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Best all around "driver" IMO I think most of us will admit that is the most practical choice.
My choice for the most over the top choice is the ZL1 because of it being all aluminium and the cost factor.
I had a ZL1 block years ago. It was used for many years in this area in drag boats. Someone had added 1/2" plates to the deck and sleeved it to make a tall deck block. Later it kicked a rod out and windowed the block completely on one side even taking the lifter bores out as well. I welded plates in on both sides, and had to weld in a cylinder as there was none, and replaced the lifter bores and returned it to a standard deck height. I never finished the engine and someone bought it from me for a drag car. I never heard from it again after that but I wish I had it back today.
My 1970 L-46 (350/350) gets my vote. My car came from the factory with no emissions equipment at all. I love my L-79, but I think the L-46 is a tad stouter....
Right...not because they were a PITA to maintain and only ran correctly for a short time after tuning, and even then, only when atmospheric temperature & pressure were close to the conditions they were tuned in.
Right...not because they were a PITA to maintain and only ran correctly for a short time after tuning, and even then, only when atmospheric temperature & pressure were close to the conditions they were tuned in.
I never owned or drove one but reading what Jim L and Tom P writes about them and seeing how they owned them for the last 60’s years tells me otherwise.
Right...not because they were a PITA to maintain and only ran correctly for a short time after tuning, and even then, only when atmospheric temperature & pressure were close to the conditions they were tuned in.
You have the right to be completely wrong and you are doing a commendable job of exercising that right. Bravo.
1. Once correctly set up, Rochester FI requires zero maintenance.
2. Rochester FI will maintain its tune as long as the owner keeps his hands in his pockets.
3. Regarding temperature and atmospheric pressure effects..... Rochester FI is almost completely self-compensating for variations in both.
Next time you decide to make a posting about Rochester FI, get your facts straight first.
If you really want to limit it to pre-exhaust emission controlled engines you can't go beyond the 1967 model year. Beginning that model year federal tailpipe emission standards applied to all cars sold outside California. The former "golden state" established their own standards for 1966, and in that early emission control era CA standards were usually tighter than federal standards.
So with the above in mind IMO the best Corvette engine is L-79 for two main reasons:
1. Excellent blend of low end torque and top end power with a little, but not too much "idle attitude" that says "real Corvette engine".
2. Maintenance free hydraulic lifters and a simple carburetor. (FI is a great system, but few owners understand it well enough to work on It, and knowledgeable professionals are few and far between.)
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Best pre-1972 Corvette engine
