Purple 92 SS

i have a question. i pulled the heads of this block right, and on the back of the block on the driver side the block has a casting of the following

GM5.7LG

and i was wondering what it was. I measured the cylinder bore, it measured 4.0" and it has holes pre tapped for a roller cam. i belive it to be a four bolt main, but not quite sure.. so i am wondering if anyone could tell me what the block could be????

also, I was wondering if i pull the passenger head off would i find the serial number on the same place but opposite side as i found the other castings???

any help would be greatly apreciated. as soon as possible.. my friend and i need to get this car back on the road, but we want to make sure that things are right first.

thanks again!

-steve
92 rs/ss frankencamaro

Guest

That would be a 350, if it has the stuff for a roller cam, and it should have the one piece rear main seal, its just an 87-up 350 block. If its a 4 bolt main, its probably out of a suburban or other large/heavy duty truck.

Purple 92 SS

thank you for your info mad max.. so its definately a 350. Thats good to kno. This engine came from someone he didnt kno if he could trust or not and its good to kno that it is a 350. Is there anything else i should look for to make sure everything is in order? or to trace the origins of the block???

also how do i find out what type/year/ model heads were on it. I found some casting numbers in the valvespring area..


thanks again.

-steve

Guest

Theres a pad in front of the passenger side head that has some numbers and letters on it, and from those someone may be able to tell you what it was in. I wouldnt know though, and the block I have nobody could identify besides it being a 350, so you can try but may not be successful.

With the casting numbers off the heads you can narrow down a year and application range in most cases, you dont need to pull the head its the one in the valvespring area.

SSC

An even better idea, is to check the side of the block oppisite of where the fuel pump would be on a carrbed app, and look for a "350" stamped in the block about 2 in back fron the timing cover and 2 up from the oil pan .
SSC

EDIT: In case I confused you onb the loaction of where the "350" is stamped, its right behind the PS pump.
SSC

[This message has been edited by SSC (edited September 29, 2001).]

Purple 92 SS

well i checked for the 350 it wasnt there.. but i found some stamped numbers above the water pump area on the pass. side. im kinda wondering.. if this is an actual 350 or not. where would the serial number be?

is that it above the water pump???

thanks again for all your help you guys.

-steve

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92 RS/SS FrankenCamaro
More mods to list than time to do it in

www.groundzerocustoms.org

SSC

If that "5.7lg" is on the corner of the block it is a 350. But since it is an 87+ it should have "350" stamped behind the PS pump. If the engine is out and sitting on the ground or whatever pull the pan and see how many main bolts there is. I've only seen 350 that was actualy taped for a roller cam and it was a 4 bolt.
All I can say is pull the pan or clean the whole engine real good and get some more numbers.
SSC

Guest

I havent seen any stamped behind the PS pump yet, the one I have sitting in my garage right now is a 350 one piece rear main roller block with a 4 bolt main and its not stamped either.

The engine you have is without question a 350 though. There was no other use for a 4" bore block with the roller cam from the factory.

Purple 92 SS

thanks.. unfortunately we just pulled the heads and cam out, seems the guy got took when he bought it was told it was something it wasnt. i have some block numbers that were stamped on the top left side of where you mount the water pump.. here they are.. what do you all think about them???

Top line reads as follows definately :

V0902TRJP
line under that is much harder to make out but i think it reads as follows :

TJ4501792

not too sure on that 1 but it looks like it.

thanks in advance.

-steve


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92 RS/SS FrankenCamaro
More mods to list than time to do it in

www.groundzerocustoms.org

Purple 92 SS

I just looked at the back of the block behind the passenger side head. there is a cast number that reads as best as i can see 14093698....

what does that tell you all now???

Thanks

-steve

RB83L69

That casting number right there would be the gold standard, except that it's not in the lists...

