transam357

Alright i have a 350 i got along with a 87 trans am i just picked up. I can usually decode these no problem with a little help from google but this one is stumping me. the suffix code on the front of block passenger side machined pad is V1002UZA which UZA translates to 1981 350 for a c10 0r 1500. This block has all the provisions for a factory roller cam cam retainer and the lifter valley has the stands for the spider. On the back of the block transmission flange is the number 14093638 which ive found is a 86 thru 94 chevy 350. Also the date code on back of block transmission flange is I210 which would be september 21, 1990. so is it a 1990 block or 1981 like the suffix code says???? Any help would be greatly apprecited need to know as far as what parts to order. THANKS

Gsoleski

It's probably the 90 if it has roller provisions. I have a 91 638 block I believe and it's a roller. What kind of heads does it have?

transam357

yeah is was kind of thinking it was the 90 but the suffix code threw me off it also says 5.7lg sgi on the back i would assume an older block like an 81 wouldnt have liter displacement.

The block didnt have heads when i got it. no cam intake just cranks rods and pistons, fresh .020 over bore bottom end looks fairly new. ive got an old set of heads il proly throw on it to keep costs down building on a budget. casting number is 3932441 older style 350 or 327 heads i think. new edelbrock intake, valve covers and carb, rv cam double roller timing set and new flowtech shorty headers

transam357

also why would it have the suffix code for a 81 c10 or 1500? i know they re use the codes sometimes but didnt see anything twice for that one. and how would a non roller cam work in this motor dont have any roller stuff and on a budget so non roller is the only option right now becuase i have a non roller setup of another older 350. will i use a cam retainer and any issues i should worry about using older style sbc parts on it

vetteoz

iTrader: (13)

14093638...350...87-95...2 or 4...Roller or flat tappet cam, one-piece rear seal

Probably the most common late '80 - early '90's 1 pce RMS block around
Used for cars , Vettes and trucks.
Generally is machined for a roller cam but if say a truck engine only has a flat tappet cam fitted .
Truck block may be 4 bolt mains
The giveaway as to it's type ( vintage ) is the alum housing around the crank on the rear for the 1 pce seal
In any case the block casting number overrules any engine code
( given some engine codes were reused and the online listings are not always accurate)

vetteoz

iTrader: (13)

As I noted the factory fitted flat tappet cams in these motors from the factory so you just throw all that stuff in
( inc the timing chain set )
You don't need any retainers , as far as you are concerned it is just another SBC block

transam357

alright thanks vette good stuff. i wasnt sure which overuled suffix or block casting number thanks for the quick response

Also it is a 2 bolt main block not sure what it came with from the factory there was no cam or top end on it when i got it. it does have the aluminum piece for the rear main too.

vetteoz

iTrader: (13)

Think about it.
You can't have a block you say was cast in 1990 that came in a 81 truck.
If you Google that engine suffix you will find you are not the first person to come up with that ID so possibly the listed code is wrong

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Maybe there's some other way to figure out whatever it is you want to know...

If you knew what the block was "out of", what difference would it make? What "fork in the road" would you know clearly which way to go? What decision would it affect? Tell us that, and we can probably come up with some other way besides "codes" to determine it.

As said, it's CERTAINLY not a 1981 block, since 638 is a 1-pc rear main seal casting. The 1-pc RMS system would have been a "feature from the future" in 1981, 5 years away from introduction. The space aliens would not have got drunk on whatever their favorite poison is, and taken a break from creating crop circles and Elvis sightings, and decided on that particular night to descend on a casting foundry and endow ONE engine with a feature that would not appear on ANY OTHER for 5 more years; you can be sure of that.

Jeffs82TA

iTrader: (1)

I have a engine out of my 90 vette like that. It's suffix comes back as 80's truck. You probably don't have a serial number on the stamp pad as well. Mine is also a 638 block, I think it is a GM replacement engine is all but mine is a roller cam engine.

vetteoz

iTrader: (13)

Read what has been written above , it has already been established that the info about the engine suffix is wrong
or GM reused a old suffix code

I have 3 # 638 blocks;
one out of my '89 Vette ,one from my '90 Vette and one from a '94 truck

transam357

Yeah obviously I knew that but it was just weird to me that the casting shows 1990 yet the suffix code came up as 1981. Stupid if you ask me but that's just my opinion. I should have just figured since it had the one piece rear main that it was a 90 but i figured id clarify just to be on the safe side. And sofa your crazy man.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I hang out with the space aliens all the time, so I kinda know how they enjoy amusing themselves.

