engine I.D. by color?

[ol yellow 72]

quick question i picked up a 82 chevy and was told it has an 86 chevy 350 4 bolt main, which im highly douting, anywho its the blue engine color, block, valve covers ect. is it possible to tell aprox. age and engine size by color. an old friend told me blue was 305 colors but needing some advise.
thanks

[benoit454]

just get the numbers off the back of the block and the front under the alternator and that'll tell you, ppl can paint a motor any color.

[BigBlocksRule]

There's not a single smallblock casting number after about '69 that you can identify the number of main cap bolts with - other than a 400. Casting numbers were the same for 2 and 4 bolt blocks, same as big blocks, and all castings could be machined for either 2 or 4 bolts. As for a 400, 511 castings are 4-bolt, 509 and 817's are 2-bolt.
As for colors, they were all orange until late 70's, then all were blue until the 1-piece rear main stuff came out and they're black.

[benoit454]

well I wasn't saying it would tell him about the bolt count I meant to actually know if they thing was an 86 76 or whatever year not to mention whether it's 305 or 350 or whatever.

1 piece rms would be 86 and up so if it's 86 by that theory it would be black.

[BigBlocksRule]

Casting number will tell you for sure what the block displacement originally was - 305, 350, etc.

[nbpro]

Between the end of August and first week of September, 1976, the Flint engine assembly plant changed from Chevrolet Orange to GM Corporate blue engine paint.

[benoit454]

not in all cases the suffix code will tell you exactly but the casting gets you close, example the one in our 84 is

3970010 302/350 69-79 145-370 car & Truck 2 & 4-Bolt Most common

so you have no way of knowing whether it's a 302 or 350, the suffix comes up to ours being a 74 c20 truck with MT and 4 bolt mains with 175hp.

[BigBlocksRule]

305 and 350 aren't the same block, but you can build a 327 and 350 out of the same one. Suffix codes aren't always spot-on, but they can help. Problem is they're hard or impossible to read sometimes. Best bet is still to pull the pan and check.

nbpro, that's a helluva handy bit of trivia, thanks!

[benoit454]

double post

[benoit454]

yea my mistake meant 302 or 327 and 350's I thought was what the 010 block was. yea here's more on what it comes up with.
3970010 350 69 Corvette late 69,4 bolt main
3970010 302 69 Camaro Z/28,Late 69, 4 bolt main
3970010 350 69-79 Truck 2&4 bolt main
3970010 350 69-79 Pass,Chevelle,Camaro,Nova,Monte Carlo 2&4 bolt main
3970010 350 70 Corvette 300,350,370 HP 4 bolt main
3970010 350 71 Corvette 270,330 HP 4 bolt main
3970010 350 72 Corvette 200,255 HP 4 bolt main


without the suffix we'd have no idea what it came from and what hp and such.

luckily ours we readable and we figured out what it was they can be faked, damaged or removed when the engine gets decked.

none the less they still get you closer then what color it is.

[dswancutt]

Not really, I have a 77 that has the red-orange block, my uncle has two 77's which are corporate blue. Around 1983 GM went to a black engine. Don't hold me to this, but after 1979, the dipstick moved from the drivers side to the passenger side on 350, but a 305 was always on the passenger side. Casting numbers are really the only way to tell what the engine is.

[BigBlocksRule]

That 3970010 is the most common of GM's smallblocks, I've seen 'em orange and blue, 2 and 4 bolt, some with 010/020 under the timing cover and some with nothing.

[benoit454]

yep and that's what I got is the 010 block, but that's besides the point.

As for the dipstick thing yea fro what I know it's the same 305's ps always or so my old man says and then in 80 or so and up they moved to the ds.

[BigBlocksRule]

So, what is the point? You said you had an engine that was claimed to be a 350 4-bolt main that you were looking for advice on...
The casting date will be on the bellhousing ledge on the other side of the block - should be alpha-numeric. Post that and we'll help you with the age...

[benoit454]

that's what I was thinking too, guess he just wanted to see if he could tell by paint, but that's too easy to redo anytime.