What are the noticeable differences between a 305 TPI and a 350 TPI under the hood. I know you could look at the VIN and figure it out, or you could ask the person that owns it, etc. But how can you really tell the difference by just looking under the hood? Does the year of the car matter at all??

 

85 to 86, there were no 350 tpi or 350's at all factory in f-bodies.
as far as telling the difference between an LB9 and an L98... casting numbers on heads, blocks.. that kind of stuff..

 

yea..u cant look under the hood of a camaro or bird and say... hey thats a 350... some 87 and up camaro's and birds have 350's... in camaros...u could not get a 5spd with a 350.. and u could not get a 350 in a vert. For birds.. u could not get a 350 and a 5 spd.. but u could get a 350 vert.. but there arent many bird verts out there... unless u wana go searchin for casting numbers... there is no real way to tell... some other things that seperate a 350 from a 305 are fuel injectors... but u really cant tell right off the bat if there 19lbs ones for 305's or 22lbs ones for 350's... one way u could tell if it is a 350 is that it has a oil cooler... all 350's came with them(at least in camaro's) only some 305's came with oil coolers... G92 package or another RPO code.. vin number is the best way to tell what it is.... i keep an index in my walet, for when i see a thirdgen... i know what shes packin... hehehe

 

as far as I know, the difference between the 305 and 350 are the bore sizes, but don't take my word for it, that's what I've been told

 

yea.. but unless u pop off the heads and take out a ruler...ur not gunna know what it is.

 

I don't plan on doing that anytime soon, I'll just take someones word for it if that's the case, I know I have a 305 I can tell by the power, plus it's the original engine lol

 

Use a mirror and flashlight to look at the back of the block where the bellhousing bolts to it. There's a stamp with 5.0L or 5.7L. Once you've done it a few times, you get the hang of finding it quickly. Of course, there's a good chance it's packed with dirt and grime, soooo..