emdoller

Anyone know what the correct color plastic should be on a 67 L79 dipstick? Are all 327's in 67 the same? Do they make repros?

Ed

JohnZ

Plastic plug should be black. 300hp handle and skirt are natural, 350hp handle and skirt are chrome. The repros are almost correct except they have an indentation just above the skirt that the originals don't, and the stampings on the blade are incorrect.

emdoller

Thanks John. I was looking over the NCRS scoring for my car and that's exactly what it said. My guess is it's not to easy to find an original but I'll look.

Was this unique to Corvettes and 1967 (e.g., can I widen my search for other Chevrolet's and years)?

Ed

JohnZ

Small-block Corvette dipsticks were the same in '66 and '67; don't know if passenger car dipsticks were different.

emdoller

Thanks. Let the search begin.

Powershift

Ed and John:

According to the 1967 NCRS Judging Manual: "The oil dipstick has a natural unpainted round tubing handle with a black plastic plug in the end of the tubing."

"The dipstick tube mounts to the left side of the engine. The finish is natural unpainted metal."

This is the way my 1967 327/350 HP car is constructed.....and I believe it is original.

Larry

EDIT: NCRS Judging Manual quoted is the latest pink cover, 4th Edition manual....issued 2005.

emdoller

I'm no expert hence my question but when my car was judged in 1993, it got hit for not having a chrome one :-)

62Jeff

I bet a fair number of cars that top-flighted in 1993, wouldn't have top-flighted using the current judging guidelines. Point being, the knowledge continues to expand each year and the details of what is correct or incorrect is refined with it.

Powershift

Did some additional research on this question:

The latest and current NCRS 1966 Judging Manual (issued last 2-3 years) states that the L-79 engine (327/350 HP) has a chome dipstick handle and skirt. The dipstick tube is natural. This is for 1966 model year.

The 1967 AIM shows that the L-79 engine uses the same dipstick handle and dipstick tube as the base 300 HP engine. Both/all are natural steel. However, the OIL FILL CAP and FILL TUBE are chrome for the 1967 L-79 and black/dark green for the base (300 HP) engine.

Noland Adam's Book on C2 Restoration does not address this question.

I would guess that some very early 1967 L-79 cars likely had the chrome dipstick handle, until the supply was used up. But unless you have a L-79 car built the first few weeks of the 1967 model year, the dipstick handle and tube should be natural steel.

Hope this helps. If others have different/conflicting info, please post it up along with your reference.

Larry

JohnZ

That's correct - I just finished editing the new 5th Edition '67 JG (will be published later this year), and the L-79 dipstick is chrome. Just one of many changes/refinements in knowledge that have developed since the 4th Edition was published nine years ago.

vettn

I have many pictures of 65, 66 and 67 cars...Bowtie, top flight, etc. I have some 66 350 hp cars with chrome and some without. I have many, many pictures of 67 350 hp cars and only one had a chrome dipstick...vin #1372. I have vin's before that and all are natural steel. I have owned many 67 350 hp cars and don't remember having a chrome dip stick. I currently own two original motor 67 350 hp cars (#1866 and 19567) that are unrestored and the dip sticks and skirts are natural steel....black tip ends. I have pictures of Bowtie 67 350 hp cars that are natural steel with black tips.

Powershift

Agree. A close friend of mine in Baton Rouge had a 1967 March/April build 327/350 HP 5-star BOWTIE car. It has a natural steel dipstick and tube .

With the 1967 AIM stating natural steel, my 26,000 mile car having natural steel (VIN 14,845), the 5-star BOWTIE having natural steel, and your experiences/comments, I am not convinced that chrome is the correct answer. I would like to see some additional documentation/survey data to collaborate this change to the 1967 Judging Manual.

Larry

emdoller

I have a video of my original engine being pulled from the car and it's tough to see but it doesn't look like the dip stick is chrome. That being said I of course have no way of knowing if it was switched but it was done in a 72k mile car.

I'm looking forward to following this thread and appreciate the information.

Ed

mhanley

Larry,

I agree with you 100% show me the documentation as there are many, many 327/350 engines out there that have the natural steel finish dipstick and tube including mine (12706).

Mike

JohnZ

We're re-checking that item.

Stingray1967

John, one more data point. My original motor 67 L79 that my family has owned since 1973 with about 22,000 miles has the following dip stick. It has gotten a 97%+ Top Flight at the Regional level, and been through a total of 4 rounds of flight judging (two chapter, two regional). No one ever mentioned a chrome dip stick to me and mine has never received a deduction. All I did when I rebuilt the car was to clean it and put it back in.

Oh, and my car is an early 67. (car # 183) Day two of production.

ricks327

Here is a picture of my 67 L79, June built car taken by the original owner shortly after taking delivery of the car.
I will let others to determine what finish it is.
Rick

emdoller

That's what mine looks like (not chrome)

Ed

JohnZ

Thanks to the posters above for your input. We've had recent input from many others as well, with both natural and chrome conditions, on "thought-to-be-original" cars; we'll probably settle on either condition being acceptable.

Stingray1967

Thanks for the update John.