Question about 4 bolt main blocks?
Question about 4 bolt main blocks? My father has a 67 camaro. He just needs to replace the block. A guy at a shop said he can get him a 4 bolt main block. The oil dipstick would be on the passenger side instead of the drivers side. The guy said it would still work he would just need a different oil pan. Could my father use all his parts in this shortblock. Since the shortblock is for years 85+ up. Just wondering because of the reserve flow and stuff like that - Any info would help. - Mike
TECH Resident
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 855
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From: AUSTIN TX
Is he buying the complete short block or just the bare block? I forget the exact year splits, but if I remember correctly all the the 350 chevy's were left hand dipstick (dipstick on drivers side) until 1979, then in 1980 they moved it to the right side (passenger side). If this is the block he is getting then all he will need is a pan. Then a few years later, possibly 1985, they switched to a 1 piece rear main seal. This block would require even a different pan than than the earlier right hand dip pan since the rear seal is different, it would also require a different crank that was designed for the 1 piece seal. If you have to use a 2 piece crank there is some sort of seal adapter than can be used to retrofit the 2 pc seal style cranks into a 1 piece block. Also some time after that they started to offer some blocks that were set up for the factory hyd roller cams. I do not think they started offering these in the conventional 4 bolts though until 1988-1989 time frame. Prior to that most of the roller blocks were 2 bolts. All of these would still work in your dads car with relatively minimal changes as they are all still identical on the outside (with the exception of possibly some starter bolt holes which my require the use of a later model starter). Some of the earlier blocks allegedly had thicker cylinder walls and decks, but some of the later models were cast with better steel, so it is hard to say which would be better. By the way, none of these I mentioned used the reverse cooling you mentioned in your original post, that was not used until the LT1 style motor which is considerably different and you would most likely not want to use. Good Luck
