I PURCHASED A 92 RS A WHILE AGO. THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD SWAPPED THE 305 WITH A 5.7 FROM AN IROC AND REPLACED THE TPI WITH A 600 HOLLEY. THE CAR IS HAVING ISSUES STARTING AND IM TRYING FIGURE OUT THE CAUSE. IVE READ LOTS OF ARTICLES ON THIS AND AM SOME WHAT FAMILAR WITH WHAT IT TAKES TO COMPLETE THIS CONVERSION. IT WAS RUNNING HARD FOR A WHILE BUT RECENTLY CRAPPED OUT. BEFORE THE CAR QUIT IT WOULD BACKFIRE WHEN I TURNED THE CAR OFF. WHEN I WOULD START THE CAR I WOULD HAVE TO PUMP THE GAS A COUPLE OF TIMES. ITS BEEN SITTING FOR A WHILE NOW BECAUSE I HAD TO TURN MY ATTENTION TO MY 99 2 DOOR TAHOE. NOW IM BACK AT IT FULL SWING. DOES ANYBODYS FUEL PUMP MAKE NOISE WHILE ON ACC? ON MY TAHOE IT DOES BUT THE CAMARO IS SILENT. I PUT A LITTLE BIT OF GAS IN THE CARB AND TRIED TO CRANK IT AND IT STARTED BRIEFLY THEN DIED OUT. I KNOW YOU NEED A FUEL PUMP FOR A CARB AND YOU NEED TO CHANGE THE DIZZY. I BELIVE THIS IS DONE SINCE IT WAS DOING WELL BEFORE BUT IM GONNA POST PICTURES HOPING THAT SOMEONE WILL BE ABLE TO HELP ME FIGURE OUT IF THE PARTS ARE CORRECT. IM NEW TO THIS WEBSITE AND HAVE FOUND LOTS OF INFORMATION BUT NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK. I UNDERSTAND ITS HARD TO FIGURE OUT A PROBLEM WITHOUT SEEING IT. IM IN FLORIDA MIAMI / BROWARD AREA. IF ANYONE IS CLOSE GIVE ME A SHOUT. OTHERWISE I WOULD BE THANKFUL FOR ANY HELP.

what is the fuel pressure with the fuel regulator. or does it have a manual pump on it? what do the plugs look like? how does the bottom of the cap look?

when im cranking it by putting gas in the carb it doesnt read. its @ 0. im sure it works because i replaced it. it has been some time but its barley used. as far as what kind of pump i have no idea. how do i tell what kind of pump it is? as far as the cap... everything looks good. i know little as far as timming. btw your car looks sick.

ok. does it have a pumpmon the engine or is it running from the lines coming from the tank. if it is coming from the tank then at some point soon after you start turning it over it should read about 4-5 psi.

thanks for the compliment!

Its lines from the tank to a 4 port afpr where the fuel pressure gauge is located. The car will only start when I put gas in the carb. The gauge constintly reads 0. I'm gonna post pictures later today.

can someone please tell me if this is the distributor i need to run a carb? anything that looks out of place? trying to find out why this isnt running and trying to make sure are the parts are proper. any ideas would help alot. thanks.

The dizzy looks right for the carb, its a mechanical vaccum advance. does the engine seem to run OK for the 2 seconds it takes to empty the carb? If its rough or backfires on you, id check the timing.

One thing i see wrong, and its unrelated to your problem, those heads are not TPI heads. Those are old school perimeter valve covers and TPI engines had centerbolt valve covers, like vortecs. Id bet the block underneath them is an old 2 piece real main seal block too. Id say he bullshitted you.

Sorry that doesnt help your issue though.

that sucks! im happy you told me though. is it worth a ****?

how can i tell what kind of motor it is? or what year?

is it a 5.7? id really like to get some information on this

you need the casting numbers off the drivers side of the block, behind the head. Its tough to see, a small mirror and light help a ton.

Those engines still make good power, i was just pointing out the fact that he lied, so what else did he lie about. I would take everything he told you with a grain of salt.

From the valve cover type, the heads at least are '86-earlier. For sure didn't come from the factory on an IROC if 5.7. Pull a valve cover and get the casting #'s off of the heads (located between a couple of valves/rocker arms). Shall we start a pool? I say 882 or 624 (last 3 digits), dark horse 416 or 601.

Sometimes the last three digits of the block casting # is cast into the side of the block, visible from under the car. Often easier to see than trying to get the full number off the back of the block, and gives you as much information as the full number.

thanks for the help. what is a dark horse? i understand these motors still make decent power but are they work building on or should i get something newer as a foundation?

Newer blocks have provisions for a roller cam, that alone wins imo. But it means shelling out more cash for another block, you already have this one. It depends on your budget and power goals.

The dark horse heads (416 & 601) he is talking about are 305 heads that flow well and up compression. The other 2 (882 & 624) should only be used to tie your dog to in the yard.





edited for clarity

im gonna check that out before dinner tonight. thats a shame i thought i might have a decent platform to work with. i work @ a bar and a customer of mine owns a couple junk yards so i might start there. personally id rather have fuel injection. if i start with something else as far as budget and power goals my budget is super limited and i was thinking about a low budget stroker somewhere around 450. is there a reason why fuel injection strokers arent as common as carbs?

distributor-correct. i would check to make sure the pump is even coming on. you should be able to hear it when it does. the relay for it is on the drivers side beside the booster. and it goes thru the oil pressure switch as well. i would check to make sure that relay is getting power or however they have it wired.

From Wikipedia:
"A "dark horse" is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence.

"The term began as horse racing parlance. A dark horse is a race horse that is not known to gamblers and thus is difficult to place betting odds on."

You wouldn't bet on 305 heads on a 350, but it may turn out that this engine is a 305. In other words, you wouldn't expect 416 or 601 heads since it's supposed to be a 350, but they just may turn out to be on the engine because it isn't a 350 like you were told.

I'm leaving the possibility open that this isn't a 350, because there are untold numbers of stories where people bought a car "with a 350 swapped in it" only to find out it had a plain jane 305. In this case it is clear the heads are older than the chassis, and older than 350's came in 3rd gens. Very suspicious.

(sigh) alright guys here is what i found out... i found casting numbers... 14016379. after some research (google) and a trip to mortec.com i found out its a 350 and was found in 70s passenger cars such as the nova, malibu, camaro, as well as trucks. i browsed the few threads on here that mentioned this specific engine and found a couple people were using them in there third gens. im gonna take my remaining questions and start another thread because they are no longer about carbs. however if you feel like i should build this up or have seen these motors make good numbers and times on a budget please let me know.

*one92rs - the fuel pump doesnt make any noise @ all. im gonna look into this further but this car is parked @ the girlfriend house and all my tools are an hour away.

thank you everybody for the information and patience. the moral of this story is i should have done some more research before buying this car and i shouldnt of belived anything this guy had to say. however the price was right because the guy was hard up for cash and the car is decently clean. so @least im still up.