i have an L05 from an 88 Truck in my bird. It was coverted to carb. Is this motor roller or flat tappet? It does have centerbolt heads. Thanks

 

Truck 350 TBIs are non roller. Lo5's from carpices are.

 

free post

 

Yup, it's flat tappet just like mine But look how much cheaper it is for a cam (and lifters)

 

thats exactly why i was asking

 

Glad I could help, then
However; If you DO want to go roller, you can always swap the parts over to your 350, just have to tap the three bosses in the lifter valley to accept your hold-down(spider looking thing).

 

Are you still running the same 191 heads that came with the engine? If so, then you'll probably want to start looking for some 083 (350TPI) castings before doing your cam swap. (I will be when I am ready for the cam, too). And make sure the springs will accept whatever lift you are planning. They may need the spring pockets machined for larger springs.

 

yup, stock heads and cam

 

Is your stock engine TPI? If it is, then I'd recommend putting those heads on the 350TBI. They should be the 083's if it was a 350TPI car, iI believe. Oh yeah, and if you ARE going to get rid of them, I'll take 'em
Before you put the block in, do some prep to it. Send it out and have the block decked, bored, new cam bearings, brass freeze plugs, etc...If you are going to race it, you can even use block-fill to fill the block up to the freeze plugs, to help maintain good oil temp. There are some mods that I have read about from Mr. Vizard that you might want to do before you send it out. If you like, I can scan the pages and send some to you.

 

is that all there is to that?

 

For a roller block with a non roller set-up, yes. For a non roller block no. The truck TBI's had roller provisions in the blocks yet used flat tappet set-ups. A non roller block will require a conversion.

 

My engine is from an 88 truck as well (LO5). The heads are 191 casting i believe, so yes they do suck. Did the cam differences between the caprice and trucks do anything as far as performance? I wasnt sure if the only diff in hp #s between the trucks and caprice was due to exhaust

 

Some vans had roller cams from GM so I would think some trucks did too.

 

wait, so certain trucks had roller cams as well? how can we tell without removing everything. And does anyone know if there is a performance diff between flat tappet and roller for the diff TBI's

 

First and foremost, you have to get the casting number off the block and find out EXACTLY what it is.

There are a few different 1 pc rear main seal blocks that were cast.

www.Mortec.com says...
And that's not including the "Targetmaster/Goodwrench" castings.

As you can see, only two were setup for a roller cam. Find out if either of those two matches yours.

Secondly, no trucks or vans (except the Astro/Safari with the 4.3L V6) got roller cams until 1996.

I, for one, have a 14093638 block from a 1990 3/4 ton that has all the provisions for a roller cam but came factory with a flat cam. Am I going to use a roller cam? I haven't decided yet. The cost is certainly better than using a "retro kit", but even such a small overall conversion can be a bit tedious.

I can't say that of all the engines I've built/helped build did anyone say "I wish I would have used a roller cam instead." :shrug:

 

All 87-up 350 blocks used in cars and trucks were cast to accept a factory roller cam/lifters BUT the trucks got flat tappet cams and lifters. You CAN shove a factory-style roller cam and lifters in either.....

BUT..... the truck block may not be drilled and tapped to accept the factory roller lifter "spider" in the lifter valley or the cam retaining plate behind the timing chain gear. They can be drilled and tapped by you/machine shop and then everything will swap right over. If your block happens to be drilled and tapped for both already, even though it has a flat tappet cam in it right now, then you're all set. Some were, some weren't.

 

It was definately the unmodified factory engine as I got it from the original owner and he said it had never been touched. On a van the cam cannot be changed without bending a small tab on the front end which I had to bend to pull the engine out. Also who would change the cam on a work van? Especially one with 80,000 miles on it.
It was this one
14093638...350...87-95...2 or 4...Roller or flat tappet cam
one-piece rear seal
It had a roller cam in it and 4-bolt mains and came out of a 1992 chevy G20 van. It had 193 swirl ports on it. The TBI also had Yellow/Brown code injectors on it which means 65 lbs/hr to me. It ran flawlessly with the TBI before I modified it with the 305 heads and the LT1 cam which convinces me that the tuning in the ECM was for that engine.