Cali Z

Okay, I bought a 85 Camaro and in the ad in the paper it said, " rebuilt 5.7 tpi and rebuilt 700R4 transmission" so I jumped at it and got a good deal on it, or so I thought. When I went to check it out, the owner said that he had just attained it but needed to sell for financial issues, but that the owner he got it from had done an engine swap just before he sold it and that it was a 350. Even when the owner went to smog it he told the tech that it was a 350? Why would anyone with a 305 trying to sell it as a 350 say that? After looking at the vin it was originally a 305 tpi car, but a background check showed inconsistent odometer readings ranging from 260k to 143k. So I thought that the car most likely may have needed a rebuild or engine swap. After having the car for 6 months, i finally started checking some numbers and came across a 201 stamp on the side of the block. I read a tech article that said some blocks came with the last 3 digits of the casting numbers stamped on the side of the block, and that this 201 was the 14010201 block which is a 305 from 1980 to 1984 or 85 can't remember. Now I'm wondering if this is possibly the same motor that came in the car just rebuilt b/c it looks new and doesn't blow any smoke at all. It has the v-belt accessories, and cold start injector, 19 lbs injectors, 305 ecm. The car is not performing well. It has a decent amount of tune up parts on it, and only feels like a 15 second car. I'm not sure if this motor may have a smaller cam, different heads or what, and i was wondering if there's anything else i can check for on this motor to see what I really have, because this tpi runs alot slower than any other and it is pretty clean, it doesn't look 20 years old covered in rust or anything, but is slower than one that is. Any comments or thoughts?

RB83L69

Yup, 201 is a 305 block.

Definitely not a 350.

A 305 TPI with a stock 700 isn't a temendously "fast" car anyway; low 15s is about right.

Sorry to see you got ripped. The whole 350 thing has got to be the most common lie associated with these cars. It's amazing how many are said to have 350s, that then magically morph back into 305s the minute the money changes hands.

And of course, the PO might have got "sold" a 350, that turned back into a 305 as soon as that money changed hands, too. The PO may have thought he really had a 350. Who knows.

Get a head casting number, as that's important to making a 305 run its best. Prepare yourself also for a cam swap, because if the motor has been rebuilt, it probably has a 929 cam in it; which is not a good performer. But it's far and away the most common "rebuilder's" cam.