just curious as to what HP/torque you think this engine would have. it's a L98 crate engine (L98's were roughly 250hp stock) with....

700R4 corvette transmission, TBI induction, 14x3 K&N open element, holley 670 tbi unit, SLP LT1 cam, edelbrock torker II intake w/ tbi adaptor plate, 3 piece billet underdrive's, custom dynomax bullet exhaust/no cat, 3.23's, SLP shift kit, custom burnt computer chip, fully ported and polished L98 heads

i know not all that stuff adds hp or torque, but i just copied and pasted.

so what's a rough estimate of the hp/torque this thing would make? thanks for the help

 

ttt

 

No L98 crate TPI engines are available. A 350 with a TBI is a question mark, but it will not be making 250 HP.

 

found out more info about it.....it's not a crate engine, it's just a L98 from an '88 corvette that was professionally rebuilt. stock specs on the '88 corvette 350 though were 245hp/300torque (isn't this the same as '91-'92 z28's?). so how much hp/torque would the above mods add?

 

None, not if it uses a TBI induction. No Corvette used that system.
I think you are being fed a line of BS. Just my opinion. until proven otherwise.

 

possibly, but the guy i got the info from never said the motor came TBI stock. i know corvette's didn't come tbi, but he bought it professionally rebuilt, so he probably only got the block, heads, etc. Induction doesn't come with crate (or most rebuilt) engines. If you look at the list of mods though, he has a holley 670 tbi unit and an edelbrock torker II intake w/ tbi adaptor plate on it, so he's not claiming it's an exact corvette engine.

so he may be bs'ing me, i don't think he is, but of course before i bought the car (that's why i was wondering about the hp/torque) i'd make sure it was a L98...but any idea on what hp/torque it'd make? i know nothing spectacular, but probably more than stock. (unless tbi is really THAT much more restrictive than tpi) but i'm sure anything over my whopping 140hp 185 lbs/torque will do me fine...thanks for the help

 

Was this engine in a car and you bought it??? It may be a stock 305 TBI and just told you it was a 350. Well good luck anyways.

 

no no, lol, i haven't bought anything. i still have my 3.1L. i need a 350 car though, and dont want to go through the pain of swapping it myself, so i'm buying a 350 3rd gen. but since i'm spending the time and money to find a new car, i want something that's better than stock 350's hp for our cars. also, i want a low-mileage car, and this has 15K on a rebuilt engine/tranny. and of course before i bought it (if i decide to), i'd make sure it was what he says it is.

so do you not have a guess at the hp/torque of it?

here's an engine pic:

 

First, screw the "from a Corvette" crap. Don't fall for the oldest sucker bait line in hot-rodding (well, maybe not the oldest, since the Vette has only been around for just under 50 years now, and has only been a contenda for the last 48 of them). Since you copied and pasted all that from somebody's sales pitch, it tells me that the seller is trying to take advantage of what he perceives as an inexperienced novice by using the "from a Vette" this and "SLP" that method of putting stars in your eyes and making you think that somehow it's automatically .... attractive to the opposite sex or something, like maybe it will cure bad breath or shower you with instant self-confidence and pheremones, I don't know what.

Now that we've gotten past the buzzwords, let's get to the facts. Exactly what heads are on it, what has been done to them, and exactly what cam is in it? Part numbers please. Casting numbers for the heads, and a cam grind number or part number or lift & duration specs, not "from a Vette" foolishness. No vague "fully ported and polished" or "¾ race cam" type of evasion. Without real facts, nobody, including yourself, is going to be able to do anything more than make a blind guess.

edit: the pic appeared as I was typing this. I can tell nothing useful whatsoever about it from the pic. It looks like a small block Chevy. It could be a 305 with 882 heads and dished pistons and a LG4 "peanut" cam for all I can tell.

