Ok.. im 16 and i got a 1985 camaro as a gift from my uncle. he said it has a 350 (small block?) in it.. and i dont know what that means.. it needs to be painted, needs new seatsm and a new inner roof.. is there any tips/ suggestions you can tell me to help me learn more? im not relaly a car person so i dont know too much.. i dont know if its a z28 or not. thank you

 

If its an 85 then its probably not a 350 unless it has been swapped in. They didnt start putting 350's into third gens until 87.

350 refers to the size of the engine (350 cubic inches) or more specifically the volume of all of the cylinders added up, another common way to write the 350ci engine is the 5.7Litre engine it means the same thing

The other V8 motor they made for the camaros which you probably have is the 305ci, 5.0L motor.

Check the vin for your car. It is located all the way forward on the dash infront of the driver you have to look in through the front window to see it. Then take the code in the vin and go to www.thirdgen.org and run it in their vin decoder. That will tell you what at least the car came with from the factory

 

yea my uncle did an engine swap on it about 10 years back and put a 350 in it. whats the diff between big and small block?

 

best advise to learn more is to read around this site, TONS of information. and i would buy a repair manual for the car, they break down all the reparis and are great for learning how to fix minor things yourself.

there are also some decent magazines that show real world build ups on common everyday cars. most mags are jsut showcases for $100,000 hot rods which really dont' help the average guy.
look for Car Craft or GM High Performance

you are ahead of the game if you already have a 350 installed, rebuild parts are readily available and relatively inexpensive.

for interior parts i thin www.yearone.com has plenty

 

Also a great site to check out is www.howstuffworks.com I was in the same position as you about a year ago, had just bought a third gen and didnt know squat about cars (was also 16). Between howstuffworks.com, this website, www.thirdgen.org (the forums there being most helpful), and just having a knowledgeable friend help me when stuff on my car needs being repaired, i have learned a rediculous amount about working on cars.