hey guys,

this isn't 3rd gen, but the engine might be. my friend bought an '87 monte carlo and the guy told him it had a 350 in it. i know well enough that stock, no monte carlo came with a 350. i have 3 corvettes at my house all with 350s and their exhaust tones compared to his monte's are different. the monte sounds like my 305. can you guys tell me were on the engine i can find the code tag(s). i believe this engine to be post '87 because it had center bolt valve covers like my stock 305 in my GTA. also, when i find the tag(s), where can i get the code decoded?

-GTAman

 

There are no engine tags. But you can check the vin # to find out what engine came in the car. The only way to find out what is in there now is to look up the casting number on the back of the block near the drivers side head.

 

Actually, you can identify a block to a certain car.

Look at the passenger side of the engine block, in the front. Directly behind where the water pump bolts to the block, there is a machined off pad, and there should be numbers and letters on there. IIRC from my 305, the top row (numbers and letters) identified what the engine is, and the lower set of numbers should be the same as the last bunch of digits of that cars VIN number if its claimed to be original. If they match (lower row and the VIN), then its the original engine.

The only way to know if its a 305 or 350 for sure is by:

A) the machined pad that I told you about above
B) the casting numbers on the back of the block, drivers side.

The exhaust note won't tell you anything about the size of the engine.

 

well we're going to have fun then since his engine is a mess and still in the car lol

 

http://www.mortec.com/

 

Once you find the 'suffix code' on the pad which Air_Adam mentioned, you can check it at Chevy Mania to find out what it came from.

 

Not too hard really, but the thing that makes it a pain (on V-belt cars anyway, not sure if an '87 MC has V-belts or not) is that you gotta move the alternator to see it. Its RIGHT under there.

 

As was already stated, this is not 3rd gen related or History/restoration. *** luck in your search.