Do all Irocs have a 350 or are some with a 305 and what do you check to find out ie numbers on the block and where? i'M going to look at a 87 iroc wednesday morning and want to verify its all correct and what not.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/techdb.shtml

It's all in there. Between the 350 and 305 TPI versions, cylinder head casting numbers (assuming stock) would probably be the fastest way to check.

 

some irocs had the 305. for an '87, if it has the factory motor, the 8th digit of the vin will be "8" if it is a 350. for the 305, it will have "H" if it is a carb. or a "F" if it is a tpi. if the motor has been swapped, you will have to get casting numbers off the block.

 

Ok but where on the block are these numbers located?

 

The block casting number is located on the driver's side rear of the block. If its a newer block it will have the displacement cast into the block, usually on the side (you can see from underneath) and again right by the casting number. Look for a big "5.0L' or "5.7L". The older ones you'll just have to get the #. In 1987 it could have been TPI 305 or 350, or carbed.

 

he said it was tpi
so i have to look under the car towards the back?

 

Yea, if its the original engine it should be under there, but if you can't see it, just get the casting # and go to www.mortec.com and look it up. Also, there could be a "305" or a "350" cast into the side of the block, or maybe not. Getting the casting # is a bit of a pain but will give you the facts.

 

Checking the VIN is the easiest 1st step.

When you see the "F" in the VIN and say to the seller, "Okay, it's a 305." He'll say, "Well, it's had a 350 put into it." And you'll say, "Prove it, let's get the block casting #." And he'll say, "You don't need to do that, you can trust me." And you'll say, "Sure, if you drop the price by $1500." And he'll say, "$#@&%*!" And you'll say...

 

haha if he drops the price by 1500 it would be a 200 buck car hehe i like that ;-) yea 305 is a piece of **** motor just like the what was it 3.8 they had in the older 3rd gens the ones that chunked rods all the time maybe it was a 3.5 he isn't the original owner and he thinks the motor was swapped already so thats the big stipulation the vin wont tell me **** other then what came in it and where the car was made. It wont prove what is actually under there the thing that sux is its auto i want a 5 sp or a t56 hehe

 

2.8 & 3.1 were the only V6 displacements put in 3rd gens. Any 305 is arguably better than either of them.

If the engine is reported to have been swapped, then don't accept any "I think"s and verify everything possible.

$1700 for a V8 car that runs well and is in otherwise good condition probably isn't that bad of a deal, even if it is a 305. Being auto increases the chance it is/was a 350 because the factory didn't put manual transmissions behind 350 3rd gens.

 

hey man dont be dissin the 305's

 

yea it was the 3.1 those things were ****ing junk and i'm not dissing just i dislike the 305 its white with red int the front clip and pass fender were replaced blue??? said the front nose was scrapped up good and forgot what he said about the fender so thats going to take some good looking over also the inspection went out in nov and he said that it has a lill bit of a hesitation when you stomp on it. he said his mechanic said it was timing but also his mechanic told him it needed a map sensor so i dunno he isn't mechanically inclined from what hes telling me since he is taking it to a mech We all know a cracked spark plug can jack up the fuel ignition ratio and you cant set the timing on a damn comp car well you can but in order for it to get fed that bad i mean come on i will be test driving her on i 20 off 287 tomorrow morning though and I'll see what she has

 

RACE YA

 

your in okc how you going to race me tomorrow morning? hehe

 

I know that we have several strips between us........that is if we don't get burned down...........

 

here is the VIN 1G1FP21F7HL121423 I don't understand the decoder. It's saying the code isn't a valid engine code??? Couldn't get under the car to see the cast number on the block car will have to be up in the air. He has all ac and heater equip in trunk well. Smog pump is unhooked iffy on that one Inspec went out 11-05 I'm not sure if the smog runs off the ac also because there is a spare pully grove on the water pump. Engine is clean no leaks under car or on top. Can see signs of Most of the gaskets resealed intake tstat what not there is no grease build up on her. New Plug wires Assuming new Plugs also Front tires are good rear are so so nice texas heat cracks and what not probly 5/32nds I will be putting my 97 ta rims on here though with my ultra z's.

Under carraige looks good from what I can see from sticking my head under the car. Interior isn't bad Its red so anything can be taken from my car and put in this one. The dash has the normal crack. Windshield is cracked. White exterior with blue nose and blue right render. Doesn't look like it had been in any accident not one to damage frame. New swaybar links and bushings. Rear shocks are fairly new.

Has engine hesitation He said his mechanic said it was a mAP sensor and the timing needed to be redone. It has plenty of power. Little exhaust manifold leak on drivers manifold. Nice set of headers will fix that. Already has rear dual exhaust on the car just need a flowmaster 80 and 3 inch tips. Only thing that scares me is the oil pressure is low under 30 It pretty much rides around on the line above when your running down the highway or get on it its between that line and 30 engine sounds good though no valve terrain or lower end noise. Mine since the oil pump is going out it gets below 30 and I hear both. So I think its a bad sensor or gauge. Has a brand new maf on it. oil looks clean and so does transmission fluid. He said the oil cooler is unhooked. I never knew they had oil coolers on camaros. Also its not an IROC ITS A Z28 the drivers door says Iroc.

