my '83 camaro is running a L48 vette engine the question is this. is this basically the same as any other GM 5.7 350 engine. the reason i ask is that i am worried about ordering performance parts for a std 350 camaro engine and then not fitting. its a '80 TBI engine by the way. thx in advance

 

A SBC is a SBC almost all part are compatible, between them.

So yes its just a tbi 350. I didn't think they had tbi back in 80 , but whatever. I believe they first cam out with crossfire twin tbi in 81.

 

i might be wrong about the TBI then. how would i tell?. sorry i am new to this. if its not a TBI what would it be ,all i know is its a carbed engine,. The reason for all the questions is that i have been told that the std heads are terrible on this engine. i have been offered a set of performance heads of an GM 5.7 engine, it was in a boat but the heads are in good condition , apparently they just need a bit of reworking. the guy selling them said that they should fit right on my engine as all the 5.7 350 GM engine parts were interchangable. is this true?

 

If it's carbed, then it's certainly not any kind of TBI. The L48 was the base model 4bbl carbureted 350 available in the Corvette through the 70s.

 

Thats the same engine I pulled from a '79 Z28 for my Camaro. Its got the 929 cam (lame), Qjet 4bbl, 882 or 624 heads, cast dished pistons, 8:1 CR, cast crank, and HEI distributor. It makes around 190hp and 270ft-bs, stock.

 

What heads are those the guy is trying to sell? What are the casting numbers? If they need work probably not a good investment to buy them, considering you could buy brand new performance heads for +$1-200 more.

 

thats th same engine as mine air adam it has the 624 heads. my frind is selling the heads for £100 , $200, he said that they are in excellent condition but as they have been sitting in the water the exterior could do with a clean up , he also said that the valves etc need changing as the components on a boat set up are alot softer as the engine is only revved up to about 4000 rpm,.

Just out of interest Air_Adam what did you find worked well on your L48 engine i.e cam, heads and any other performance mods

 

I actually haven't done a whole lot to it yet, but putting in some lighter springs (with stock weights) in the distributor and a more powerful coil helped noticeably. Not really more power, but it just 'felt' better.. stronger, healthier.

Headers and exhaust will be going in next weekend, so I can report back after that, but they should help ALOT. I changed the stock manifold to an old Edelbrock Torker (flame suit on! ) and got a Holley 4bbl on it, and that really woke it up alot! For a single plane intake, it actually has a good amount of off-idle torque. It feels about the same as the stock intake untill around 2000 rpm or so, but above that up to redline, it feels quite a bit more powerful than it did with the iron intake and Qjet it came with.

An open element or HO air cleaner will also make a noticeable difference if you are still using the single snorkel air cleaner.