Paul_DC

Hi,

Would anyone be able to help with looking at a few photos of a 66 427 / side-pipe coupe to help see what I might have here? Not in my garage yet, but hopeful. The more brutal (candid? honest?) feedback on the engine, trim tag and side-pipes is appreciated. BTW, I think the KOs shown here are not authentic as they don't appear "deep" enough...

THANK YOU FOR ANY THOUGHTS. If the car checks out at a high-level from this photos, I will then start the grovelig process of looking for someone to check out the car in person.

Regards,

Paul


Engine Assembly Stamp - T0608IP (June 08 - I think) / VIN Derivative (matches VIN)



Casting Number - 3869942



Trim Tag -
St Louis (possible side pipe car)
J14 (June 14)
414AA Bright Blue w Vinyl
976AA Nassau Blue





Side Pipe Photos (at least one wrong color screw...but possible to tell if authentic from the outside /side of the car?)









Steering box - 5666724



Overall engine bay -- noticed a replacement radiator -- anything else?

66BlkBB

I am having trouble getting all of your photos to come up.

Look behind the side pipe at the frame. If you do not see evidence of brackets on the frame I would believe that the side pipes are probably original to the car. This can be faked also but it is harder to do.

DansYellow66

Some of the photos didn't open and the others are too general to tell much. Why do you think it has a replacement radiator?

The knock offs look fine but are probably not original ones. There are probably 10 to 15 sets of repro wheels out there for every set of originals.

What is your concern - is the engine original to the car or is the car an original big block?

Paul_DC

Thanks for the replys. Not sure what is going on with the photos. Did the Engine Stamp ones come up?

66BlkBB - Thank you - Will get a photo from under the car to check for the brackets.
DansYellow66 - Thank you - My main concern is whether the engine is original to the car or if it is a restamp. The radiator / fan looked after market, maybe its the angle or me not having enough coffee this weekend. This photo is what I was looking at.

The photos can be see at...

http://www.pbase.com/paul_pictures/66_vette

Not much a techy I guess to get the photos to work!

DansYellow66

Still tough to tell. The engine stamp pad is painted which makes checking it's originality difficult. You might try to clean the pad off with solvent (no metal brushes) and then some of the guys who are pretty good on stamp pads may have some input. That and the date casting code off of the block will not guarantee if it's original but will tell you if it isn't. The car looks pretty original from what can be seen in the photos, but it's easy to miss a lot in photos. The dash gages look right. Someone would have to look underneath to see if the car originally came with sidepipes. The spark plug shields and wires look correct. The radiator and fan look right. But, it looks like there is an electric fan stuck in front of the engine fan - is that right? That probably ndicates some cooling issues at one time.

66BlkBB

I am no engine stamp expert but yours looks a little to even for me. I enclose a copy of mine just to show you what I mean.




Mine looks like it goes under the plug on the end of the head which would mean it was stamped with the head off of the engine. The serial number variation is more at a slant and sits lower/more forward on the block like it was stamped after the heads were on it. Just my thoughts and they may not be worth much.

Tom Austin

I'm no expert on big blocks, but it looks to me like the casting of the water pump sits way above the stamp pad - a pretty good sign the block was decked and restamped. And the paint job on the pad sure looks a lot cleaner than the block itself.

66BlkBB

Paul,

Don't know if you are still with this thread but I looked again and the stamps on your block look to be the same size. On my car the stamp indicating build date/HP is larger than the serial number variation. That would also make me think it is a re-stamp.

'67 Mann

Paul:

I have a 66 BB Nassau Blue with blue/white interior that has 17 options
including side pipes. But my first reaction is the same as another forum
poster 66blkBB... the engine pad stamps don't look correct. The engine
number should be large as you have... but the VIN if you will should be
much smaller like the photo 66blkBB shared with you.

The AA after the paint number and the 'S' in your S4383 both indicate
St. Louis and body number 4383.

Your engine photo also shows a lift hook on the front drivers side next
to the intake, I do not have that and don't recall seeing it on others.

David