 

You'll find a bunch of info here (if you haven't looked here already)https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/techdb.shtml

8th character is an "F", therefore it came with a 305. If it's got a 350 now, with unknown cam, that could explain a lot of the "issues".

The A.I.R. pump runs off the water pump pulley. The belt only goes around the water pump and A.I.R. pump.

Dual tailpipes was standard for everything (except a few V6's I understand, but mine had them).

Hook up a mechanical gage to verify the oil pressure.

 

Before I made an offer I'd get that block casting number if it were me, sounds as if there may be some issues there. 1987 would not have come with a MAP sensor, but would have had a MAF sensor. It definitely left the factory with a 305 TPI. I think there are too many unknowns here to be paying a premium price for it; it's obviously been hacked on and who knows what was done. If he'll get right on the price it might be a good car to start with though. My 2 cents.

 

sounds like a headache

 

he's only asking 1700 he said the guy he bought it from said the motor is a 350 out of a 92 which means it has a map if I'm correct on that. All the gaskets look like they have been replace within the last year it all looks clean no oil under on on the top of the motor block is sharp looking it was too early in the morning to climb under and fight for sight of the casing number :-( would the smog system not hooked up cause a engine hesitation due to everything being comp controlled? no engine light is on this car by the way

I did look at that site but don't understand it it has the listing for the engine code but yet there are no digits to designate what motor it is ie lg4 l98 yadda yadda

 

Only if he switched all of the TPI equipment, including harness & computer, which isn't likely. Since the gaskets look like they've been changed, more than likely he just changed out the longblock, so the '87 MAF system is still in there.

Shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Even dumb ol' me, who's never owned a TPI car, knows how to ID a MAF engine.

 

(Assuming the engine really was changed. Since the AC is in the back, it's probably true that the engine has been changed. Now, whether 5.0l or 5.7l . . . )

(Hint: MAF & air inlet hose . . . )

 

Me, I might go $1700 if I had the scoop on what the engine is and if it is a fairly clean car in decent shape. Of course, I haven't seen it and 3rd gens go for pretty cheap around here, with the notable exception of well kept later year (1990-1992) TPI cars, which get a premium price. There are so many myths and so much misinformation about these cars that I would want to know exactly what I was looking at. Given that it's an 18 year old car that has, from your account, been hacked on pretty extensively I'd be very careful. Can ya get some pics of it and post 'em up?

 

what about maf its mounted right after the airdeflector ducting leading from the air filters just like my 2.8 then the hose leads into the throttle body oh wait a sec cars with maps don't have maf correct I'm not up on all the different **** between years like stated many times in this post all I've had is the 87 2.8 which now has an oil pump going out causing lower engine knock :-( so the oil pump replacement probably wont help her now 570,000 miles on original motor never been cracked open and doesn't leak or burn oil **** on me

 

i'll try to borrow my dads digital and post some pics. hes a member on this board. Its not hacked on persay some **** just ins't hooked up. I plan on buildidng another engine or snagging an ls1 or something ;-P so to me 1700 isn't bad esp considering i've been out of mine for 4 months now THIS G*D D%MN GEO PRIZM IS DRIVING ME NUTS i need a camaro I just don't want to spend the time on mine to change the oil pump right now to see if she can be saved its too much for me to do by myself while i work all the time :-( +
its at my apt and I have no way to move it anywhere to work on it If I could get it to azle my buddy has a shop and engine hoist to lift it that rediculous 3 inches to take the pan off id just as soon get one now that has some power unlike the v6 it was good espec for its age but after driving that one this morning haha
it goes where you want it mine would go where you wnated it after 4th gear then it would peg the spedo and run 130+ if you wanted it to its just the trot to get there I want to strip mine down and redo all the suspention slap a posi and spend a few grand with spohn and another 7 grand or so on motor and trans and enter scca on the weekends

 

Correct. However, I'm betting the MAF system was retained if/when the engine itself was changed.

 

ok so his mech is a dip **** so was i for not remembering that but yes it has the maf setup it looks like this pic here on this page

http://www.austinunderpressure.com/i.../100_0531.html
that isn't the car its one i ran across thats being parted out that motor is shot in that pic but its that layout even has yellow wires no other hose or wire dressing though Like isaid all climate **** is ripped out but the control in the dash iits still intact

the exterior of the one i'm looking at to buy looks like this
http://www.austinunderpressure.com/i.../100_0526.html
has an iroc z drivers door i think the ground effects were gray like they made them all z28s have different ground effercts unlike true irocs learning this **** today while reading about them. the front nose cone is blue on this though the hood needs to be repainted I'm seeing if the one in this pic is still for sale along with the rims

I need to try to get actual pics of it though I think I will try saturday along with trying to get the block number i'm curious what motor this is. ryan the guy i'm buing it from didn't really care what motor it had he was going to make a drag car out of it his 4th gen burned to the ground at the track think he said it was 400-500hp burned to bad to even salvage the block so he said **** it his heart isn't in to racing them anymore