tnz5106

Hey Guys, I have a chance to buy a nice 1986 4+3 Z51 coupe. It has an LPE emblem on the dash and on the valve covers. There is NO paperwork with this car to authenticate when or if the work was done by John Lingenfelter. The emblem on the dash looks legit and reads LPE 355 430 BHP/480 LBS TQ. Then it has a sequence # of V0816ZZZ.

I called LPE today and talked to Ryan(he sounded like a young guy born after this car was) and he had no clue of the #s and said their records only went back to '93.

Here is the interesting thing about the car. The build date is 08/85 so the car came with cast iron heads from the factory. But the engine has aluminum heads now but instead of the big super ram plenum that I have seen on a couple of late '86 LPE 355 ci cars, it still has the factory appearing tuned port runners. It also has early looking LPE valve covers and they have Lingenfelter in the center.

Could this be a very early/one of the 1st 355 CI packages that John built before he started using the super ram? Could he of ported the plenum? Does the sequence of #s mean anything to anyone that knows about John's early L98 work?

Are there other ways I can verify that this is a true early LPE car? The car shows 79k miles and the owner says is feels like alot more HP than the 430, but I assured him that those were very strong #s for a naturally aspirrated L98 in '86.

I will try and post a picture of the engine and decal later tonight. Any help would greatly be appreciated.......................thanks

http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s..._A_562x421.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...5106/decal.jpg
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s..._A_562x421.jpg

tnz5106

Wow, 85 reads and no opinions? Where are all the LPE/L98 experts?

tnz5106

Hey guy's, I really need some help with this. Is there no one out there that knows anything about John's very early L98/355 builds? I would like to have this car if its a legit LPE.

If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to sound off........thanks

pologreen1

You normally know a lot when you used to post, also maybe do some searching here and Google and see what you find. The info is out there for sure. There are books too.

tnz5106

I have pretty much exhausted google with no success. The history on the internet doesn't seem to go back that far. I thought about calling Gordon Killebrew, but I have always found an answer on this forum.

I can still remember vividly when John drove Reeves Callaways "sledgehammer" car. I remember all the magazine coverage. I have seen several '86 LPE 355's before on ebay or on this forum, but like I was saying, I have never seen a LPE modified 355 L98 without the super ram on it..........

pologreen1

Lots of big Corvette brains moved on from here, don't post here, or share knowledge elsewhere where there are more comfortable.

torquejunky

It's likely a fake emblem. Long tube runners are the correct configuration for LPE packages up until around 1991 or so when the superam came out. The 430 BHP number is way off for a 355 cu.in. long tube runner LPE package. Even the 383 long tube runner LPE engine was only rated 380 HP.

I bought my 86 in spring of 90 and installed the LPE stage III kit that summer. The superam wasn’t available then but was available no later than 1992 when I upgraded to it. I still have my 86, all the old receipts, catalogs, price lists and several magazine articles from that time period covering LPE, Doug Rippie, TPIS and a few others.

tnz5106

I thought the #s were high also and I guess if the emblem is fake, then the whole car is supect without docs. On the the other hand, if you look at the emblems on the engine (valve covers and throttle body plate), it looks like a very early LPE design to me. The owner is a young used car salesman who has owned it for a few years and he said it is SUPER FAST. He said it would blow the doors off of his '02 forced induction LS1 with over 600 hp!! I wonder if its maybe a one off early car that John built? I would like to see some compression and cam lift #s.

Even still, the 400+ hp seems mighty high for 1986............thanks for your input!!

cv67

look up callaway cris here

look like accel runners cant see the base. emblem on thplenum is not lpe.

i guarantee that young bser or salesperson does not own a c5 esp a 600hp one. no way in hell a ltr tpi will stay with that. valecovers look like truck/vortec type

ddahlgren

At the end of the day it all depends on what they are asking and the overall condition and performance of the car. There is no documentation for what it is claimed to be so tell the salesman to just loose the thought on charging for it. At the end of the day it is a modded 86 by and unknown person without docs. You might take the oil filler cap off and see if it at least have roller rockers as I can not imagine John sending one out the door without them. That will not prove it is one if there but if stock steel rockers makes it more suspect. Or if the car is real nice runs real well and under 8k tell him you will pay for 3 passes on a chassis dyno and if it makes less than the stated 430 less 30 for wear and tear age etc. you will give him asking plus 1k if not it is sold for 1k under the local price for a stock car in similar condition..LOL Bet he does not bite for that or have the authority to make that deal, have it signed by the sales manager/owner..

pologreen1

Evaluate the reason for buying it. Value??? For the price of that car you can build something wilder. If it's about the name tag.... Too me it's a build that does not set it's self too far apart from any other C4 these days if anything it's less.

What is a C4 lingenfelter worth these days? It's easier to put a price on their parts than their labor now unless it's the newer cars.

RedLS1GTO

I think the young lad might be trying to sell a car with that comment.

A 25 year old N/A 355c.i. L98 "blow the doors off" of a supercharged 600+ hp LS1 in a C5? I think not.

96GS#007

That dude needs to put the crack-pipe down.

0Callaway Chris

Thanks - Early LPE cars through the very late 90s had large-tube runners, as the JL-1 intake (aka, SuperRam) hadn;t been developed until 1990.

I hope this helps.

tnz5106

To put a price on this car IF it was a documented early 1986 LPE/355 that John Lingenfelter built himself would be impossible. I think you are missing the point, or you don't know much about early C4 history.

I wouldn't dare buy the car for an investment, I would be buying it to know that I am one of the privileged few that could own an actual piece of history that was built by a man that had a tallent and vision. And without the likes of people like him, and Reeves Callaway, and Dave Dave McLellen, the amazing corvette of today would not of been possible.

The engineering that these people provided us (among a few others), is what put corvette back front and center as America's ambassador to Europe with a declaration that the bad *** corvette is back.

Back to my point, Sorry if I mislead you in my original post, but I am a early c4 purist and historian. I only wanted the car if it was a hidden jewel so a could give it a good home and put it back to the same condition John sold it ..........................

tnz5106

Chris, with the 2 photos I provided, does it even look like it could potentially be an early '86 JL car. In my opinion no.............but I would like yours............thanks very much