this is a small block that was in my 71 malibu i purchased last year i thaought it was a 350 4 bolt main but my shop guy says it has a 327 cranck in it??? any help would be appreciated!!! the number on the pad by the water pump reads v0319800 the one at the drivers back side reads 14016379 thanx and what ever it is it is a four bolt main i pulled the pan today and verified this ??? thanx again :confused:

14016379 decodes as a 1978-85 350 block.

Dave

See if you can find a casting number on the crank.

I don't know why anyone would want to put a 327 crank into a 78-later 350 block---------------BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE!

Up through 85, ALLLLLLL small blocks used the 2-piece rear main seal. The 68-69 327 cranks were the ONLY big journal 327 cranks, they used a 2-piece rear main seal, and thus, a 68-69 327 crank COULD HAVE BEEN installed into ANY 350 block up to 85 (they could also be installed into an 86-later block, but would require an adapter for the rear main seal).

I'm not going to say that your machinist doesn't know his stuff, but I'd check that crank closer just to verify if it is a 327 or 350 crank. If you can find a casting number on the crank, that should help.

I also believe that the 327 blocks never came with 4 bolt mains. I could be wrong though

And that is true, the 327 never came in a 4bolt version. BUT, the 68-69, 302, 327 and 350 blocks were totally interchangeable with one another. That is, all 3 had a 4in bore. The ONLY difference between the 3 was the stroke (of course the pistons were different because of the wrist pin location).
In fact, to go even one step further, in 1969 the 3932386 and 3970010 blocks were used for the 302,327 and 350.