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how do i know which engine is in my car

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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 02:35 PM
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i have a 98 trans am and im not sure which engine is in my car..... yes i know its an ls1 but i bought it from a kid who said supposidly it has a engine out of a 04 gto. he didnt have paper work on the engine but for the price that i bought it at and the engine ran strong and clean i figured who cares if he is lying or not so i bought now im trying to order parts for it and im not sure what to buy?

do i buy parts for a 98 ls1 (i thought these were the weird engines out of the group) or do i buy parts for an 04 gto?

Is there a way i can look up the serial number to tell what it is? if so where do i find the serial number? is there anything on the engine that will be a dead give away as to what it is?

Any help would be great thanks
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 03:05 PM
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If it's got perimeter bolt valve covers then it's an LS1 ,,,,,or find #'s on the intake , or 1 of the cylinder heads or the block right behind the drivers side cyl head , the block cylinder deck extends out from where the head ends at the rear of the block towards the firewall about an inch and that's where the engine code is . You'll probably need a mirror and a bright flashlight .
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 03:14 PM
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i know for sure its an ls motor with it being a gto engine or a t/a engine does it really matter when ordering external parts???? im looking to get a t/b is the problem and i know the 98's are different i am getting a ls6 intake but those fit either way im just worried about the t/b
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 03:20 PM
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it will mater foro some parts pertaining to the heads and thats always nice to know when ordering parts. Read us the three numbers on the head, that will reveal the year of the heads. Also go to the passengers side of the intake and about halfway back by the injectors on the intake you will see a long number post that up also.
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by khoward8509
i know for sure its an ls motor with it being a gto engine or a t/a engine does it really matter when ordering external parts???? im looking to get a t/b is the problem and i know the 98's are different i am getting a ls6 intake but those fit either way im just worried about the t/b
98 LS1 motor have 853 heads and the valve covers have perimeter bolts. The injectors are 28#s. The stock tb have different cam size from 98-99, IIRC?

From late 2000 all the way up to 2004 being fbody or GTO, the heads were changed to 241s and the valve covers have center bolts however from 2001-2004 the ls1s have 28#s injectors, LS6 intake manifold some of them have LS6 blocks (no bullseye stamping or casting mark on the block).

You can dissect all these information provided to all the newbies at the stickies section.

Last edited by bene; Jan 14, 2012 at 05:57 PM.
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 03:36 PM
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04 gto has an ls1 just like a 98 camaro...only few subtle differences like valve covers, head casting, etc...ls2 didn't come unitI late 05 def 06 though, 04 only got ls1
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 06:13 PM
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98 Ls1 motors had 806 castings heads..
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 08:05 PM
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unfortunately i store my car at my dads on the other side of town and i didnt get any of the messages before i left i did have the wife take some pics of the intake and the t/b if that helps at all
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 08:24 PM
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and get the numbers off the heads. should be 241. and if possible (hard to do) at the back of the block. drivers side right under the cylinder head is the number. you can run that to determine year. use a small mirror and a light, easier to do from underneath.
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 08:54 PM
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next time i am there i will get the head and try to get the block number but for now here are a pic of the weiand intake and the t/b from both sides
Attached Thumbnails how do i know which engine is in my car-img_7800_edited-1.jpg   how do i know which engine is in my car-img_7802_edited-1.jpg   how do i know which engine is in my car-img_7803_edited-1.jpg  
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Old Jan 14, 2012 | 09:47 PM
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hm. and it doesnt look like it has a ls6 valley cover. pics of the heads are needed. and valve covers
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