I have an 86 T/A which I drove in high school and after seeing this site, I have been inspired to rebuild the car. I tried searching the engine via vin number only to find it is not the stock motor in it. Can you sages tell me what kind of engine this is or what I have to do to find out which engine I have?

*Disclaimer I am new to cars so expect a lot of dumb questions*

 

You're sure it's not the original? If it is, it's a 305 LB9.

 

You really need to check the block castings on the side or the back of the block to know what it really is, but it looks like either an LB9 or L98. If it's the factory engine it's going to be an LB9 305CID TPI engine. They didn't come with 350's (L98) in 1986. What's the 8th digit of the VIN number? This will tell you what engine the car originally came with.

Here is the breakdown of what the 8th digit of the VIN means as far as engines go:

2 = 151ci, L4 (LQ9)

1 = 173ci, V6 (LB8)[1985]

S = 173ci, V6 (LB8)[1986]

F = 305ci, V8 (LB9)[Tuned Port Injection]

H = 305ci, V8 (LG4)[4BBL]

G = 305ci, V8 (L69)[4BBL HO}

 

 

Related:

That's one way to find it. Though I find it extremely difficult to actually get into a position where this casting information can be read while the engine is in the car. If you crawl under the car, the last three digits of the block casting number are stamped into the side of the block between the oil pan and the heads, spark plugs, etc. 627 for example is a very common casting number for a 305.

Unrelated:

Sweet looking engine. How much power is that thing putting down? I've got a 383 block in my garage and I'm looking to build that up and I'm wondering what power I can make with the factory TPI through porting, aftermarket runners, throttlebody etc. vs. going with a MiniRAM, etc.

 

http://xtremecarzone.com.au/index.php?showtopic=386

 

Thank you for that. I remember reading that a long time ago. This time I book marked it. No need to reinvent the wheel when I do my build.