78 El Camino 350 with 2 barrel carb?
I recently acquired a 78 El Camino with an original 350 motor. But now I'm confused because I've looked up 78 El Camino's in a pretty accurate price guide that says the base motor is a 305-2 barrel and the only 350 option came with a 4 barrel carb. But mine has a Rochester 2 barrel carb on it, and I don't think someone would throw a 2 barrel setup a 4 barrel motor!
Update:I'm not sure if this is correct or not, but I've heard from some people that 4 barrel carbs actually will give you better gas mileage around town because they have smaller primary jets, as long as you're not pushing it.
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Well, if someone did change it to a 2-barrel to save gas, that would be pretty dumb, because everything else being equal, a Quadrajet will give better gas mileage, because the primary venturi's in a Q-jet are smaller than the venturi's of a 2-barrel. That being said, there are a lot of dumb people out there.
Basically, there's 2 ways to tell for sure which size engine you have, and even then, the easier way is not absolutely certain. That would be to get the code off the engine block itself, and find out what it corresponds to. Of course, that doesn't mean that someone couldn't have stroked and bored it to a much larger displacement, or if you're really serious about gas mileage, maybe even decreased the stroke! LOL
The only way to be absolutely certain is to tear it down and measure the bore and stroke. If you take a 350 block and bore and stroke it to 383ci, it's still gonna have a 350 code on the block.
As far as the easier way to check, here's a link that will help. The info here may be enough to figure it out. If not, just do a Google search for "El Camino Forum". Lots of them to choose from, as well as other Chevy performance forums, where I'm sure someone could help.
http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1...
When you say "the options sticker inside the engine compartment" I assume you mean the emissions label. The options sticker would usually be in the glove box, or maybe a "build sheet" stuffed in the back of the seat. Any of those will only tell you what came in it originally.
A friend of mine years ago was telling everybody he had a 440 in his Charger, until he tried to put an Intake Manifold on it, and found a 440 Manifold wouldn't fit, because it was a 383. I'm still not sure if the salesman told him it was a 440, or he just didn't realize they used different manifolds.
By external measurements the 350 is the same block/engine as the 305 and vise verse. The main difference is the crankshaft, intake manifold , and carb. Unless this is a Super Sport or another Badged model what you have is a 305.
As in a swapping a 2 barrel for a 4 barrel to save gas proved wrong.The 4 barrel has better metering--that is why in the in the later years they dropped the 2 barrel -- had a 1983 El Camino's with a 4 barrel on the 305 stock.
Gee wiss--i think that I said by "external messurements". crank/vibration dampner has a different number for that year between the 305/350.
That one guy forgot to mention the bore and pistons of a 305 is 1/4" smaller than a 350..
Dude, the chevy v8 is the easiest family of engines to swap parts on or full engines..
You can put heads, intakes, carbs from 283's onto 400's. Parts swaps around easy.
Heck my 1988 camaro has a '71 350 in it, with '66 heads, and '74 transmission
You could have a 305 block in your car, or a 350 engine that came from a whole diff car, or heck you could have a 283, or 327 from the 60's in there..
Only way to know for sure what you have is to look up the block's casting # and sufix code (rear drivers side and front pass side), then look up the codes at mortec.com or nastyz28.com
Now believe it or not, ALOT of people use to swap 2bbl carbs in place of the 4bbl to save gas.
Like Arn sez, there's lots or possibilities. You can check the code that stamped on a pad on the top or the block near the head mating area. My first guess is that it's a 305. The Rochester 4MV Quadrajets worked fine for me. The primary venturis (the 2 barrels you run on most of the time) aren't that big or hard on gas, considering. The secondaries are huge and that gives the mill a distinctive sound when you crack them open in a healthy engine.
There are many possibilities. One is that you do not know where that engine came from. Maybe it is a 305, or a 350. Maybe it is the original, maybe not. The point is, are you happy with it as is? If so, stop torturing yourself. If not, change it.
The edelbrock performer or performer RPM intake and a 600 cfm carb will probbly be worth about 20-25 HP gain over your stock iron intake and 2bbl carb
they could have, in order to save on gas. the old 350's were pigs 7-8 mpg with a 2 bar. maybe 9-12