Meanwhile, if you knew that the block was from, say, a truck, or a Vette, or a Caprice, or was a "service replacement", what would you do differently with it? IOW, of what use is tracking this info down? What actionable useful helpful value can you derive from knowing this? If you can come up with even ONE decision you would make differently or ONE alternative that you would or wouldn't take, let us know what that is. I, for one, am real curious what anybody can actually DO with all that "code" crap, when all they've got is a block. (besides some 60s "matching numbers" resto type of deal, which obviously doesn't apply here) People get so wound up about that, but I just don't "get it". Please educate me.

transam357

Ya it doesn't really matter I just needed to know what oil pan to order because the rear mains are different. Now i know its a one piece which is what i figured but good to be on the safe side. Just another small block but I guess it's good to know for documentation purposes so I know what I got, not that I would build it any different.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

The oil pan depends on what chassis you're putting it INTO, not what chassis it came OUT OF.

Get a pan for a 86-up F-body V8.

Nothing really to "document" that's contained in anything about what it came out of... "documentation" would consist of, 87-up 350 block w roller provisions, 638 casting.

transam357

Well the original question was is it a 81 or a 90 block and they use different oil pans because of the rear main. That's why I needed to know what pan now I know it is a one piece so that's my Pan choice. Maybe not a big deal about documentation but what's wrong with getting all the numbers off the block while its out?

vetteoz

iTrader: (13)

No relevance to anything you are doing.
You now know a quick look that the crank seal will tell you what style engine you have so you can buy the correct
pan and flexplate which is the main difference between 1 and 2 pce engines.
Any other " documentation" of the block is worthless

transam357

May be worthless but no harm done by it I don't understand why it aggravates people so badly anyway. To each his own and some people like to have the numbers so when that idiot who tries to buy thinks its a 305 or whatever you can have pictures of casting Numbers nothing wrong with that I do it every engine I work tho I've only done 2 Chevys now I've been a buick/olds man prior to owning a couple f body's I don't claim to be a pro just a hobby I love to do so don't jump on me for not knowing everything gimme a break

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Yup, casting # is all you need for "documentation". It tells all there is to know about a block. Which includes: bore dia, RMS design, location of dipstick, and likelihood of roller provisions. Pretty much, every USEABLE piece of information there is. It DOES NOT tell whether it has 4-bolt main caps on it, how much power THE ENGINE built out of it will produce, or even what displacement that engine is. For all of that, other "documentation" is required; pictures, receipts, dyno data, etc.

It irritates us because every n00b that ever gets hold of some old block, thinks that there's something different about their block, because of what it came out of. The absolute MOST irritating ones of all, fall into 2 categories. The first is the morons that think that because they have a 3970010 for instance, and that casting was used in 71 "LT-1"s in "Z/28"s, that their MOTOR is a "LT-1" out of a 71 "Z/28", and then get all butt-hurt when someone points out that 71 "LT-1"s in "Z/28"s didn't come with cast rebuilder dish pistons, .050" of deck clearance, 193 heads, and a copy of the 929 cam. The other is the goobs that think they're going to be able to "predict" the HP from the MOTOR they built out of a bunch of random parts, based on whatever the stamping code on the block says; and then get all butt-hurt when somebody tries to tell them that the pistons, cam, heads, and all that kind of stuff, determines the power output; that their quest to narrow down "is this a 88 Caprice or a 94 Suburban" is NOT going to yield them any useful, actionable, information-laden tidbits of knowledge; and that even if they managed to find out what those stampings mean, it won't tell them A DAMN THING about the motor they built (or that came in their new-to-them used car).

So, one of the first things that one must learn from the pros as a new hobbyist embarking on their first motor project, is that THE STAMPING CODES ON THE BLOCK ARE WORTHLESS. Basically, once you get past the useful, actionable, "tell me what parts to order" information that comes from the casting number, the stamping has nothing further to add. All blocks of a given casting are equal, except for the wear and tear they've accumulated, random production variation of various sorts (information about which isn't contained in the stamping), and what degree of detail went into the prep when the motor was last built. The stamping code tells NOTHING about any of that other stuff THAT MATTERS.

