what can I do with a good block with no main caps?
 

I will make this short and sweet.
I found a good vortec 880 block.. with everything included except for the crank and main caps. Will be purchasing it for about 100 bucks. Could I use mains from another 350 5.7 block? Thanks in advance!

Make a coffee table out of it?

You would have to have the mains replaced and then have the shop line bore the block and mains to make it usable..Is it worth it? Depends on what you are doing and the cost of a new block with mains..

Sam

Too much money for a block w/o caps! The caps are individual to each engine, the caps cannot be swapped from one engine to the next. Besides, you can find complete L31 engines for $150-$250.

If it was cheaper and you needed a strong bottom end you could convert it- IF it's a 2-bolt bottom end now- to a splayed cap 4-bolt by using caps available from the aftermarket. But the cost for the caps (especially the rear main cap), including the line bore and hone it will need, will be way more than you could buy a complete 4-bolt Vortec or earlier SBC.

Bottom line- PASS!

Thanks All!
Looks like I will pass this deal up. I was attempting to find a winter project build.. but I will keep looking on craigs. He did say the heads were good.. so I might snatch those up for a good deal.

Just be sure the casting number is either 10239906 (the 906 casting has one large single hump on the end of the head) or 12558062 (the 062 casting has 3 small humps, aka "sawtooth" on the end of the head).

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/im...kEvShtwfRzc4w7https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/im...qwy8p_lC7wwuU1
906 on Left, 062 on Right

http://s-series.org/albums/album79/9...g_Mark_001.jpg
Beware of the L30 305 Vortec head!

There are other heads to watch out for as well. One is the "swirl port" head like the c/n 14102193. Most any of the open chamber SBC heads are not considered to be high performance, and even the fuelie heads are now basically obsolete.

Thanks Cobalt!