definately pays to look up the casting #s i have a lil book i bought somewheres that has them all blocks heads and i believe other parts as well. even tells ya if the motor is a 2 or 4 bold main lots of good info in it. keep looking and watch the newspaper there always seems to be a chevy motor in the paper every so often. if you know where to find casting #s on the net look at the motor and write the #s down and check it out before ya purchase the motor just to be sure you dont get wamboozled again. at least the guy ya got it from was decent possable he didnt know it was a 305. i hope you told him it was so he doesnt misinform someone else.

 

Yeah. I just talked to him a little while ago and he swears the engine was a 5.7 350. I asked him how he knew and he said because it said '5.7 liter' on the air cleaner. I told him that either someone put a different air cleaner on it, or the engine had been swapped.

But he said the entire truck only had 31,000 miles on it when it was wrecked.

The motor is definitely a 305 according to the casting number. So I think this guy was taken when he bought the truck.

Either way, I'll be taking it back to him sunday (he's getting married saturday) because he's tied up with the wedding plans this week.

I'm still looking for another motor, but I keep thinking maybe I should drop the pan on the L83 and see what damage is done.

Might be fixable considering the bearing spun trying to start it, and not while it was running.

 

why not use the 305, and leisurely rebuild your 350? then when in a couple years, you can swap the 350 back in and it will take you a ton less time because you will have the experience of doing it once.
you even said you didn't care if the engine had 200 horse, that's probably what the 305 has anyway.
besides, dimensionally, it's the same, and will fit in it, and get you running inside of a week.
and you get all the accessories with it that fit the 350 and the engine for $160. talk him down to $125 while you got the chance. I say go with the 305 for now.
a rebuilt starter will cost you at least $55 bucks, and you get the alternator, worth $50, etc. think of the bright side.
even if you decide the 305 is not for you, paint it, and sell it for $200 to someone with a 305 camaro, and keep the accessories.............after you buy it for $125

 

I thought about doing that, but since I have a lot of other things that need fixing I just didn't want to have to do the engine swap thing twice. Even with the swap, the car still wouldn't be 'roadable'.

I even thought of using my '85 Trans Am, which is a 305/210hp,as an engine 'donor' car, but decided I'd be better off selling the TA to have money for other things I am going to need.

I probably won't get much for the TA because it needs restoring too. It runs good but needs new valve seals,oil pump and probably bearings.
And it's getting pretty rusty. I'd rather spend the time and money on the vette.

 

Funny thing about that. He conveniently 'forgot' he sold the other parts off the motor when he ran the ad.

So, no starter, no alternator or PS pump and a broken distributor. Although the water pump was still there and was a 'reverse flow' one.

If it had been a 350, it still would have been a good deal though.

 

at first after reading coupeguys idea of using the 305 i was going to say yeah sounds like a good idea to me but after reading your last post this guys deffinately screwing with you. he knows its a 305. he probably also knows it has way more then 31,000 miles on it. if i found a motor with suposedly 31,000 miles on it and a broken distributer it would set off warning signes all over the place. im sure he didnt forget about selling the parts. didnt you already pick up the motor and the parts? if i arrived to pick something up and it wasnt what was advertised id stay away as well. needless to say bring that hunk of junk back to him and never go back.

 

Yeah. When I got to his house I saw the motor sitting on ground outside covered with a tarp. The other parts weren't on it, so I asked him about it and he said he took them off and put them in the garage. Problem was, he couldn't find them. That's when he 'remembered' that he had sold them to a neighbor.I asked about the distributor and he said that they broke it pulling the engine. (another overlooked clue by me).But since I was under the assumption that this was a 350 motor, I offered him 160 for it and he said ok.

My first clue should have been all the rust on the block from being out doors. I was concerned it was 'stuck' but we were able to turn the crank by hand, with no problem and I didn't see any rust in the exhaust or intake.

Like I said. Had this been a 350/4 bolt engine, $160 would still have been a good deal.

Now that I know about checking the casting numbers I won't ever be making that mistake again. No matter WHAT anyone tells me.

I have to wait until sunday to borrow my son-in-laws truck. But it's going back.

 

You say your 305 transam engine is bad. I would make a wooden engine stand, and plop this 305 on it, and borrow an intake and carb, and run it. If it is better than the trans-am 305, I'd do a transplant, and you could always tell the person that you sell it to that it has a different engine, and you would be willing to sell the original engine with the car.
just another option................

 

PeteK might still have a bare 89 350 roller block with main caps for sale...PM him...

this is a perfect time to get a bare block and build a monster motor for this thing...trust me...

i can also send some engine builds from desktop dyno 2000 of some budget builds for 350 based motors if you have the program. if not i can hook you up

 

The Trans Am engine actually runs fine. It's just that it smokes when you start it, or smokes when it's been idling a while. Also the lifters lose oil at idle once the engine warms up. Lifters pump back up if you gun it or just drive it.

I just don't want to put any time or effort into that car. I'd rather sell it 'as is' and use the money to fix the vette.

Like I said earlier. I'm limited on the amount of money I can spend and plan on doing this a little at a time. Engine first, then motors, switches and solenoids. It's going to be a long process.

The engine is just the starting point and I can do all the work myself, so paying a mechanic is not happening.

This isn't my first project. I had a 67 Firebird 400 when I was 21 and I tore the whole car apart and put it back together, Including rebuilding the engine.And I managed to get it done in one summer.(had a lot of energy then) Ran like a raped ape when It was done.

Of course, that was over 37 years ago, so this project is going to be a little slower...Actually... a lot!

Time and money are just not on my side with this one.

Oh well. At least I can say I owned a corvette. Even if I never drive it!

 

my budget motor is right around 2500 bucks i think....or was that the 454 BBC i built in DD2000? i dunno...its all on my flash drive right now...whenever i make a combo i price outt he parts and make an excel spreadsheet with everything in it...so if i get bored at work today i'll see what i can come up with...

all i know is even starting with a bare block...350hp or a little more is an easy goal for under 3k...on a shoestring budget with an air grinder you can probably get that if you take your time and also score good used stuff!

dont let the no cash thing discourage you! i have a 427 BBC sitting between the fenders of my 84...and even though i havent touched it in 12 months due to cash...i know someday i will get her done...

it just takes time...