Ryan77

Does anyone know what the stock C3's with the L-88 and a 4 speed ran for quater mile times? I've always heard that they made around 550hp, but no one ever mentioned what they ran in the 1/4 mile. Also, were they the fastest production C3's in terms of 1/4 times :confused:

Corey_68

I'd say high 12's low 13's on;y do to traction issues. I mean 215 Bias ply tires as hard as concrete isn't the best set up fro drag racing. :lol:

Ad some slicks and the ball game changes. :yesnod:

Jughead

Close....April 1969 Hot Rod Mag, 3:36 rear, auto, L-88 Convertible turned in a 13.56 on 9.20-15 Firestone Indy tires. The writer stated that they new it should have been 2 seconds quicker. He blamed the 3:36's for the slow time.

Ganey

Due to questions on this, put some L-88 nos. on my website several years ago. Depends on gears, driver, etc.

L-88
12.1 Sec @ 116 w/3.70 Gears 4spd.

A good start to performance.

:cool:

DJ Dep

I did a bunch of searches and the times seem to be what Corey said. 12-13 seconds. No info on whether that is with street tires or slicks. Also no info on whether that is with factory cast iron manifolds (a MAJOR handicap) or tube headers.

Dep

GrandSportC3

I saw a old article where they raced a L-88 on Slicks and they got into high 10's...

Corey_68

Headers came in a box when you bought the car from the dealer. :yesnod:

Jughead

I've heard of that being true for Camaro's & Nova's but not Vette's. :confused:

DJ Dep

I haven't heard about "headers-in-a-box" for ANY car. They either had them installed or didn't. Not arguing...just a bit surprised!

Headers-in-a-box...is that like Jack-in-the-Box??? :lolg: :lolg: :lolg:

I guess we'll have to wake up Chuck Harmon and see what kind of 1/4 mile times he turned with his L-88.

Dep

Corey_68

The story I was told (could be total B.S.) was that GM couldn't sell a car with long tube headers. So when you purchased the car they came in a box for the dealer to install.

I could be wrong, any L88 experts want to jump in?? :confused:

GrandSportC3

I just did a few searches on the web and some sources indicate a 10.9 @ 132 mph ET for L-88 Vettes on slicks..

Jughead

No, the cars were shipped with the headers in the trunk. The glorious Yenko Nova's & Camaro's was where I think I read about this proceedure years ago. Certain cars were supposedly shipped from the factory with headers in the trunk & the owner could choose to have them installed. I can't say that I knew anyone who bought one of these cars since at the time my family couldn't afford a Jumbo sandwich. :lol:

I think there was a Yenko dealer in Cannonsburg Pa, not far from where I live.

DJ Dep

Olivier: Those times sound reasonable. Where the heck is Chuck Harmon when you NEED him :D

Dep

DJ Dep

I don't think the Yenko SC Nova would come that way. From the factory they came with 396 engines. The factory didn't ship any headers for them. I doubt they shipped them for ANY car for that matter. Yenko installed his headers, engines and everything else at a special shop near his dealership. So it didn't come from the factory with any hot rod parts. I saw Nickey cars with headers hooked to full street exhaust roll right out the door. I suspect the "headers in the trunk" thing may be one of those urban myths. If a customer ordered headers from a dealership, the dealer would INSTALL them, unless told otherwise by the customer.

Dep

Shark Racer

Don't believe Chuck has dragged his vette with the L-88 engine in it. Too late to find out now; the L-88 cam is out and now it really can't be used for timing.

His car was fast as hell though. Makes a Z06 look like child's play. I'd bet with slicks on the rear, it'd dip into the elevens without a hitch. You also have to keep in mind that Chuck's gearbox is a 6-speed, so he can run 3.08s AND have a good launching ratio.
http://www.corvettearchive.com/image...88vscobra4.jpg
^-- thanks to SuperFast80's archive. That L-88 with a Muncie and slicks made a best of 11.88@121.

-Steve

DJ Dep

Steve: DOH! Did he yank it out ALREADY????? ACH! :mad

Dep

Shark Racer

A couple months ago. I helped him pull it out even. September I think it was. First time I ever pulled a cylinder head was a cylinder head off of the legendary L-88! I don't think many people can say that...

-Steve

DJ Dep

My first one was an LS-5 Chevelle. My first head I mean. My first CYLINDER head!! Sheesh!!!
I bet that aluminum head just floated off the engine! :D :D :D


Dep

427Hotrod

I have a friend that recently bought a '65 ragtop from the second owner. It was originally a 396/425 car. Somewhere along the line the 396 puked and an L-88 was installed around '69-70. They were usually sold as short blocks and you finished the assy. It was running 4.88's and a four speed.

He recieved time slips with it showing 11.40's-11.70's from back in the very early 70's. The diff died and the car was literally parked for over 30 years!

So it still has an L-88 in it that was installed way back when. He hasn't disassembled it yet, but he did pull valve covers to find Crane roller rockers. The other owner said it only had maybe 2000 miles on the engine!

I think it would be really cool to have it cruising around just as it is. To me, it's neater with the L-88 that was installed back then than it would ever be with the 396.

I have another buddy with an L-88 in a '70 Nova. Same type deal, engine was a crate motor, but it was assembled with later iron open chamber heads and a larger flat tappet cam. So it has maybe 11.0 compression instead of 12.0. It has 4.10's and a four speed and ran 12.0's crossing the line in 3rd gear. I'm sure some more work would get it into the mid-high 11's pretty easily.

JIM

'79ProwlerOrange

Anyone have times on the ZL-1? :confused: