If you have "LV2" on the build plate as your engine type its a 304, "L31" a 308. Brocks had "V5H" from memory. But from around VK'85 era onwards all were 304's except of course the stroker 215kw.

ill try and settle it. Blocks stamped 308 are the trimatic blocks. The turbo pattern blocks are stamped 5.0l. And are a bit stronger, not that any holden block is weak. With the end of the 308 holden used what they had left so your engine could be a 308 or 304. To be exact. Get it all measured up. And as stated the difference is in the crank.

Blocks stamped 308 are not trimatic blocks. My brother has a factory manual VN 5L, and it is clearly stamped 308 on the side of the block. 308ci = 5L 304ci = 4.9L No doubt Holden chopped and changed parts.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lubche ill try and settle it. Blocks stamped 308 are the trimatic blocks. The turbo pattern blocks are stamped 5.0l. And are a bit stronger, not that any holden block is weak. With the end of the 308 holden used what they had left so your engine could be a 308 or 304. To be exact. Get it all measured up. And as stated the difference is in the crank. i have a turbo pattern block with 308 on side(around a 79 model) i also have a trimatic block with 308 on side(86 model) and what do you mean by measure it all up.......... cause i didnt use the crank from my vl and i have another 308 crank from a hz both use rope seals and both have 308 stamped on crank. so where do you recomend i measure if your saying that they turned 308 cranks into 304 cranks??? and are rod lengths the same from 308 to 304??? cause ill measure them when i find out what to measure and ill know then that some 308 cranks are 304.

Quote: Originally Posted by demo and are rod lengths the same from 308 to 304??? Yes all holden V8's use a 5.625" rod, yes even 253's and 350cube strokers.

Quote: Originally Posted by 5spdvl Blocks stamped 308 are not trimatic blocks. My brother has a factory manual VN 5L, and it is clearly stamped 308 on the side of the block. 308ci = 5L 304ci = 4.9L No doubt Holden chopped and changed parts. thats weird. i forgot that some of the older 308's did have Turbo boxes factory. Well im stumped. All i know is. Mine says 308 on the block, comes up with a 304 on the vin calc, and is a trimatic block. If i ever pull the sump off ill check the crank stamp. If you are really that worried wether its a 304 or 308. Take it to an engine builder. And have the specs of your crank measured. and see wether it comes up with the specs of the 308 or the 304.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lubche thats weird. i forgot that some of the older 308's did have Turbo boxes factory. Well im stumped. All i know is. Mine says 308 on the block, comes up with a 304 on the vin calc, and is a trimatic block. If i ever pull the sump off ill check the crank stamp. If you are really that worried wether its a 304 or 308. Take it to an engine builder. And have the specs of your crank measured. and see wether it comes up with the specs of the 308 or the 304. Wait a minute - I think you and I are talking about different things (referring to what demo has said above). By trimatic, you mean three speed auto trimatic transmission? Or trimatic bolting pattern, versus turbo bolting pattern (turbo 400/700)?

Quote: Originally Posted by Lubche thats weird. i forgot that some of the older 308's did have Turbo boxes factory. Well im stumped. All i know is. Mine says 308 on the block, comes up with a 304 on the vin calc, and is a trimatic block. If i ever pull the sump off ill check the crank stamp. If you are really that worried wether its a 304 or 308. Take it to an engine builder. And have the specs of your crank measured. and see wether it comes up with the specs of the 308 or the 304. im not worried because its all been replaced now just confused that vl are supposed to be a 304 but are actually 308. and if i took it to a engine builder they will look at the stamp and assume its a 308.

even if they assumed one way or another, when you assemble the short. if you had 308 pistons and a 304 crank the piston will sit an extra .020" down the bore, a total of about .025-.030" down from deck height, assembler should notice. Aternatively if you had 304 pistons and a 308 crank the pistons would sit about .005-.010" ABOVE deck height, and if you cant notice that, you're not much of an engine builder. The pin height in the piston is the ONLY difference in teh dimensions of the short other than the crankshaft that varies between 304 and 308.

Any engine builder should know by now that they are a 304 in capacity but internals and block are stamped 308, most probably so Holden could use up it's surplus rather than cast more parts with 304 on them. You will not find a block stamped 304 from factory anywhere, only 308 or 5.0 which they were from VN to VT1. In the end, it's a V8, so all good.