Yeah it's unfortunate about the "prove it's not a 305" thing; but there's not alot you can do about that. About teh best advice I can give you there is, make DAMN SURE that when they put their foot to the gas pedal, there is ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER that this is NOT a 305. If some dweeb can't "get it" based on the casting #, then some vague ambiguous impossible-to-look-up-conclusively stamping isn't going convince them any better.

transam357

Well I'm not really a newb but whatever man and the casting number may not say the displacement that's why I take pics of the part of the block that says 5.7lg or 5.0, 455 or DX Anyway i don't know why u come up with hypothetical stories or facts that don't pertaine to the original question maybe you wanna be smart or be a dick whatever. Seems you always are the biggest *** to post if you read thru any threads you comment on. Enjoy you "sofa kingdom" beat your meat and have a sad life living online I question whether you even work on cars or just like to sound like a hot shot last time ill comment on this thread no sense beating a dead horse like I said question was answered and I was totally polite before you thought u would b an ***

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

The casting number DOES say the bore dia; to that extent, it DOES say something about the displacement, but BY NO MEANS, all. For example, you CANNOT make a 3.736" (305) block into a 350. However, you CAN make a 4" bore block (which in 1990 for example, would have been EXCLUSIVELY a 350 from the factory) into a 302, 327, 350, 383, or 396. But... ALL of those things are properties of THE MOTOR you choose to build; they are not properties of THE BLOCK. Taking pictures of THE BLOCK will not tell you which of those displacements, or any others, that THE ENGINE you build out of it has.

I STILL don't think you GET IT. What you need to shut up and learn is, the casting number tells you all there is to know about THE BLOCK. It can only tell you just so much about THE MOTOR; it sort of places limits around what it CAN be, and similarly, what it CAN'T be. The stamping code tells you NOTHING about EITHER ONE. All it tells you about, is what application THE BLOCK was used in during its first life.

If you can't understand the importance of that distinction, then you are doomed to repeat the same mistakes a few million of your predecessors have made in building THEIR first motor. Whether you think I'm an *** (yes I typed 3 asterisks, yes I know the board edited out what you REALLY typed, yes I know people who live in fantasy land don't like what I have to say) or not, doesn't change that. YES I made the same kind of mistakes when I was starting out. I'm trying to pass along the knowledge I've gained THE HARD WAY, without the Internet, from 40 some years in this hobby, part of it as a somewhat professional motor builder. Whether you choose to come out of your denial and start to LEARN, or whether you just want to turn your back on accumulated experience and wallow in ignorance and profanity, is your own choice. But never forget: you are known by the choices you make. Consider wisely before showing us any more of the above, which tells us what kind of person you want us to see, which we have no choice but to believe, that's the kind of person you ARE: loud- and foul-mouthed. Not an attractive image to project in public.

You are making a mountain out of a molehill. You have a 87-up 4" bore block with roller provisions. THAT'S IT. (which incidentally, is a good thing to have; lots of people would love to have what you've got) There is no further "documentation" to be had; no further information to be extracted from the stamping code that will tell you anything you don't already know; no point in arguing about it. All you can do by arguing, is show ignorance, which I'm sure you wouldn't do deliberately, being as smart a person as you have shown us you obviously are.

motokid108

Sorry for necroing this thread, but i too just picked up a block of the same casting number, and am looking for a good cam to put in it. Trying to do my research, but as i do more, i know less. Evidently they're flat tappet, but have provisions for roller? So if i do replace the cam, i should get a roller then, right? I don't think i'd be so confused if i knew if it were a gen I or gen II block, but i can't even find that

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

It's a Gen 1.

That block should have the provisions for a roller cam cast in; they're not always finished though (drilled & tapped), in fact probably most of em aren't since they came in TBI trucks in ENORMOUS numbers which had flat-tappet cams still, but that's something you can do yourself. Then, you can use the factory roller system, which as long as your lobe lift doesn't approach about .375", should be OK, and is MUCH less $$$$ than the older roller system simply because millions of em have been made, instead of thousands.

motokid108

would these three deals be those provisions?

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Yes, and the tops of the lifter bores have been machined flat.