engine replacement
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 34
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engine replacement
I recently bought a '78 L48 vette that had, thirty miles prior to me buying it, it's engine replaced with a remanufactured one from powerproengines.com that was supposed to be a 78 vette engine. It turns out the engine is a gm # 3970014 made originally in may of '73 which is another 350 ci engine for some other car but I don't know what for. Does anybody know? Also does anybody know the compression ratio on this engine? Do I need to check the cylinder sizes for that?
My next problem is that the carb (a hodgepodge q-jet that has a 3 different serial nubers on its top, middle, and base) is obviously not running properly so i'm having it replaced do you think it will be hard to find a carb that jives with this unknown engine?
The car somehow runs pretty good (even with the obvious carb problems and a distributor Id that doesn't match any corvette year) but do you think I should just demand an actual corvette engine?
My next problem is that the carb (a hodgepodge q-jet that has a 3 different serial nubers on its top, middle, and base) is obviously not running properly so i'm having it replaced do you think it will be hard to find a carb that jives with this unknown engine?
The car somehow runs pretty good (even with the obvious carb problems and a distributor Id that doesn't match any corvette year) but do you think I should just demand an actual corvette engine?
Racer
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 397
Likes: 0
From: Warren IL
The block number really won't tell you much about what is inside the engine once it has been rebuilt. Most rebuilders will put a tag on the engine some where IDing it. I would look for a tag or markings and contact the rebuilder for the specifications of your engine.
Most importantly I think you are taking this ID number way to far. Just because the numbers aren't for that exact year doesn't mean that it isn't going to run correctly. I have had several carbs that I have pieced together from junk ones people were throwing out and they all worked fine.
The best thing you can do if it doesn't run right is take it to a good shop and let them fix it. I am sure it will be cheaper than throwing parts at it that you think might be bad.
Most importantly I think you are taking this ID number way to far. Just because the numbers aren't for that exact year doesn't mean that it isn't going to run correctly. I have had several carbs that I have pieced together from junk ones people were throwing out and they all worked fine.
The best thing you can do if it doesn't run right is take it to a good shop and let them fix it. I am sure it will be cheaper than throwing parts at it that you think might be bad.
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,585
Likes: 5
From: Arlington TX
If the numbers are still stamped on the right front engine pad in front of the head the suffix code will tell you what vehicle the engine came from. Pull the valve covers and the head numbers will tell you what horsepower rating they are. These Web sites might help some:
http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm
http://www.corvette-world.com/corvet...stributors.php
A '73 Corvette 350 will be a maximum 200 HP but could be as low as 145HP if out of a passenger car.
If you're going for originality look for a '78 Corvette L-46 or even an L-82 engine. If you want more HP then go for a crate engine.
http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm
http://www.corvette-world.com/corvet...stributors.php
A '73 Corvette 350 will be a maximum 200 HP but could be as low as 145HP if out of a passenger car.
If you're going for originality look for a '78 Corvette L-46 or even an L-82 engine. If you want more HP then go for a crate engine.
