tuononero

Hi all,
I just bought a 1982 Trans Am and the old owner said he replaced the stock 305 with a 350.

Being my first non-matching number car i decided, out of my deepest curiosity, to find out where that engine came out from.

I found different websites explaining how to decode the suffix code and the partial vin but i keep getting into some weird mistake and i would love to hear from you all where it is.

First of all some infos:
Suffix: V0406CFR
Partial vin: 2CL529xxx

Now when i start decoding the suffix i understand that it comes from Flint, made on April 06 and.......... it is a 1982 305!!!!!!!!! Can't be....... ok so i proceed to the partial vin.

The partial vin was supposed to be two numbers, one letter, six serial numbers.
But mine has one number, two letters and the serial number.
How do i decode this?
I couldn't read the date code because it's too hidden behind the other stuff (wires, hoses, distributor, firewall...) so i was relying on these infos.

Do you think you can help me find some peace?

Thank you in advance.

okfoz

2 - Check Digit
C - 1983
L - Van Nuys
5 - Chevrolet
29xxx - sequence number

tuononero

Wow, cool. Thank you.

Any idea if it is a 305 or a 350?

okfoz

If I decoded it correctly, then it would be a 305 from a 1983 Camaro

Which engine block IE, LG4, HO (L69) or CFI not sure...

tuononero

Ok, that theory may be supported by the fact that the harmonic balancer is about 6" long. That makes me a little sad.

I only have one doubt. If the engine code contains the partial vin to match how come this one comes only with 5 numbers instead of 6?

okfoz

"Partial vin: 2CL529xxx"

I do not follow, what do you mean has 5 numbers instead of 6?

tuononero

On nastyz28.com i read that the last 6 numbers are the car sequencial number because they have to match (then they come out of the factory).

For instance, i take infos from his website, VIN code format Example: 13N100001
(1 = Chevrolet, 3 = 1973, N = Norwood, 100001 = Production sequence of vehicle VIN).
How come mine has 5 numbers and not 5?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Not sure... 529xxx counts up to 6?

That VIN belongs to a 82 Firebird built in Van Nuys...

C = 82
L = Van Nuys assy plant... only cars they built there in 82, were Camaro & Firebird
5xxxxx = Firebird; for some reason they started the Camaro VINs at 1xxxxx and the Birds at 5xxxxx

As another example, my 83 Camaro VIN ends in DL136xxx. Next year, same plant, Camaro instead of Bird, late production (like, march/April); yours is probably also from around that same month range.

The example you posted from nastyz28.com is for cars older than about 1980. Completely different VIN format. Doesn't apply to ours.

Not sure where there's a mystery here. It all seems pretty much on the up-and-up, except for the PO's lies. (as usual; that goes without even being said)

If I were the betting kind, I'd almost bet that your car's VIN ends in 2CL529xxx.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...ting-hard.html

Read post #3. Memorize Rule #1 thoroughly, and become familiar with the exception in Rule #2. They'll come in handy someday. It even mentions the 350 lie he laid on you. The jokes below that are ... well, jokes .... except ... maybe not.

Based on that, you do the math as to what engine size it is, and of course, where it came from; knowing of course what engine sizes were available in 1982 Firebirds.

And if I were the betting kind, I also almost bet that your block's casting number is 201, like most other 82 305s.

tuononero

Yup, totally right, 201 on the driver side of the engine block. I wanted to post it but i thought it was useless, expecially because i read somewhere that often they used the same block for both 305 and 350.

I got to know the previous owner and he's too much a good guy so my belief is that whoever sold him the engine ripped him off.
And maybe the guy who sold it to him has been told the same thing but i wouldn't go that far. The only bad thing is that i was sure i had a 350 on the car, the only reason i bought it.
I do have a 350 crate in the back yard but i would have preferred to have a chevy 350 already installed in the car, swappings take a lot of effort for someone like me.
I checked the suffix, as i said, and it says the same thing (82 firebird 305) but i didn't want to believe it.

So how does the decoding work? A=80 B=81 C=82 and so on? That is some interesting info. I wonder why you can't find that on google. (or maybe you can and i didn't)

Anyway thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

tuononero

oh i just checked the title and as i've been told the vin doesn't match, so they really swapped it but there may have been a "misunderstanding" about the size of the engine.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

No, can't use the same block for 305 and 350. Physically impossible. Very near as impossible as making a V8 out of a block that only has 6 holes. Wherever you read that, stop reading there, unless you enjoy fiction; and of course, RECOGNIZE that source as fiction, to be treated strictly as humor and entertainment.

The VIN code in current use is worldwide & universal.

