Yes no? any other differences?

Is it 3rd gen related as far as the motors being from birds and maros? Or just 350 in general, from truck to car?

84=2pc rear main, could be either 2 or 4 bolt mains.
92=1pc rear main, could be either 2 or 4 bolt mains.

84's and 92's came with different head/intake bolt patterns in the center, 84 would have perimeter bolt valve covers and 92 w/ center bolt valve covers. I don't know what else.

Alright, i'm thinking about, in the future, grabbing a 3rd gen with a 350 and working the engine out to +300whp on bolts ons as a project car

get a 91 or 92

Xeno, why only 300whp? why not shoot for more around 400?

Cause I'll be in college while i'm doing this. Literally the maro will be last in line for cash cause i'll be living off of loans and grants and stuff.

sounds like a good plan Xeno, i personally love the 3rd gen body style, but im lookin more the technological route and trying to get my hands on an LS1..

Yeah for a third gen.. get the newer ones. If you find a Z28 thats 91-92 with a 350 TPI.. thats rated at 245 HP right there, so you wont be THAT far from your goal..

i'll be looking for a maro that is for sale for like 800-1000 bucks so i think 89-92 are out of the picture ya know...

you're not gonna find a whole lot to work with in that price range that isnt gonna need a whole ton of money put into it right away..

I know, i'm just toying with the idea right now anyways. I am also considering a 93 lt1 to mess with too, depending on budget really. Not sure, I'll have to wait until i'm in college tosee how much 'play' money I have.

84=2pc rear main, could be either 2 or 4 bolt mains.
92=1pc rear main, could be either 2 or 4 bolt mains.

84's and 92's came with different head/intake bolt patterns in the center, 84 would have perimeter bolt valve covers and 92 w/ center bolt valve covers. I don't know what else.

1984 - flat tappet cam and lifters, 1992 - hydraulic roller cam and lifters. The distributors are different as well, with the 1984 being the classic HEI layout and the 1992 having a small-diameter cap with an external coil.

To expand on what Genopsyde stated, the difference in the heads/intake took place starting in 1987. The cylinder heads have a higher valve cover mounting flange and the valve covers have 4 bolts that go into their center, located on each cylinder between the intake and exhaust rockers. The rockers themselves have 'rails' on the ends to guide them over the valves. The intakes are different because the center 4 bolts are angled a little more upwards to actually enable the use of a wrench on them! Wow what a concept, IMO this should have been done many years before 1987. That's basically the only difference between the intakes and it is possible, with a TIG welder, to modify an earlier intake onto the later heads.

The reason Chevy went to center-bolt valve covers has more to do with the way that GM was using this engine in so many cars at the time - the higher-side and center bolt arrangement cut down on oil leaks.

GM figured nobody'd want a Cadillac Fleetwood with a 5.0/5.7 that was leaking oil from the valve covers.

Edited to add:

1985 was the last year for the two-piece rear seal.
_<1987 - Flat tappet hydraulic cam/lifters, perimeter valve cover bolts, some (TPI) with small cap/external coil "TPI distributor".
=>1987 - Hydraulic roller cam/lifters, center-bolt valve covers, new intake, all SBC engines with the TPI distributor.

good to know, 87+ for me then :)

wow btw you know a shit-ton about 350's

eh...i coulda told ya all that....................jk

i have no money now.. if i was in college.. i would have even less.. that would suck.....

Anyway, Xeno, he's there HP ratings for the 5.7 TPI Maros 87 to 92..

87-88: 225
89-90: 240
91-92: 245

not all '87-up 350's are have roller cams. most of the ones in trucks and vans were still hydraulic flat tappet cams. The 4.3's (based on the 350) were however roller cam engines from '87 on.

vortec- how do i verify if one is roller or not?

rally- thx for hp raitings, how about trq?

Eh.. TQ, I dont know, im sure its somewhere around 300 because if you didnt know thats the reason why the 5.7 was never offered in a manual, they couldnt handle the torque.

Without actually pulling the intake manifold and removing a lifter, I think you can tell by looking at the distributor gear which mates with the cam gear. The roller cams are made of hardened steel, which requires a bronze (softer) distributor gear while the non roller cams are just iron and use an iron distributor gear. I don't remember if they look different if you compare two stock gears but that is probably the easiest way to tell that I can think of.

so pretty much a 3rd gen 350 from 89 to 92 is the best bet

Without actually pulling the intake manifold and removing a lifter, I think you can tell by looking at the distributor gear which mates with the cam gear. The roller cams are made of hardened steel, which requires a bronze (softer) distributor gear while the non roller cams are just iron and use an iron distributor gear. I don't remember if they look different if you compare two stock gears but that is probably the easiest way to tell that I can think of.

That only applies to aftermarket billet steel roller cams. The factory rollers are made out of the same hardened nodular cast iron the flat tappet cams are made out of, and use the exact same distributor gear.

You can determine the presence of a roller cam if you pull off the timing cover. Roller cams have a thrust plate that's bolted to a flange on the front of the engine, under the timing sprocket. The presence of these bolts verifies the existence of the roller cam. You can also pull the intake off - roller lifters require the use of a hardened steel "spider" that bolts to the center oil rail in the lifter valley. The "spider" locks in place the guides for the roller lifters - each cylinder's two lifters will be connected together with these guides. Flat tappet cams do not have this - you will only see the tops of the lifters and the pushrods.