Hey guys I just bought a 1989 Camaro, I got it from a dealership owned by an old lady, she has no idea on the concept of muscle car, I saw an ad, she was selling a 1989 camaro Z28, Cowl hood, headers and other engine work, I mean the car sounds amazing, a damn monster, she somehow gave it to me for $1,500, this car looks mean, but she had no idea what type of engine does it have, so I came here to maybe get some help, how can I tell if I have a 5.0 or a 5.7? Is there anywhere I can look and say "yup thats a 5.0? Thanks you guys.

 

what is the vin number? its most likely a 5.0 but you can tell by the vin. and if you have an emmisions sticker under the hood it will say on that.

 

search "camaro vin decoder" in google and it will tell you what digit you need to check for, and what it should say.

 

check the eighth digit of vin number

8=5.7 (350) with 230 hp
e=5.0 (305) with 170 hp
f=5.0 (305) with 195 hp
5= 173cid with 135 hp

 

The eighth digit of the VIN is that indicates what motor she originally had.In '89 if that digit is E(LO3 TBI 305),F(LB9 TPI 305) and 8(B2L/L98 TPI 350).

Also the Z28 wasn't a separate model in '89.There was only the RS and IROC.If you look on the console lid for the SPID decal(make sure it's VIN matches the car's)you should find the engine code and Z28 should be on the list.

There is an engine code stamped on the right side of the block deck just ahead of the cylinder head.It will give you the build plant/date,engine code and the sequential part of the VIN(this will also tell you if it's the original motor).The next,and best,to do is get the block casting numbers and go to this site http://mortec.com/

 

and it is possible that it has a differrent engine, especially since you said it has engine work and headers, if your lucky you may have a rebuilt engine

 

Yeah I checked the vin number and its an E which means E(LO3 TBI 305 ? It might be with a lot of work done to the engine, is there any way to look at an engine and see if its a 350? by the size of the valve covers or anything else? I'm not sure what was done to it or if its the original engine at all. I need to find out though, is there any mechanic shop that would help me out in determining what it is? thanks.

 

a 305 and 350 are identical in appearance. you need to check the block casting numbers located on the bell housing area on the driver side. there should be an 8 digit casting code along with a 5.0 or 5.7 stamp. also as mentioned earlier, you can check the pad in front of the pass. side cyl head
for the suffix code that is stamped there. hope this helps.

 

off to the drivers side where the base of the distributor is it's stamped 5.7 or 5.0 .... hard to see it but if you spray some degreaser down there and move some stuff you'll find it.

 

True, if we're comparing the LB9 and L98 engines. But I think you've missed something.

92Birdofprey has already stated that the VIN says "E" which is the LO3 305 (5.0L) TBI (Throttle Body Injection) engine. In 1989, it was the only TBI engine available. You couldn't get a 350 TBI engine.
Soooooo, if 92Birdofprey is wondering how to tell visually, the TBI intake is a dead 5.0L giveaway! It wouldn't and couldn't be anything else unless the previous owner pulled the LO3 and put in a 350 and reused the TBI fuel system! And that's pretty remote and extremely unlikely.

Another possible situation would be if it had a TPI intake. Then it would be hard to tell the difference, and the engine wouldn't be stock, and the VIN's "E" engine code wouldn't mean a thing anymore.

92Birdofprey needs to find out and let us know what type of intake is sitting on top of the engine. That would help put the pieces of the puzzle together.

 

One more thing guys, I had my cousin look at it, and he says that its carburetor, it has a carburetor housing and it says "FUEL INJECTION" on the air filter housing, its strange, my cuz says its a carb because only carbs have that type of air filter housing, the carb should be right under that right? IF i remove that I should find out for sure right, the carb is distinctive in appearance, I think maybe a carb engine was put in unless it came like that out of the factory?

 

Here is what a typical LO3 TBI intake looks like . . .


It sure looks like a carb doesn't it. You can kind of think of it loosely as a "smart" carburator. Where as a carb has it's barrels (2bbl or 4bbl), here you can see 2 that are very similar, each one has a single fuel injector in it. Thus Throttle Body Injection.

Maybe have your cousin read this.

Check this out . . .
http://chevythunder.com/gm_throttle_...ction_pg_1.htm

 

casting number is the only way to actually tell what engine you have there, things like looking at the type of induction are meaningless. Many people have done 350 swaps and retained TBI systems..

 

Great advice, but be sure to read all the posts. That was already covered by coolram62 8 posts up.

The reason we're now covering the type of induction is to help explain to the untrained eye that a TBI air filter housing can look very much the same as a carbed air filter housing. Now 92Birdofprey has the correct info (as opposed to his cousin's advice).

 

I told my cousin about the TBI and he was pretty surprised, he's one of those type of people that think he knows all about cars, but he can't know more about Camaros or Birds then third Gen brothers, that's for sure. Thanks guys, the only thing left to do is find out how many horses I have. Is it hard to find TBI performance parts for my camaro? I mean can I get let's say a supercharger from Procharger for my TBI?

 

Beware of old ladies selling cars and claiming they don't know anything about them. Good way to be taken, example: you did not know the difference between a 305/350 or TBI vs TPI.

 

Man, I don't know what I have but I love his car, the power that it has is amazing, I step on it and it just flys, for $1500, I'm more than happy with my investment.

 

You should be happy I got my '86 TA for $1200 and its got a 305 tpi I'm so glad I got it vrooooooooooom=O

 

I bought a 1988 GTA - not going to say what price. Anyway, 305 TPI, 5-speed, 3.45 posi 9-bolt rear and t-roof.

The biggest challenge I find is that its a little tiring how others want to run down the 305 and talk about 350s. I love the car and I'm dancing with the one what brought me.

Gary.