Hello,
New here and new to the Trans Am.
I picked up this car recently, although I know very little about it. Always been into the motorcycles, but I had the Firebird keychain when I was 12 and now finally have the car!




Anyways, I got very little info about what was done to this car in the past, only told it was a modified 350 with mild cam. As I know not much about this stuff at this point, I was hoping someone could tell me what this engine is? I'm still looking for some sort of ID plate or something on it.
On top of that, if anyone has any "Look out for this!" type comments, I would be grateful..... like I said, all new to me.
Thanks.

 

Suffix on the passenger side front of block will decode engine block but if it’s been modified who knows what cam or heads without tear down.

 

Welcome to TGO. I recommend spending some time searching the forums. Most of the questions you will have likely have been discussed over the 20+ years this forum has existed.

Nice bird you got there. A 350 with a mild cam can mean a lot of things and many claimed 350's are really not, so who really knows. First, does it run well? That's really all that matters. If you want to know more about what you have, short of pulling the motor and tearing it down to inspect it, there are a few things you can do to learn more about what's there. From your photo, you can tell that it is a small block chevy with 1986 and earlier cylinder heads. It has some aftermarket parts on there (air cleaner, intake manifold, ignition coil, headers). I can't tell from the photo if the original computer controlled Quadrajet carburetor and computer controlled distributor are still in place, or have been swapped for aftermarket components. The air injection system (emissions) has been removed as well.

You can find out what engine block you have by looking the casting numbers behind the driver's side cylinder head where the transmission bellhousing attaches. It will be hard to see with the motor in the car, but you can get to it. That will tell you what that engine block started as (i.e. 305, 350, etc.), but not what parts have been since changed. You can also pull the valve covers and get the cylinder head casting numbers, which will tell you some more info.

 

Ok, thanks for the pointers!
Looks like 3870010 and code on front CKB

Runs great so far, brakes need some work though.... valve pushed to the front side(not sure the proper term) and then brake light on because of it.(replaced two calipers). Removed spacers that raised the seats!(someone raised them 3 inches or so) Changed oil/filter, air filter, all four tires, rear pads-rotors-bearings. replaced coolant. new differential seal.... and headlights.

 

The block # is 3970010. Probably the single most common 4" bore casting from about 1969 to 1980.

So, not original. 99.999999% CERTAIN to have been "rebuilt". Which of course means, NONE of the things that made it whatever the "codes" might tell you it ONCE WAS, are there anymore. Having built many dozens of motors myself, QUITE A FEW of them using that block casting, I can assure you, those "codes" no longer mean ANYTHING.

In the small block Chevy world, NOBODY - NOBODY - EVER drops an original unmodified old motor out of something else into another Chevy. Doesn't work like that. 99.999999% of all such motors, maybe MORE, have been irrevocably altered from their original configuration. That's arguably the PRIMARY virtue of the SBC: the interchangeability is unlike ANY other motor in the entire HISTORY of motors. Everything bolts up to everything else, with VERY FEW well-know and well-documented exceptions. It's not like some Nissan or BMW or some such, where only THAT SAME YEAR motor will interchange, and maybe even only THAT SAME CAR LINE. Like, a 3 series [whatever] might not interchange with the otherwise same motor in a 5 series. Not like that. Everything fits everything. The possibilities are limitless, both for better and worse.

It's quite eeeeeezzzzy to take that block casting with a stamping "code" that says it came out of a 74 Impala 2-bbl with 160 HP, and turn it into a 700 HP MONSTER. (yes I've done it) Likewise it's just as eeeezzzzy to take the same casting number with a stamping code that says it's a "LT-1" out of a 71 "Z/28", and turn it into a 150 HP "rebuilt" smogger PIG. Once a motor has been "rebuilt" whatever information the codes might have contained is DESTROYED. Cast iron retains no memory whatsoever of the sheet metal (or fiberglass) it was wrapped in during its first lifetime.

Looks to me like you have a early 80s LG4 car with a 70s 350 dropped into it and some aftermarket wheels on it. Pretty commonplace as far as that goes. Looks like it hasn't ever been driven in the snow: KEEP IT THAT WAY, the salt will quite literally DISSOLVE that car into a pile of reddish-brown flakes and dust as you stand there and watch, and I mean that exactly as I wrote it: AS YOU STAND THERE AND WATCH you can see the car physically disintegrate in front of your eyes. Keep it out of the salt.

What heads are on it? What pistons are in it? What machine work was done? What cam is in it? By the fuel line - which is a DEATH BOMB land mine just waiting for the worst possible moment to EXPLODE and KILL PEOPLE (obviously you should fix that) - it has a Holley carb. What carb is it? What exhaust is on it? That snakeskin slipped over the heater hose is only good for about .0000001 HP; probably is actually making the car slower by way of the extra weight. I like that the AC appears to be hooked up and with a chance of being functional: that one thing alone can keep an otherwise NICE car from turning into a smelly, dusty, BO-infested, dirty, jackwagon. Looks like they maybe even hooked the cruise all back up.

Butt as far as the motor, the "codes" are WORTHLESS and MEANINGLESS. They no longer tell what the MOTOR now IS, only what the BLOCK used to be a part of. Gotta find out all those other things about parts and machine work to tell you what it REALLY is NOW. If you like it, enjoy it. If it's inadequate, look at those other things, and maybe we can help steer you in the right direction.

 

An 010 block just indicates it's a 4" bore block which generally means it's a 350 and not a 305.

CKB suffix code was used on 1972/73 engines rated at 165 and 175 HP. Both came with a manual transmission so it probably came from a pickup truck.

Other than that, what you have is an early 1970's 350 block with unknown modifications done to it over the last 50 years.

 

Thanks guys, I do appreciate your replies. I don't get lots of time to come on here lately because I bought this car and a Ford Focus ($500.00 ) for the winter.....I mean, a Ford SnowCrusher ....... got to get it ready too. I understand now though what you mean. Whatever the old 350 has become, yet to be determined, runs great but I have several other areas of neglect to take care of on this car before I really investigate further.