how would one do this? i was told by the person i bought my car from that it was upgraded to a 5.7 but i don't know how to verify this. I was told by one guy at an auto body shop that he could tell that the top of the engine was modded (he pointed to the top of the engine area and said "all of this was upgrade"). I think he said the header tubes on top were bigger, and it was bored out. The biggest job i have every done is replace a starter, so i know enough to be dangerous !!

Is there anyway i can check myself or ask a real mechanic to look, what would i look for?

thanks.

 

The ONLY way you will know if its a 5.7 is to get the engine casting numbers off the block on the drivers side behind the cylinder head where the transmission meets the block... there are a series of numbers stamped there.

He could tell it was bored out by just looking at it???? wow... i mustve missed that education way back when

As far as any aftermarket intake parts, they can be used on BOTH a 5.0 and a 5.7. so thats a moot point to distinguish one from another

 

A 305 can't be turned into a 350. But a 305 can be taken out & a 350 put in its place. Externally, there is no difference & maybe that is what the seller meant.

Or he was just bs'ing you & it is a 305.

 

yeah i really have no idea if i was lied to or not. I paid 5500 for the car, so i figure either way im ok, but of course more power is better. I plan on keeping this car indefinitely i hope, so eventually i hope to do a bunch of upgrades over time ;-) but would be nice to know what was done already. I do know that the base engine is a 305 because i found those id numbers a while back. I just thought that you could take a 305 and modify it to put out more hp to the equivalent of a 350. That's what i was told was done, but i have no idea...

 

You can pull a 305. Bore it, put in a 400 crank & get a 334, but can't take it all the way to 350 cubic inches.

And yes....305s can make power. The usual argument is though....Why start smaller, put a lot of mods into it when the same mods on a bigger base to start out with (like a 350) would result in even more power?

The 305 is a decent foundation if that is what one has already & can't afford to go buy a 350 block & build from there. And some people just plain like going with the underdog. I had a 64 Bug right out of High School. I didn't need to win races to embarrass the other guy. Just be within a car length or so. Just barely beating a Bug was bad enough for him.

 

im assuming you knew it was the base engine because of the vin number.

You can get more power out of any engine with internal and external mods, but the 350 is a better starting platform. If you really want to know what engine it is, you will have to get the casting numbers off the block

Good luck

 

He certainly could've modded it to have the output of a 5.7, without actually putting a new motor in. Stock vs. Stock, the 5.7 was only a little more powerful.

....and if he was looking at the "top" of the motor, since you said "header tubes" maybe you have either a large bore runner on the intake, or aftermarket headers. hard to say without pics.

No way to know what the internal displacement is just by popping the hood, not without the casting number on the block.

 

thanks, my car is at a body shop getting a full exterior restoration. i just dropped it off and they quoted 2 weeks to complete. if i can get pics before then ill upload, otherwise once i get it back i will for sure.

 

i was at body shop today (pic here https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ml#post4849651) and next door there was a mechanic shop dropping an ls9 (i think) into a third gen camaro. I asked him to look at it, and he started it up, looked at it for a few minutes, and said "it's all stock, no upgrades here except for my flow master". so i guess that's what it is. He said upgrade the rolling cams (something like that), headers, and that i already had 3" exhaust with flow master. so i guess thats what ill research next.

 

He's probably talking about a "roller" cam. The lifters have wheels that reduce friction, and allows for a more agressive cam lobe. ....but in 89, you'd already have that. I think 87 was the first year for the thridgen with a roller cam.

....headers are a good start. Also a full on, complete tune up. Other than that, just keep reading!!!!! ....this site is the best tool you'll ever have.