"Jessie Herrera" wrote: > Hi, > Sorry about your engine. What a mess. Your engine or any > other engine > from 400 cu in on down is a small block. 400s are rare. A > short block is > one without the heads and intake. Big blocks are from old > 396's up. The > bb block is a huge motor in appearence. The heads are about > twice the > size of the small block. There is no mistaking them. Big > blocks seem > hard to find. There is an abundance of 350's in many places. > Check your > local news paper for engines. Make sure that the heads or > block are not > cracked. Over heating on a sb Chevy can easily crack heads. > Get a > reciept from the seller stating that the blocks or heads are > not > cracked. This way you can get your money back if they are. > Pretty much > all the small blocks parts are interchangable. For a good > rebuilder > engine you should pay around $50.00 and up. A good source is > your > "thrifty ads" or equivalent. These are the ads that people run > to sell > personal and odd stuff usually under $500.00. Fridays, > Saturdays, and > Sundays are your best bet. Good luck to you. > Jessie > > > BadBow99S10 wrote: > > > I have a 1990 Chevy Caprice. It has a 5.0 liter 305 > according to the > > VIN and the block. Unfortunately, It doesn?t say if its a BB > or SB. I > > was wondering if it would be a short block or big block. > Finding parts > > on online auctions is difficult when you don?t know. Also > considering > > upgrading to the 5.7L 350. From what I hear, it should work. > The old > > engine is probably in too poor of condition to be rebuilt. > What do > > you think? > > > > The car ran fine until one day I put the pedal to the > metal. The > > sound of breaking metal and slipping timing was followed by > silence. > > I coasted about 3 blocks before I used the parking brake to > stop. > > Before that, it only made a slight ticking noise. I found > out later > > that the ticking was the crankshaft hitting a broken rod. It > wasn?t a > > tapping valve like people suggested. I also found a > brownish-black > > sludge in the cylinder with the broken rod. > > > > It?s old over-heated coolant mixed with carbon buildup. I > haven?t > > taken the entire engine out yet. The pistons, cam, crank, > pan, and > > rods are the only thing attached to the block(besides the > tranny). The > > engine is still in the car. It is actually sitting on the > frame. Both > > mounts? rubber is completely gone. The only things that > might be > > salvageable would be the block(if not cracked), the > pistons(if not > > broken), valve springs and retainers, and the heads(if not > cracked). > > > > Things wrong with the 305 5.0L: cracked intake manifold, > bent rods > > (due to broken rod), possible cracked head, possibly had a > blown head > > gasket, 1 broke rod (pushed it down about 2 1/2" with finger > while > > other pistons stayed in place), 7 seized pistons(8th was > completely > > broken from crank months before, apparently), stretched > timing chain, > > cam timing off by 90 degrees, shattered cam thrust washer > plate(don?t > > know the actual name. I?ts the bolted on plate behind the > cam gear.), > > found about 4 1/2 quarts of pure coolant and water in oil > pan(about 5 > > 1/2 quarts of oil also found in the oil pan.) > >
Thanks. That answers my question. I already have my 350 block on the way. I?ve already paid $107.50($227.50 after shipping) for my block. I think I?m going to use SB 350 caprice heads(modified) and the intake as well. I might decide to get another vehicle in the next few days. If I do, I might take my time and make the 350 .030 motor into a 383. Thank you everyone.