Tmrc5

Hey guys, 1st post, I'm looking for information on the motor in my 1991 Camaro RS convertible. I believe this car came stock with a tpi 305 correct? I bought the car in 05 and it's been parked as a project car since, I was told the car had a different tranny and a 350 in it, I have no idea of the effort put into the swap but I doubt much detail was taken, like fuel pump/regulator, ecu, etc.. I bet it's all still 305 stuff. So now onto the engine, it's a throttle body engine, not very well wired. I was able to just barely view the code on the front of the block under the passenger side head, it appears to read VK285268. I can't find any details on that code online, I can post some pictures, can anyone help with an ID on the motor.

AlkyIROC

A casting number on the bellhousing behind the driver side head can tell you if the block is a 350 or 305 block since they have different size bores.

There should be some stamped numbers on a pad on the block in front of the passenger side head. These numbers can be hard to read if they're full of dirt, paint etc. If the deck surface has never been milled then the numbers should be there.

A suffix number can tell you the most information about the engine but may or may not say of it's an actual third gen engine. The last sequence of numbers stamped in that pad will be the last few digits of the vehicle VIN. If they match the car's VIN then you know it's still the original engine.

Tmrc5

Thanks for the reply, the engine is in the car, getting to the rear of the engine for the numbers looks impossible.



I've uploaded a photo of the engine in the car and the code under the front of the head, I uploaded through the site, let me know if they don't display well and I'll upload through a third party hosting site. I'm fairly certain it's not the original engine based on the tpi/tb situation.

antares57

iTrader: (8)

Looks like a typical TBI 305 V8 engine like I have in my '88 Firebird and '91 Formula. What does it say on your hood label?

AlkyIROC

Interesting that there are no suffix numbers stamped on the pad. To me that usually means it's some sort of non production replacement engine. In other words, the engine has been rebuilt by some business that decked the block and stamped their own numbers into it for warranty identification.

From underneath the engine, depending on the block, you may see a 5.0L or 5.7L cast into the block but my guess is that it's also a 5.0L (305) engine. Hood label, VIN, RPO sticker in the center console will only tell you what was originally in the car when it rolled off the showroom floor. 25+ years later and it could have anything.

Tmrc5

Thanks guys for the input. It may well be a 305, it was sold as a 350. I'll be doing more research in the coming weeks and updating. I would've doubted this block was machined and renumbered, it doesn't fit with the original owner who did the work, but I could be wrong. What type of numbers should I be seeing in place of the VK285268? Just asking for an example. Hopefully I can get to the rear of the block for that code, also if it is the original block is the last 3 digits of that code what would appear in the Vin? The 268? And where in the Vin does the engine code appear? Thanks a ton for the replies.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Stamping codes for motors installed at the factory are usually 1 letter (engine plant), 3 numbers (date), 3 letters ("model" of engine). Those numbers are stamped in at the engine assy plant. Then it's shipped to the VEHICLE assy plant, put into a vehicle, and the serial portion of the vehicle's VIN added. (missing in your case) The engine "model" determines what pistons were installed in it (compression), what heads were used on it, what cam was in it, what kind of intake carb & exhaust, accessory brackets, etc. Once an engine has been opened up and any of those things changed, they lose their meaning: after all, in a small block Chevy more so than any other kind of motor, anybody can jam any heads, cam, carb, etc. at any time onto any block for any reason (or none at all besides that they were laying there at the moment), and in fact they almost always do just exactly that. Therefore the stamping code doesn't tell ANYTHING AT ALL about whatever the motor ACTUALLY IS at the moment; all it tells you is what motor THE BLOCK - and NO OTHER parts - originally came as part of. But, since you can take the BLOCK out of the wimpiest 75 Impala 350 2-bbl that exists and turn it into a 750 HP race motor by the appropriate choice of pistons, heads, cam, and so on; or conversely you can take a "LT-1" out of a 70½ "Z/28" and turn it into a pitiful slug by an INAPPROPRIATE choice of those same things. Meaning, the origin of THE BLOCK doesn't determine the quality of THE ENGINE.

Block casting numbers are not in the VIN or vice-versa. They are the part # of the raw casting, as it is poured into the sand; they don't tell anything about machine work that was done to it (2- vs 4-bolt main caps for example), or what all of those bolt-on things might have been. BUTT: since different engine sizes often have different bore diameter, and you can only change that just so much, it WILL tell you with ABSOLUTE 100% GUARANTEED IRONCLAD TAKE TO THE BANK CERTAINTY if it's a 305 vs a 350 for example, since it's impossible to change the one into the other.

Forget about the stamping code. It is WORTHLESS for identifying the motor in a useful sense; i.e. for providing you USEFUL ACTIONABLE information that you can use to make a decision. Get your casting number and post it here, especially the last 3 digits; and we can tell you INSTANTLY what displacement it came with.

The 8th digit of the VIN is the engine code. It tells you what originally came in the car. It doesn't change miraculously somehow when someone does an engine swap and thus won't tell you what's in the car NOW.

A Camaro RS would not have come with a TPI 305. Most likely would have been a TBI 305. Which of course is what's sitting on that motor; TBI, not TPI. 8th digit of the VIN will be E.

Frankly I don't see anything about that motor that just screeeeems "SWAP!!!" other than the stamping code. But for all we know it might have just been something like a warranty (or not) replacement, at the dealership, when the car was newer. I see some other things (headers, REALLY CRAPPY plug wires) that look like the behavior of typical previous owners, which I would consider as warning signs of possible overall poor practices on their part, but nothing that looks too horribly hacked-up or anything. Looks like the AC is even still intact, which always seems to be the first victim of morons "improving" their cars.

AlkyIROC

That's all what I thought also however I don't think the AC is functional. I don't see a harness plug attached to the pressure switch on the accumulator or is that just a pressure port connection?

As for stamped numbers on the pad, as already mentioned, there should be the last part of the VIN as one line of numbers. The suffix code is usually something like V0427CKF as an example

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Low-pressure cutoff is plugged in; it's the round thing, silver w/ a black round thing on it, on the back side of the accum/dryer, toward the blower motor. The port facing the camera is the test/charge port. So yeah, overall, looks to be complete and possibly even working.

Tmrc5

Thanks for the reply, the ac is functional, or at least was a few years ago, the car hasn't been cranked in a few years unfortunately due to a fuel pump issue, either wiring or the pump itself. Like I said, it's a parked project car, so never daily driven since 05. I know the difference between a tpi and tbi so no need to bold them, I was under the impression this car would've been tpi but I've since learned that tbi were more common, though info I've found showing tpi cars were built as well, not sure if that's correct.
I need to decode the Vin to see what the car came with, that's why I asked, I know for sure the trans was changed, it was originally blown out, the motor was supposedly changed at the same time, could explain the odd block numbers. I'll know more shortly and report back when I have the #'s.