I would like to know how to verify what engine I have in my 91 rs. When I bought it I was told by the previous owner that it had a 350. I didn't know much about Camaro's at the time, so I just nodded my head at the time. It is TBI, and I know that rs Camaro's came with either a v6 or 305 v8. I have also been reading on here about how slow the rs is, even with the 305.

At this point, I think that the engine may have been swapped at one time. For one thing, this thing pulls hard. I can lay two long black patches damn near until I hit redline and have to shift. Also, the engine has no oil leaks. I have owned several Chevy's over the years, and if they have one thing in common, they tend to develop oil leaks after a while. The car has 187,000 miles on it, but the engine does not leak a drop of oil.

Is there an easy way to tell if it is a 305 or a 350 engine block?

 

Good question: I've actually been wondering the same exact thing myself. My '91 RS has a 305 TBI, but it pulls hard as hell and it'll chirp the tires hitting second. I know for a fact that my 700R4 is from an '86 (just had it rebuilt), so I've sorta been wondering if mine wasn't swapped for a 350 at some point before I got it.

I'm pretty new to GM stuff; I could tell you all about Ford engines and a good bit about Mopar stuff, but this is my first Chevy. I'm afraid I'm not too hip to all the little differences between engines.

One thing I'm pretty sure of, is that only the 305 was offered with the Throttle Body Injection. This leads me to believe that if the engine was swapped out at some point, they probably would have upgraded the fuel system at the same time. That's just guess work and a bit of ratiocination, but I can not imagine going to the trouble of an engine swap and not upgrading the fuel to TPI or going the simpler route of tossing on a carb.

I know mine has a Jet chip installed, and a shift kit in the tranny, and 3" Flowmaster cat-back, so maybe that's enough to make a noticeable difference over stock. Or maybe the 305 justisn't as bad a people say.

If somebody has an easy way to ID the various engines, I'd love to know!

 

It may be true that Camaro's only offered the 305 in TBI form, but other GM vehicles had TBI 350's. My 94 pickup has one.

I don't know, maybe it's the original engine and I have just gotten too used to driving 4 cylinder imports. But my Camaro pulls way harder than my pickup, and it has some mods on it. I am definitely not disapointed with the power mine has. But I sure would like to take a ride in an IROC or Z28 so I could compare them.

 

99 44/100% of sellers claim that the 305 is a 350 or claim they don't know what it is. So in most cases it is the stock engine as may be your case 305 TBI &170HP. My opinion would be no one would put a TBI on 350 engine swap. Or go to mortec.com for engine block ID which would be a waste of time.

 

im a rolling example of somebody who put a TBI unit on a 350 engine swap...

 

So you are the 56/100 % that I quoted[sm=hail.gif]that has that oddball combo.

 

Now that we have that straightened out, does anyone have an answer to my original question? How can I tell for sure which one I have?

 

You need the casting numbers off the block and check them at Mortec.com. Outside of that there is NO external differences between a 305/350 that is why they are so easy to pass off as a 350. But I still betting it is a 305. So get your flashlight and degreaser and go to it. The numbers are not in a easy location.

 

Thanks blackz87, but whereare the casting numbers located?

 

Try on the block below the drivers side heads.Like I said not a easy location and it may be cast somewhere else depending on the year.