its sitting in my garage now. paid 75 bucks, running 350 out of a 1987 chevy pickup. engine was carb its going to be TBI. i have alot of work cut out for me. valve covers are shot, oil pan is crap, still has seized smog pump attached, back of block covered with a nasty oil slug, and block is quite rusty (from buffalo salt), driver side exhuast manifolds bolts are broken inside heads. its quite dirty need serous cleaning. engine is said to have aprox 85K on it. i dont know how it was taken care of, but im guessing it wasnt loved much. i have heard it run, but the guy i bought it from is a friend of mine, and he assured me it ran well. so right now i plan on reconditioning heads, replacing intake manifold, new oil pan, new edlebrock tbi manifold, replacing timming gear set, cam, lifters, holley tbi unit. with an engine that has 85K is it necessary to tear this engine down completely and take it to a machine shop. it could get expensive, and i dont want to do that unless nessary. is there anyway to test the internals without completely gutting the engine? can you remove the oil pan and check the condition of the bearing without removing them? i suppose that i could do a compression test on an engine stand. mount a starter to it and crank it on the stand. i also feel that maybe i should invest in a new or rebuilt trans. i dont know how well my worn transmission (160K miles) would take the additional power of a 350.i know this is going to be expensive but i want to do the best job that i can afford to do.

 

You can do a compression test on the stand. That would be a good idea.

You can remove the pan and pull rod caps off to check their condition. The front two are usually a good indication, although pulling them all wouldn't be a bad idea.

If the engine wasn't regularly maintained, a ring & bearing refresh wouldn't be a bad idea. You may not need to have the cylinders bored and pistons replaced. But, it would be a good opportunity to get it all cleaned up.

New oil pump and timing set are usually a good idea at times like this.

You should be able to use the oil pan and valve covers from your 305, as well as all accessories.

 

i was also considering some head work. am i better off getting new heads or getting the existing heads rebuilt? also would heads on a 87 engine be vortec heads? i think that pre-vortec but in not sure.i think it would be much cheaper to have my existing heads redone, or is it better to spend the $$$ on new heads. also who ever removed the engine from the vehicle couldn't get the exuast manifold bolts out so bolts are broken, stuck in the heads. so they need removed and re taped.
.

 

They are not Vortecs. Those didn't come out until 1996.

Whether you should use them depends upon your performance plans. For a basic driver that isn't expected to be a 1320 burner, they'll be fine. If you want more power - bigger cam, good-flowing induction and exhaust, etc. - you'll want better heads.

If what you have to spend on these heads gets above a few hundred dollars, you're probably better off getting something different.

 

1987 chev truck.... Uhh, 882 heads? I can't think of what else would be there. I'd use a reverse twist drill bit to remove the exhaust studs. Well, actually i'd just get different heads and forget about that.

Between your 305 and this 350 you should be able to put together a decent running engine. Buy a few cans of degreaser and just soak the thing. Have a beer and watch the almighty clean it. Then grab a hose and wash it off - THEN go to town on a teardown/inspection.

A compression test is a good idea. If you're in decent shape, you may want to leave it for now, just get heads and a cam.

 

Probably 193's.

 

On a carbed engine? I thought only TBI engines got those?

 

ad356, can you pull a valve cover and tell us what the head casting # is?

On a 20-year-old engine, it might not be a bad idea to pull both valve covers.

While you're at it, the block casting number behind the driver's side head. . .

 

From mortec.com:
14102191...87-up...350
14102193...87-up...305/350......1.94"/1.5" valves

No clue of the reliability of this site http://www.chuckschevytruckpages.com/enginespecs.html , but it says an '87 350 would be an LO5 TBI.