68350hp

What is the casting number for the 327/350hp motor? I believe the number is 3914678 but I'm not sure. Please Help!!

Tom73

Per the Corvette Black Book the casting # is 3914678. Same number for the 300 and 350 hp.

tom...

68350hp

Is there any other way to identify that it is a 327/350hp motor. I know it has a Holley 4bbl. carb. on it and I think its aftermarket but I don't know.

Tom73

Check the stamp pad, a machined surface on the block in front of the passanger side head. Should be two numbers stamped there. One will end with the last 5 or 6 digits of the VIN if it is the original engine. Then look at the other. Should be in the format of F0723HP. Those last two letters id the engine. For the 350 hp they will be either HP or HT. HT indicates manual trans and HP indicates manual trans with AC and PS.

tom...

PRNDL

Lucky you have a 4spd! From what I can tell auto trans was not available with the L79 option (350 hp). The original carb was a Rochester Qjet # 7028219.

MJ

68shark

Both Tom and Mark are correct. Block and heads are same casting numbers for both 300 and 350 hp versions. Differences include 8" damper on the L79, 2.02/1.60 valves vs the 1.94/1.50. More aggressive cam (151), 11 to 1 compression. Not available with an automatic and from what I gather, close ratio M21 likely more common than M20(code B on the case) and also likely 3.55 or higher rear gears. Superfast80 website has a road test of the '68 L79 with the M21/3.70 combo which is an interesting piece of history! Check it out!!0-60 time is not exactly impressive but not unusual for the era. This article confirms my own subjective experience, that the engine is sluggish below 2500rpm then comes to life quickly. No doubt this is the reason the automatic was not offered with this engine.

Assuming your tach is original it will show a yellow zone from 5300 and red from around 5800. 300hp engine is yellow from 5000. I might be off on these numbers a bit because it is too friggin' cold and nasty here to run out to my garage to check for you!

Worth checking out the C1/C2 forum as there are more L79's over there than in the c3 section and is a good source for info. A stock L79 will do about 235RWHP according to a variety of responses I received to my inquiry. The Rochester carb on the L79 was for '68 only. '67 and earlier had a Holley.

R1234

68 327/350hp also had the chrome valve covers.

68350hp

Well......thanks for allthat info...really...but I've never road let alone drivin the car. Is there any way like other numbers that I can use?

Paul Borowski

Matt, an L79 '68, 4spd will have the 6000rpm redline. Also, as one of the other poster said, "HT" will be the engine suffix. Mine reads 18S418434 V0429HT. My car body build is May 6th(#18434) and my engine assembly date is April 29, 1968.
http://www.corvetteforum.net/c3/anthony_b/1968lake.jpg

JIM

anyone know the address for superfast80's website?

PRNDL

real nice website!! :) MJ
http://www.corvettearchive.com/


Cool!! :cool: He has some of the old ads for the 1968 corvette where Chevrolet refers to the car as a "Sting Ray", 2 words like before the Shark. So, 68s were not "Stingrays" and many people say the 68 was not a Sting Ray, but Chevrolet refered to them as "Sting Ray" even if they were not.... of course we dont really care ! :) MJ


[Modified by MNJack, 7:38 PM 1/1/2002]

ksbunting

Paul,
I noticed your serial number and build date. Looks like our cars are very close in terms of build dates. My 68 L79 Coupe is dated J10 (May 10) and my serial # is 18957. Does that mean they built 500 cars in 4 days? My engine suffix is HP VO327HP (A/C, P/S, P/B)
Kurt

Allan71

Kurt, I'm showing 3,252 cars built in May of 68, so if you figure 22 workdays (assuming they had a holiday on Mem day), this would work out to better than 147 per day, so 500 in 4 days should have been doable.

68350hp

Can I find out using the VIN number or the serial number?

68shark

68350HP...Your build date is within a day or two of the date listed on your trim tag (inside driver door pillar). Mine is very late production and coded as M6 being August 6th/68. A would be the first month which would have been August '67. Note KSBunting is J10 or May 10/68. What is the date on your tag?

68350hp

I know it is an early '68 because it has the seat back release at the bottom of the seat back. I can't get at the trim tag anymore because my grandmother's '77 Lincoln (which doesn't run and is too heavy to push out all the time) is to close to the door and I can only open the door just a little bit.

Allan71

Matt, these are the VINs of the last car built in each month of production:

Aug 67..............Unknown
Sep 67..............00905
Oct 67..............03410
Nov 67.............05682
Dec 67.............07922
Jan 68.............10386
Feb 68.............12647
Mar 68.............15000
Apr 68.............17676
May 68............20928
Jun 68............23978
Jul 68.............Unknown
Aug 68...........28566

68350hp

Paul, where is the engine suffex?

68shark

Sorry, not Paul but rather Doug....The suffix is on the machined pad on the passenger side of the block at the front. The suffix is the two letter code (it HT) that tells you which engine you have. Various replies above have examples of the codes. This is the same pad that should have a portion of your VIN contained in it and is the main "matching number" reference. I know your car is under restoration so if the pad is greasy you may have to use a bright light and clean it off before being able to read it. If your VIN is not contained on that pad (last few digits) then you don't have the original engine.

roger68

There's a number of differences for the L79. My '68 has the HP code stamped on the machined pad which, like someone else mentioned, is L79 with 4-speed, PS and A/C. Here's what I know about the '68 L79 off the top of my head:

chrome valve covers
chrome oil fill tube cap
fiberglass fan shroud (believe 327/300 was metal)
6000 redline tach

I'm not sure if an HT code would get the fiber fan shroud. Best thing to do would be to check the machined pas on the block. This would show you the 2 character alpha code, plus let you know if it's the matching block for the car.

Roger