hdal

Boy,a lot of smoke here! Friggen beautiful eng bay and surround. If ya didn't pay 30k for it,drive it and enjoy the fascination and compliments that come with owning a nice pace car. Hell,why not take it to a professional restorer and have the eng ID stamped...Hdal

cv67

Its been wrenched on and detailed for sure lots of non stock fasteners going on no big deal though the motor doesnt care
Could still be a low mi car cleaned up thats not a bad thing fresher the better for you!
Replacement block isnt the end of the world they break;had a brand new trans case crack in half with 97 mi on it, stuff happens
Enjoy your car regardless

Bigchucker

More detail please! The only thing I noticed was the heat riser tube clamps should be tower clamps. What else do you see?

Bigchucker

Hey Alan
It was sold in a raffle at an Optimist club and was overly detailed. What makes you think it is restored?

Alan 71

Hi Bc,
It seems like you now want to get into a discussion of semantics. I don't wish to get involved in that.
I have been replying based on the following statement, the engine compartment photos, and my observations.

"The engine compartment is mint, every thing looks new and original as far as I can tell. It doesn't look like any nut or clamp has ever seen a wrench!"

I was trying to relay to you that from what I was seeing in the photos that statement may not be completely true.
The fact remains that the pad would typically be stamped….and it's not.
Regards,
Alan

SwampeastMike

Have you verified that the VIN identifies the car as a Pace Car replica? Does anything about the VIN tag look suspicious in any way.

From what I read, demand for the Pace Cars was so high and the price being paid so much above sticker that unscrupulous individuals (and even dealerships) made Pace Car forgeries some of which used brand new donors to be sold as new. I don't know how or if a missing engine block stamp would have played into this but strange things happen to our cars over the decades

I have to agree with others who mention that the engine compartment has the appearance of being worked on for the purpose of deception. You also need to get some good diagrams for the various vacuum operated systems as yours are certainly not hooked up properly.

You may also want to verify that your engine is truly the L82 variant. While it has the two most noticeable external features (finned aluminum valve covers and dual snorkel intake) they may be window dressing on a standard engine. Does your tachometer have "L82" on the dial? I'm not certain what other identifiers of an L82 can be found on a '78 without digging deeply into the engine. Perhaps the block stamp was one of them?

hunt4cleanair

Bigchucker

Carb picture shows correct carb, 17058228 and I believe correct date 0528, Feb 5, 78? Intake manifold is 458520 which is correct. a/c 1131078 which is correct. Alternator is 110249 which I'm not sure? Build sheet and door plate confirm L82 pace car date march 30, 1978. What I cant figure out is engine casting date code. As you can see it says 71? That does not make sense. The 71 is in middle of plate where the 2 digit day code should be...there is not 71 days in any month I know of? Engine casting number is 14016379, which again GM Heritage centre says will work for 1978 even though most books say 1979 and later.

hunt4cleanair

Yes...correct carb for 78 L82 M38 with air. The date code is Julian and reads 52nd day of Feb so its a Feb 21st date...consistent with Pace Car. What's trim tag date code (G30)? I figure the broadcast date code is BJM which is correct.

Ok...buildsheet huh? So how do you know the date from the build sheet? So trim tag date code is G30?

Well, the block has not been painted. Some of what I have below is repetitive from previous posters but bears repeating rather than cause you to have to jump around. I attempt to write in complete thoughts.

Locations for the alphanumeric casting date codes for smallblocks and big blocks was somewhat standardized by 1970 but a few exceptions persisted. Date codes are cast on the passenger’s side of the block opposite the casting number at the top of the transmission bell housing mounting flange.

The alphanumeric date code for engine blocks uses a letter for the month (A=January), two digits for the day and a single digit for the year (8). For example, J 11 8 would indicate an engine block cast October 11, 1978 or even October 11, 1968! However, the casting number would indicate whether the block was used in a particular year. If this block is 3970010, we know the block was not available in 1968 (first used in 69) and therefore confirm a 1978 date coded block.

You wrote earlier:
You have a post 78 block for whatever reason that has been suggested above. The 14016379 block number in Corvettes was a one-year block used in 1979, considered a late 1979 used beginning with 39,000 VINs. Alan's picture of the date code is what we should see here where you have the 71...which is quite clear. Alan has lots of paint on his block/bellhousing.

I would say, after going through the great work you have done to provide images and information, the block was replaced early in its life..perhaps under warranty. However, I can't explain the casting date code...however, the two digits of 71 in a Julian date code format without month or year would suggest a March 12 date code of 79...given a one-year block number. This is consistent with 79 Corvettes whose VIN sequence build dates began in June 79 in the 39,000 series.

My conclusion is this block was replaced in the Spring of 1979 under warranty given what has been presented above. We would have to find a 79 Corvette L82 M38 with a VIN sequence after 39,000 to confirm the date code as a modified Julian format. If its a one-year only...no need to know the month or year code I suppose...why they did that? More speculation. But consider they were projecting what some 53,000 units to be built in 79. So zone had to figure out how to get more blocks! This seems like a plausible explanation without the benefit of interviewing those engineers who were also working on the Bowling Green plant. Life had to be good for Chevrolet Corvette division.

Revi

Have you gone to a Chevrolet dealership and have them run your VIN and see if any work on your car shows up in their system?

Bigchucker

Thanks Hunt4, for the extra thoughts on this subject. No "K" marking anywhere near casting numbers. Above the casting number on drivers side is GM and to left of that is "38" (under plug wire bracket). Also , in the attached picture you can see CFO and other markings near casting number. Nothing at all on passenger side except "71". No VIN number behind oil filter either. Also you can see distributor markings 8A10...is that Jan 10, 1978?

The other picture is a close up of engine pad, you can see the pale blue still there and it appears some "broach" marks running front to back and seems a little rough. Still not looking like it was machined to me?

I have original purchase documents and the car was delivered to dealer 1st week in April, 1978. It was assembled in St Louis. Build sheets only reference to engine as CMS which is correct for 1978 L82. You would think it would mentioned more about the engine block itself?

hunt4cleanair

The CFO could be promising. What we are looking for are casting marks that lead us to the block foundry that produced the block. GM used a couple of other manufacturers to produce limited supply of blocks that fell out of the usual production sequence. The Saginaw plant would not have shut down for a non-confirming order and deviate from its process.

By this time, engine assembly plants were painting the pad so we should see paint...but it looks like attempts were made to remove. I agree...it does not look machined. It is unusual that the engine assembly code is missing.

The buildsheet does not show post assembly deviations. It shows the configuration of the original power plant...CMS as you state. It calls out engine assembly by code, rather than parts like the engine block. If you wish I can look the buildsheet over...send a scanned copy to my email address.

What's the last four digits of the VIN?

Quite an intriguing mystery here and appreciate your work to keep us informed as you dig around around that firewall.