When I bought my car the guy who sold it to me told me that it had an L98 350 from an 86 Vette. I also met up with another guy one day who told me that it used to be his brothers car and that they were the ones who put the L98 in. I can't to the back of the black at all to get the #'s off of it to check for sure and I need solid proof rather than taking these guys word for it.

Also, I basically need to know this cause my water pump just went and I don't know if the one for the 86 L98 rotates in the opposite direction as say an 86 305 does. I don't want to end up finding out that it's really a 305 and that I've been buying the wrong parts for it. I also don't want to buy the wrong water pump and have it die cause it wasn't the right one.

 

I know this is a lot of work, but you could always pull a head off and measure the bore.

 

It seems like everyone replaces a stock engine with a L98 Vette engine, And the replies you get "its a vette engine" most people would not know if it was a vette engine if it ran over them.
A L98 is a L98 no matter where it came from. Now is a poor time to check if its a 305. Sorry fellow no can help. Not a enough info to even quess.

 

if you are replacing the water pump, does it make a difference, I thought that the only difference would be serpentine vs v-belt, and if you check the block numbers you can research to find what the motor is, and maybe even what it originally came out of depending on what numbers are available, and like th eman said, a L98 is an L98

 

your best bet would be to do what 89 formula said to do and measure the bore

 

also you should be able to tell the difference in power between 305's and 350's if you ever get the water pump on take to the track and she what she does that should be able to determine the dif. between 350 and 305!

 

You can get the block numbers off the flat spot right in front of the passenger head.

But that won't tell you anything about the water pump that you need. The displacement has nothing to do with water pump selection. The f-body went to a reverse rotation pump in 88 when they started with the serpentine belts. If your car is running the regular v-belt setup, then you need a regular long pump. If you've got serpentine, you should verify whether it's turning clockwise or counterclockwise, because it may vary depending on whether the belt system is stock or aftermarket.

I don't know whether the vettes used the reverse rotation pumps, but since my alternator and compressor on my Vette are in the same spots as on my GTA, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm not sure about the older C4s though.

But since your corvette motor probably came out of a van, my guess is that all of your stock 86 accessories were used.