Might it instead be 14093638? That is a 87-up 350, one-piece RMS, could be roller or flat; but definitely a 350. It's a very common late-model 350 casting.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

Purple 92 SS

well i went back out and checked again.. it could be a 3 im not too sure.. its kinda hard to read with the way that things are in it numbers are kinda hard to see but that is consistant with what it says on the opposite side being a gm5.7lg is it not??

thanks alot!!

-steve

SSC

Yep, Its "100%" a 5.7lg 350cu 87+ 350 4bolt main. HD application. So your looking at a suburban or 2500 series engine.
SSC

Purple 92 SS

Excellent I greatly appreciate that info.. now to order the new stuff..

-steve

Purple 92 SS

heres an update.. engine according to a local chevy dealer with these numbers lsted below is a

350 from an 88 G30 Chevy Van, and was built to use LEADED fuel. Go figure.

heres the numbers i used..
14093638

v0902TRP

go fish.

-steve

Guest

Rest assured it was not designed for leaded fuel.

As for what it was in, that sounds about right.

RB83L69

If it's from a van, it's almost certainly not a roller, but there's a possibility it's 4-bolt.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

SSC

Actualy Max, for some odd reason thier is some mid 80's HD app's floating around that were made for leaded fuel. The last engine R&R I did for my parents shop was on an "85" Chevy PU 350/400. This truck was out of Louisiana and had a echeck sticker on the window, when I went to disconect the bottem end of the engine I noticed it was not eqquiped with Cconverters but it did have the double smog pumps. Wondering how this truck had recently passed an echeck like this and why thier were soo many empty lead subsitute bottles in the bed I poped the gas cover open and noticed "LEADED FUEL ONLY" checking the gas guage in the truck it also read "LEADED FUEL ONLY"
SSC

True this does not apply to this engine that Purple has but I found this info very interesting.

Oh BTW Purple this is a very good engine. If Im correct its the same as the M block that I have in my truck that came from an 86 " mini school bus" There is more meat to the block and it has a very good crank.


[This message has been edited by SSC (edited October 01, 2001).]

Purple 92 SS

well i appreciate the info. i was just as surprised to hear that it was designed for leaded fuel.. Ive never seen a g30 van, but im assuming its one of those big sonofabeeaches that can be used for bread trucks or big haulers, according to some numbers i found on the web, the cast number says it could be a 2 or 4 bolt main, mechanical or roller rocker setup, one piece main seal block...

the biggest thing that im pissed off about is taht when the block was purchased it was sold to be a 400. not a 350. and thats where my anger comes from. Turns out the shop around here was VERY shady.. and the further i went into the engine the more pissed i got.

I dont know how many of yall had known about the cooling issues i had, but i decided to pull it apart and find out. Im pissed at what i found. Factory heads, 350 cu in block, (luckily its been bored to .030 over to be a 355.. but the friggin cam was 180degrees off. the top dead center on the crank was straight. but the marker on the cam was 180 degrees away. instead of em pointing at each other they both pointed straight up.

Its a wonder the car even ran. so quite pissed i am. and im even thinking of confronting the old owner of the shop with some sort of legal action.

its not what i was told it was.

Chevy said it was regular burning, but since its been rebuilt and running unleaded im sure its fine, but the valves in the heads didnt have hardened seats.. so ive got some valve burn i belive. no matter..

since all this has began, ive purchased and currently waiting for the performer RPM heads with 70cc chambers, a comp cams 292h kit, and a performer rpm air gap intake to fix the problems that was happening..


UGH. Im still pissed.

-steve

RB83L69

The cam markings you described are correct. There's no way to screw that up: the cam gear only goes on the cam one way.

Virtually all aftermarket cam gears are made such that when the marks are both up, it's #1 firing; and when the crank gear is up and the cam gear is down, i.e one full crank revolution and ½ cam revolution, it's #6 firing.

It's been illegal for many years (at least 20) to sell any gasoline in the US with lead in it for highway use. Trucks that are built for off-highway use (construction, farm, etc.) might still be able to use leaded, I don't know anything about that; I doubt it though, it's cheaper to make just one kind of engine and use it for everything, than it is to try to keep up with different types.

