can anyone help me by telling me how to tell the difference between the 305 and the 350 ?

 

There are several ways, is the engine apart? In the car? First look for a casting number on the back of the block. Then look up the number at www.mortec.com Or you can measure the bore diameter. You can also look on the block and see if there is a 305, 5.0, 350, 0r 5.7 cast into it.

 

oh okay thanks. the car wont be in the car, but i just wanted a visual clue other than the casting number. i guess just a fail safe.

 

it the heads are off you can take a measuring tape and measure the bore size of the cylinders...a 350 will have a 4" bore and a 305 will have a 3.75" bore...

 

Okay great. hey listen this guy wants to seel me a 87 350 long block that has 100K miles on it for a 150 bucks.. (its a given that i'll rebuild) is that a good deal ?

 

If the engine is an original one you can tell by the vin number. I forget which digit it is but an F stands for 305 and a 8 is 350.

 

this vin would be attached to the body right ? the engine is actually out of the car.

 

If it is indeed an 87 block it will have 5.0 or 5.7 cast into the bellhousing on the driver's side.

 

sweetness! i'll look for that. so given its an 87 350 ( with roller cam ) would it be a good buy ?

 

guy said it came out of a 87 TA GTA

 

Assuming everything's in good working order, then yeah it probably is a good buy. Still, since all 350's are not created equal, I'd run the casting numbers on the block and heads and what-not to try to figure out what you've got. Even if it's the worst block imaginable and most everything is broke internally, 150 would still seem good to me.

 

yea i thought it would be a good buy. he says that this block is the 1pc seal with roller valve train and i look it up on mortec and although he didnt provide me with the casting numbers i did see a similar block for the 87 year.