 

lol alright i'll ask him some of that stuff. the info he gave me wasn't a sales pitch to an inexperienced novice....it was listed in his ad for the car, so its not like he said this stuff cause he thought i specifically would fall for it.

and i know to be wary when someone says somethings 'from a corvette' , but he should have the documentation from the company he ordered the engine from and i should be able to tell what car it came from from that. (plus what heads, cam, etc. were used) but yeah i'll check into the stuff you mentioned.

so let's say for now that this is on the up and up.....it really is completely a corvette engine from an '88 corvette, it's exactly how it was when it was first built except it has the TBI, and the mods i listed in the first post....if all this is legit, what power #'s could i expect?

well thanks for your help, i wasn't going to drop $5000 w/o checking into all this first anyways, but you gave me some good questions to ask i wouldn't have thought of on my own....well estimate some #'s if you can, i'll e-mail the guy w/ the questions...

it's time for bed now, gotta get up at 2:15am for work, but i'll post in the am if i hear back from the guy....later

 

probably couldn't have been put any better

 

If it is the absolutely stock L98 long block with the right heads and cam, it shouldn't make a whole lot of difference whether the induction is TBI or TPI, the HP should be about the same. It might make a little more HP with TBI but noticeably lower peak torque than the TPI, but overall it shouldn't be too radically different. I'd expect somewhere around 250 HP in that case.

It would take a great deal of convincing before I would ever believe the "from a Vette" line, without proof (CASTING NUMBERS!!!). I don't know how old you are or how long you've been doing this sort of thing; but if I had a dollar right now for ever time over my career that some shyster had tried to sell me s*** on a stick as platinum-plated gold "from a Vette", and for every time I've seen people get ripped blind paying Hemmings Motor News prices for 350 2-barrel crap straight out of the junkyard, I'd be able to retire on it right now.

 

here's the reply to my e-mail....

The engine was done by a compnay called Recon,
and was bought by my uncle originally from a speed
shop in our areas called Toms Speed Shop. I then
bought the engine off him. As i said before he
operates a high performace custom car dealership and
does these swap and customizations daily. The engine
was a complete rebuild, it came only with block,
pistons, rods, bearings, cam, and crank, so your basic
bottom end. As far as i know the company only does
full rebuilds on their engines. I installed an Lt1
camshaft in the car, it is out of a 96 trans am, im
sure sure of exact specs. I have also installed a set
of 305TPI heads ont he engine, i did this for a couple
reasons. First the compression would be higher, thuis
more hp, and second the heads are great for porting
and polishing. I believe the casting is the 081
casting. I had the heads ported and polished at the
NAPA machine shop in Bath NY near me. They are fully
ported, and the exhaust side is polished onluy, i was
told not to polish the intake side because the rougher
surface creates better fuel atomization. yes
the block is originally from a vette< but i am not
claiming this to get attention< because the block is a
standard l98 block which is no different than any othe
l98 out there, just so happens this one came out of a
vette.

what do you think now?

 

Can't be that hot of an engine if it doesn't even have a good set of headers, and all I see is stock cast iron beside those heads!!! I give it 270hp tops. But, as said above, we'd need to know what parts are on it before we can help you figure out what she's putting out.

 

My original opinion still stands. That engine is crap if it was rebulit by Recon (AutoZone junk) and 305 heads on 350??? if it is one. Still BS, I still think if it originally from Recon its a 305 TBI. I also like the comment about the Vette Block again, Recon uses any junk block they can get.

 

I'm gonna go by the name of the company as a reference.

Recon, short for recondition. That's where they rip the heads off the engine. If none of the pistons have holes, they throw new gaskets and rebuilt heads on.

Even I can pull any 350 from a junkyard, remove the top ridge, hone the cylinders, lap the valves, throw new oversize rings, bearings, seals and gaskets on it and call it “reconditioned”. I could probably do that for ~$500 (including the engine) and sell it for $800+.

That would be one hell of a deal wouldn’t it?

I’d pass on that deal. You get what you pay for. When I look at any engine, if it’s less than $1000, I walk away. There’s a reason that person is selling it other than “I’m replacing it with a big block”.

AAMOF, I’ll be RB has heard that one a few times.

 

Befor dropping 5000.oo on any motor...I would have to see som receipts.....proof .....specs..a dno run, at least some time slips...It looks great, but be very careful.

 

oh, i'm not spending (or I wouldn't/won't be spending) $5,000 on just the motor. It's the whole car. New paint, z28 hood, nice interior....just overall a clean car, and the fact that it had a rebuilt 350 and a rebuilt tranny helped. i was gonna just swap a 350 into my car, but w/o selling my car i'll only have like $3000, which isn't enough for a good 350 and tranny, plus misc. costs to install it