1st digit = country of origin. 1 = US; 2 = Canada; 3 = Mexico; J = Japan; etc.
2nd digit = company. G = GM; F = Frod; T = Toyota; and so forth.
3rd thru 7th digits are up to the mfr. They typically tell things like sub-brand (Chevy, Pontiac, GMC, Buick; Toyota, Lexus, Scion; etc.), body style (coupe, sedan, etc.), "restraint system", emissions equipment", and various other things like that, applicable to describing what markets it's eligible to be sold into. Nothing about "options" as such, or even "model name", necessarily.
8th digit = engine
9th digit = "check digit". Some kind of checksum that can be used to verify that the rest of the # hasn't been tampered. There's a formula for calculating it, just like for those 3-digit codes on credit cards, but you can bet your bippy it's not widely circulated. I'm not going to post it here.
10th digit = year. 1980 was A; it ran all the way through the alphabet, then some of the #s, then started the alphabet again. I lost track some time back and don't feel like walking out to my driveway and looking at some newer cars to see what they're up to ATM.
11th digit = assembly plant code. Rules on this vary from one country to another but all are some variation of, the company must make available a list or cross-reference that leads from from that character to the plant.
12th digit on = sequence code. Typically just a serial # of cars that have come out of the plant, in order. May or may not start at 0, as in the case of the Van Nuys #s.

Things that are absolutely NOT in the VIN: transmission (except to the extent that a given one can or cannot be paired with a given engine); gear ratio; color; radio; tires/wheels/brakes/suspension; sub-model (Sport Coupe/RS/Z28/IROC for example, except to the extent that those other things that ARE in there might be a tip-off, which in fact is the case in our cars to some very limited degree); production date, except for what can be inferred from the sequence #.

Been known to happen...

Now that you know at least one way to get sodomized, get casting numbers and other identifying info off of any engine or anything else (such as ... a car) you are looking at BEFORE you buy it, and post it here; not AFTER like so many others. "I just bought a {fill in the blank}, did I get a good deal?" Yeah right. Like asking NOW is going to somehow turn the pig under the lipstick into Miranda Kerr or something. 99% of the time, posts like that end up that the guy got fornicated HARD. Don't be the next one.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I forgot to ask:

Did you MEMORIZE Rule #1? If there was a pop quiz at 8AM tomorrow morning, would you be able to repeat it? Does it apply to the situation at hand, or what? (bearing in mind that Rule #1 applies as rigorously to CAR PARTS as it does to CARS)

And incidentally, if there's ANY ONE THING about a block that you can see from the outside and THAT MATTERS, it's the casting number. (201 in your case) Stamping codes are WORTHLESS for the most part, because any g00b can take a "LT-1" block out of a "71 Z/28" and put a "RV cam" in it and "stock heads" on it and turn it into a 160 HP 1974 wonder; or take the humble lowly block out of a 165 HP 76 Impala, put a solid roller cam and a 3.75" stoke crank in it and 220cc runner heads on top and get 650 HP out of it. All they tell you is, what it was originally; NOT what it is NOW.

tuononero

Actually it's a little more complicated than it looks like.
The reason why i bought this car is because it was an 82, and of course it had a title.
I won an auction on ebay, the car was 5 hours away from me so i had it shipped to me. I paid basically nothing for it. So even if it didn't have the 350 or it had a broken engine it would have been probably the same. But when i got the car and turned it on for the first time something told me to investigate a little further.

From the vin i got the old owner's name (which is not the ebay seller, he just bought it and resold it after one year, he probably never sat in that car) and i got in touch with him. He explained me all that happened, why he got rid of it and i believe him. The reason why i believe his good faith is because now he wants the car back

But this is not the point.

Probably you're right, maybe this is not a 305 anymore but it used to be. Maybe it's stroked, go figure.

But anyway thank you again, i'll take this as a lesson and i'm happy i learned how to decode a small block the right way.

navy02ws6

Going by the suffix (CFR), your block at least started life as a 305 in an automatic transmission '82 car, according to the Camaro White Book. There's a note in the book that says that suffix was "also used for California cars".

That suffix does not appear for any other year in the Camaro White Book. Perhaps it was used for other GM models/years, but I'll bet it was originally in an '82 F-Body based off this info.

Of course, being 30+ years old, who knows what it is without tearing it down and dyno'ing it.

And of course, if I had read your entire post before posting my response, I wouldn't have just wasted the last 5 minutes giving you the same information that you already stated. Oops.

tuononero

Thank you, as i said if i'm finally keeping this car i have a 350 crate in my backyard ready to go in. Problem is transmission, i'm afraid i have to buy a 700R4.
In that case i'd take the heads off of it and solve the mistery... but as i said the harmonic balancer was my revelation.