Thread: 305 or 350

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i got a 74nova and plan on using the engine but i cant figure out if its a 350 or 305.the only numbers i can get are v0913tpa.and those are perfectly clear so i know those are correct. i got these off the block by the water pump.down by the engine mount on drivers side i got 688 or 633 they were pretty bad looking.and i saw 16551n around there also.and what is also strange is the vavle covers bolt on in the middle to the heads.not around the sides.the vin number is 1y27h4w237996 but the pervious owner said that wasnt the orginal engine.if u guys can help me or give me a step by step to geting the casting number.pics are worth a 1000 words.thanks

I'll try to get a pic of where to look and dig out the old numbers book I have somewhere, but you want to look on the back of the block high, by the heads. On top of the deck. Behind the intake by the ditributor. The casting numbers you're lookin' for should be there. Denny you are absolutely correct, newer heads have centre mount valve covers.

That number on the block pad by the water pump will tell you everything you need to know about the engine, but I'll try to find the info for you a little later on this evening.

If that fails to identify the motor, the only other way that I know of determining it's displacement is to remove a head and measure the diameter of a bore. Not fun, and a lot of work, but you can tell in a minute or so if you have a 4" bore block (350) or not.

Randy

where denny said http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm

Originally posted by vurtok
That number on the block pad by the water pump will tell you everything you need to know about the engine, but I'll try to find the info for you a little later on this evening.

If that fails to identify the motor, the only other way that I know of determining it's displacement is to remove a head and measure the diameter of a bore. Not fun, and a lot of work, but you can tell in a minute or so if you have a 4" bore block (350) or not.

Randy

If you were to take a head off and measure a 327 also has a bore of 4 inch but a 350 has a stroke of 3.48 and the 327 I believe is a stroke of 3.25. Only throwing this in cause I recently bought a 350 that turned out to be a 327

Okay, here goes, I hope I got close:

V = Flint, MI engine plant
0913 = September 13 build date
T = truck application

and this is where I'm not sure, but couldn't find any additional info to back it up

(T)PA = 1992 / 350cid / 210 hp / manual trans / RPO# L-05

the only other references I found that were even close were for TPB and TPC which were both van and school bus 307s from 1971, and I didn't much think that was your case.

What the previous post said is correct, about a 327 having a 4" bore (and so does a 302), but I assumed we were either concerned with the engine in question being a 305 or a 350; so I'll leave 327s and 302s out of the discussion. All that said, I still think the only way to be absolutely certain is to measure that bore. If you're concerned about other issues with the engine's identity, you can address them after you find out what the bore size is.

Randy

On that engine look on the back of the block (driverside) where it bolts to the tranny it WILL be cast and have either 5.0L or 5.7L

5.0 = 305.....5.7 = 350

hope that helps

Another tip....usually late 70's till mid 90's a 305 will have a fat harmonic balancer you cannot get your finger between the balancer and the timing chain cover.... A 350 you can... this works 90% of the time....