can tell if its a 305 or if they made it into one of there own or whatever. Because taking off that piece doesn't seem to hard, unless there is something Im missing. Dont hesitate to tell me if there is because Im really thinking about doing this. I have a week and a couple days before I can even get tires. Plus I have to wait a little bit to get the registration, license, insurance... so its going to be sitting for probably another week or two. might as well do some work on it right?

travis401

iTrader: (1)

taking the head off isnt that simple, you have to remove all the front accessory brakets (your ac, alt. power steering). then you have to take the intake off (which means taking out the dizzy as well), THEN you can take the heads off. and you have to get new head gaskets, new intake gaskets, most likely new head bolts (factory ones werent ment to be reused). and if its something youve never done before theres always a possibility of not doing it right and having more problems than you need. and unless you put the dizzy back EXACTLY how it was, youll have to time the engine. not hard, but not easy if you dont know what youre doing.

not worth poping the heads off just to see what pistons are in it.

torque_is_good

why?

why do you feel the need to tear apart a running engine?


why?

will it make it any more powerful?

it's a 305 block, what do you want to do, measure the bore? maybe they bored it .030 over so it's now a 310cid; so what?

Does it burn oil, have any knocks or rattles etc? That is what should concern you.

IMHO, you are still trying to will the engine to be more than it is.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

No I'm not, I'm just wanting to know whats in it. Why is that so hard to believe. This is my first car, bought it with my money I want to know what I paid for. This is my project car I'm trying to make everything right the first time so when I get money for my registration and all that I can just go instead of messing with it any more (until I get enough money to do what I want to do with it) Unless it has a good engine in it already in which I wouldn't have to do anything and save my money for something good. Thats why I want to know what Im running, I think its weird you wouldn't want to know what was in your car. So you buy a car its has a 305 block with 350 TPI heads Im not familiar with cars this is new to me Im anxious to learn. I want to know how this went down. I wish he would call me so I can just call him out on it and ask him. If anyone knows the truth its him. Stop saying I'm trying to make it more than it is, thats both a waste of my time and yours. Im just curious, just wanted help. Good help so I can actually learn from it and not have to ask a million questions. Everyone saying I have a stock 305,oh its a good boat anchor and now all of a sudden I have 350 heads. What if he just bored everything out and made a 350? That would make me happy because I dont have a 305 and wouldnt have to spend my money. Sorry if it seems any other way.

It still rattles a little bit on the passenger side, Im assuming its my lifter and I'm going to have to rip my engine apart any way. Ill take my radiator all that off pull my cam out & the lifters and replace everything, measure my pistons and just be done with it. Then ill just come back here and post what I have. Ill be sure to have someone here to help me out my first time.

Thanks all for the help.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

you cant bore a 305 out and make it a 350....just so you know.

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

The route you are taking you are going to end up with an undrivable car, no money, and lots of frustration.

You will gain nothing from removing the heads. The car may very well have roller lifters, so unless you have a collapsed lifter that wiped the lobe, you won't even need to remove the cam to fix the issue. Depends on what the lifter looks like when you pull it out. Stop trying to tear apart the motor, it doesn't matter if it was bored 30 over or not, you know it's a 305 based block.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

exactly. If it runs and drives right now, dont tear it apart. Youre just learning and taking the engine apart of what is going to be youre daily driver without a real reason why is not the way to learn. If youre really concerned about whats in the engine, buy another running stock 305, put in it, then tear that motor apart. Its a complete waste of time and money, but it will atleast satisify youre curiosity. Youll find out you most likely have a stock 305 that someone swapped the TPI heads on for a little better performance. Hell, they may have just pulled them off a motor in the jy without realizing they were better than the TBI heads. Theres a lot af varibles here, none of which matter to you since the car RUNS AND DRIVES.

Leave the engine be, enjoy the freedom of driving a car you paid for. And save up money to build and swap in a 350 if thats what you wanna do.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Ok I will do that but how do I really tell if its a lifter. Its only on the passenger side and Im pretty sure that I did these valve adjustments right. Im going to do them again and see if it will go away.

travis401

iTrader: (1)

easiest way to tell if you have a collapsed lifter or a wiped cam lobe is to disconnect the dizzy (so the car cant start) and pull the fuel pump fuse (so youre not flooding the engine), pull off the valve cover and have someone crank the engine over and watch the rockers. a colapsed lifter or wiped out cam lobe will have a rocker that doesnt move in the full range of motion like the others.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Thank you man, I really appreciate the help, ill be sure to do this. By the way on the passenger side of my car there is 3 tubes connecting to this black like cylinder thing (there was anti freeze in it) while trying to adjust my valves I bent it back and it bursted all over me because it was dry rotted so I need to buy a new black piece and all the tubes. I was wandering what this is. Like always if my description isn't good enough, I will take a picture for you.

torque_is_good

have you cooled down yet and realized that people telling you not to open an engine just to see aren't hating on you; they are giving you very good advice

kids; sheesh


anyway. it sounds like you busted your .......i'm guessing on the real name but heater bypass valve or heater control valve. It has a vacuum connector and coolant hoses connected to it. How it works is it stops coolant from flowing into the heater core until you move the temp lever to warm and then it opens the valve and allows hot coolant (now that sounded silly) to flow into the heater core and that is what gives you heat.


It doesn't get too too cold around here till December so bypass it for now until you can find one. Try the local junkyard

Now stop being so impetuous and start to realize that experienced folks are telling you things for a reason and it's not to burst your bubble.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

I wasn't mad lol I was just saying that you were taking me the wrong way. Thanks for the response. Im not going to take it apart, unless I need to replace a lifter which I don't think I do I just wasn't doing the valve adjustment right because I was hesitant to tighten it like I'm supposed to. So instead of tightening it till zero lash and then doing it a full half turn ( to pre load it) I just tightened them just enough so I can barely move them. I was just afraid I would mess up my valves/pushrods because it was to tight. Is this how I should do it?

travis401

iTrader: (1)

with hydraulic lifters, its zero lash + 1/4 to 1/2 turn.

and the thing that broke is the heater bypass valve. it actually activates to stop coolant flow when set to max ac, not open on warm like torque said though. but that just splitting hairs really. it makes the heat work and thats all that matters. you can permanently bypass it like i did, or replace the part.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

How do I know if I have hydraulic lifters?

travis401

iTrader: (1)

chances of you having solid lifters are slim to none.....99.9% chance you have hydraulic.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

hahah ok thanks. But how do I know if I should do 1/4 turn or 1/2 ?

travis401

iTrader: (1)

its really personal preference, as long as you do the same for all of them youll be golden.

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Ok thank you, appreciate the help.