Just out of curiousity, is there anyway I can tell if my TPI motor is a 305 or 350 without getting behind the block to get the casting on the back? Reason I'm asking is the other day a few of us got to looking at my motor, and the harmonic balancer looks like one for a 350 and not a 305. The motor has 170000 miles on it and runs damn strong for a 305, which is why i'm wondering if its a 350. The emissions sticker on the hood says 5.7V8, and appears to have been replaced, because the sticker is not in the same place as original, its a little off. However, my VIN says F on the 8th digit. I'm thinking(and hoping actually) that someone has replaced it with a L98. Any input would be appreciated. Also, what about the injectors, externally is there a difference between the 19's and 22's? Are they a different color by chance?

 

Pull off a valve cover and get the head casting number. Heres a head casting number list, just match em up.

http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm

 

If the VIN says F then it was originally a 305 car, period.

Therefore, you cannot even begin to guess what size an engine is based on head casting number, or injector color, etc. Very possible that a cheap rebuild shop or local shadetree hilljack would put a set of 305 heads on a 350. Also just as likely that it could have injectors from anything on it. My 305 has 1988 350 injectors on it for example.

BTW, all the later 305s have a harmonic damper that 'looks' like a 350 damper, i.e. a little bigger. (iirc 7" vs. 6" or something, i forget offhand) Of course saying it 'looks' like a 350 damper is kind of a misnomer since they are bother internally balanced engines that use the same damper anyway.


But in conclusion, The ONLY way to know what the engine is is to read the casting numbers.

 

in front of the passanger side head on the small ledge near the corner of the water pump there is a partial vin# followed by a suffix code, see if the partial vin matches your's and you'll know if its the origional engine, if it doesnt match take the suffix code and look it up you may be able to tell what it is that way.. you'll probably have to clean off some grime though.. why not just get a small mirror and see if it says 5.7 of 5.0 next to the casting number???

 

also it running strong at 177000 miles dosent really meen anything either,alot of 305's live a looooooong strong life

 

If you really don't want to clean the case and read the casting number, you could simply remove a head and measure the bore. If it's 4", it's likely a 350. If it's only 3.73", it's likely a 305. If it's 4-1/8", you're looking at a 400.

You could also park the car sideways on a 45° angled incline, remove a spark plug, fill a cylinder with oil, then rotate the engine a revolution while catching all the oil that is displaced. measure the oil volume and multiply by however many spark plugs are screwed into the engine.

Like Ed said, head casting numbers, harmonic damper sizes, exhaust manifolds, underhood decals and stickers, and even cast core codes on the sides of the case are irrelevant.

 

LMFAO!! Vader, you're my hero. You've been cracking me up lately. Please keep the sarcasm alive.

Is the guy really that lazy? Sheesh............