Doherty13

hey..., i know its not a third gen lol ...., but i cant find the specs on a 1978 camaro z28 350...., can you guys help me out?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

4.000" bore
3.48" stroke
349.85 CID
Mfr.: Chevrolet
Date of production: 3/77 - 3/78 approx.

??

¿What else is there?

Doherty13

haha i guess i deserve that for not being specific......., main?..., rear seal?....,heads? roller or flat? ..., stuff like that

Mkos1980

iTrader: (8)

Prob 2 bolt, 2 piece, dunno about heads, flat

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Well let's think about it for a minute.....

First year of the 1-pc RMS was 86. Probably didn't have that.

First year for rollers was 87. Probably didn't have that.

Heads.... yeah, it has 2. Probably 882 or 624 castings. Doesn't get much worse than those. That's why those cars had {drum roll please} 180 HP!! {cymbal crash}. Just FYI, I traded in a 4-speed 79 Z28 on my 83, and kept a turd 78 (auto trans car) that I had at the same time, and sold that one to a friend a few months later. The 83 would just completely leave the 70s cars in the dust. It is a L69 though.

They had yerbasic 70s 350, same as any other 70s 350. 8¼:1 CR, garbage smogger heads, 929 cam. They were pretty much all exactly the same, they either slapped a 2-bbl intake or a 4-bbl one on them and called it good. Assuming of course that it's still original, which I'd bet that less than .1% of all 78 Z28s running around still have their original motor anyway, so who knows.

Doherty13

thank you very much for the info ..., i really do appreciate it .

thing is tho im a young guy trying to learn on my own..., i was only born in 86' so i wouldnt know about any of that **** ...., but now i do so thank you .
all im askin for is a little patience...., atleast im not tryin to soup up jap scrap like all the other kids my age

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I know...

Don't think I'm being mean to you.

Go get yourself a couple of the better books on the subject; "How to Hot-Rod Small Block Chevys" and "How to Rebuild..." are 2 that come to mind. There's lots of the super-basic info in there that will keep you from having to ask questions that don't have real good answers, like that one; or that should be just basic knowledge.

About the first thing anybody learns in this hobby, is that ALL 70s 350s pretty much suck, in stock form.

About the second thing is, IT DOESN'T MATTER what they were, in stock form; because you're not going to put them back together like that, anyway.

About the third thing usually is, a block is a block is a block is a block. Doesn't matter if it came out of an Impala 2-barrel, a Corvette, a 4WD truck, a Z28, a Malibu, or what. There is nothing special about the sheet metal or fiberglass that the block was originally wrapped in, that remains with the block.

The things that make a difference are, in order of importance, are: whether it's a roller one or not; and whether it's 1-pc or 2-pc rear main seal. Both of those things can be determined by the casting #, without reference to the vehicle or year model. For instance, your block is almost certainly either 3970010 or 3970014. Go to www.mortec.com and look them up.

The next thing is, the things that REALLY matter about an individual block, once its "type" has been identified and the right one chosen for the application, are: the condition of the block, as far as damage (cracks, broken-off bolt holes, etc.); whether the cylinders are too worn out to restore to perfection by boring; the quality of the casting (core shift, porosity); and the quality of the factory machine work (whether the starter bolt holes are the right distance from the crank, whether the bell housing flange is centered on the crank centerline, whether the lifter bores point straight at the cam, whether the cylinders are perpendicular to the crank, whether the decks are parallel to the crank CL, whether the head dowel pins are in the right place, and so forth). Those are MUCH harder to tell by the naked eye; but sometimes, either what the PO tells you (like, improbable stories for why he's selling what SHOULD be a running driving motor, for an impossibly cheep price), or things you can observe (such as rolled cam lobes or that horrible starter grinding noise) will give you a clue.

After ALL THAT, whether the factory installed 2-bolt or 4-bolt main caps on it; which their 4-bolt arrangement doesn't really make an improvement for hot-rod use, except that it prevents the RIGHT 4-bolt arrangement (splayed) from being installed easily.

Then you'll learn that the reason that 70s 350s suck is because they have deep-dish pistons, terrible heads with huge chambers and no flow and thin places that like to crack, and a cam (they really only used ONE cam in all of them, with VERY VERY VERY few exceptions) that is a total joke. You'll be throwing all of that in the trash though, so it doesn't much matter if it's even THERE or not when you buy your core to rebuild, except that they give you things to look at before you throw them away, that can tell you about some of those other things that really matter.

Bottom line is, a 350 pretty much just IS what it IS, according to the casting #, at face value; there aren't any "specs" besides it just being a 350, that are of any use.

a/fool

I have a '78 Z28, when i bought it, it was bone stock, except for the exhaust. It ran 16.40's at 80 mph.
It had a 8.2: compression, 882 heads (every set i see are cracked)
I still have the block, and crank, and they have been good to me even though i've abused it. and it had 3.42 gears.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

If you're talking about rebuilding a 350, you're welcome to stay. Just never mention what it's going into (2nd gen). That doesn't really matter as far as the engine is concerned anyway. (Well, only as far as car weight really...)
Once you need to know car specific information, check out www.nastyz28.com. Good guys over there, they know their stuff. I joined just so I could ask a question about my transmission/clutch (which is a super rare option on a 3rd gen, but fairly common on 2nd gen cars). I ended up buying a hydraulic clutch assembly sight unseen from a complete stranger on there.
FWIW I have a 1977 impala 350 in my car. The only parts still used that were in that impala was the block, and crank. The rest are all "camaro" parts

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Sounds about right....

My 79 4-speed ended up with 4.10s in it, and my 78 had 3.73s. The 79 wasn't stock any more when I traded it. The 78 (auto) still was. The 83 L69 car, in box-stock trim, did pretty close to 15 flat at around 92 mph, so it would just walk off and leave the 78. It was faster than the 79 as well, but not by near as much; but it was pretty noticeable, especially at highway speeds. The 78 was (surprise!) not much faster than an Impala, if at all. Because of the gear it had a better launch, but once it got into 3rd gear, it was a snail. It was totally useless on the freeway. If I was on a 2-lane road doing 55 (the national speed limit at the time), I DID NOT DARE trying to pass anything, unless I had a good half-mile clear in front of me. It was pitiful.

I'm glad those days are gone.