All heads built since about 74 have had induction-hardened seats, which you can't really see by just looking at them. That has nothing to do with the valves themselves; it's the seats, the place in the head that the valves rest against.

The casting number for the block is an extremely typical later-model 350. I don't know anything about "more meat" or any of that, AFAIK it's a very ordinary, run-of-the-mill block. It's found in everything from TBI trucks to TPI Vettes. That casting is a one-piece RMS, which is of course a property uniquely determined in the casting process, and therefore is known with certainty from teh casting number; however the main caps are installed later, and the block has to be machined appropariately, so they could be either 2- or 4-bolt; and the roller system is the same way, the cast-in provisions for it are there, but the casting number doesn't tell you whether the machine work to install it was done or not.

The only thing I can see in your post that the shop did that was wrong, was to tell you it was a 400. That's patently bogus on the face of it; there has never been a one-piece 400 block, so anyone can tell from hundreds of yards away that that motor isn't a 400. But, like other things of this sort, look at the receipt; if it doesn't say "400", then legally you don't have a case, and I would recommend against making a fool of yourself that way.

Frankly I don't see anything at all wrong with what you've got, with that one possible exception of the 350 vs. 400 thing, which you could /should have been able to determine for yourself without simply taking his word for it. If you have been having cooling problems, I also don't see anything in your description of the engine that shows where they are coming from; I'd bet money that if you had them before, you'll have them again after this rebuild if you don't find it and fix it. Whatever the cause, it wasn't the cam being "180° off", that's for sure.

IMHO a flat-top 350 with 70cc heads is not enough compression for that cam. I think you should re-think your combo, and use smaller chambers and/or less cam. That 292 is alot of cam for a street car.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

Purple 92 SS

Heres an update fellas...

after the block was tore down with the heads off it we inspected the block and pistons, everything seemed fine, and in good order. we then went ahead and put the new comp 292h in and the edlebrock aluminum performer rpm heads and performer rpm air gap intake on. Re-assembled the engine, and fired it.

OH MY *** . It friggin rocks, the sound is sooo much better, the temp is cool, no problems thus far overheating or anything... It totally rocks, and just bout destroys the suspension... i now have major major problems hooking the rear end up.. Does nothing but spin... nothing at all.. in first the rear end goes left in second it goes right and third it goes back left.. its hard to point it straight.. but gooooooood *** .. it rocks.. i cant wait to finish up on her..

what i mean by finish up.. ive gotta go thru the roller rockers one more time, and double check the timing...

just think, the whole time my problem was the cam and heads.. im sooo happy right now... its good. its all good.

-Steve

clemsparks

iTrader: (1)

I don't know what's going on, but read what rb83l69 said. Your cam timing was NOT your problem.

I don't know how your rear end is moving to the LEFT when your tires are spinning, cause that violates the laws of physics (if they're both spinning).

Clem

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Clem
SCCA TransAm Series Race Mechanic/CrewChief
-------------
1983 Z28 with LG4, 5 speed, and (unfortunately) T-tops
1983 Z28, NO T-tops, (unfortunately) Auto Transmission (hopefully not for long)

Purple 92 SS

Clem,

I guess i should explain the cam thing a bit more.... the reason i think things were amiss with it was, simply , when the crank dot was at top dead center, the cam dot was firing 1/2 turn away from it(which would be the #6 cylinder so im told) Which would mean that the cam was 180degrees off kilter... or so id think.. i may be wrong, but thats what my mechanic friend thinks as well as i do...

as for the rear end issue moving left, it would be possible considering i dont have a posi rear end at all, and dont even know how good that factory 6cyl rear end is doing at this point.

I hope that clarified some things.. in my last post i stated that it moved right left then right or something like that, as i was refering to some major major fishtailing.

thanks

-steve

Purple 92 SS

TTT

To the Top.

-steve