I purchased a 69 coupe out of CA earlier this year. I had the car inspected, so never viewed in person until it arrived.
The car was sold as a 350hp car.
The car has receipts for a fresh 350cu, Alas built to be CA gas friendly 9.7 comp.

My original plan was to build a 383 engine for it, I bought some AFR heads and cam etc over with the car, as the car is not numbers match engine

On arrival and much closer inspection, it looks most likely the car was a factory big block car.
BB Rad support and rad, 6500 red line, HD rear, single fuel line ( no return) 4:11 gears

I have been looking into building up a 427 BB, trying to find a honest 427 block with 69 date casting.
Seems its cheaper to buy a alloy block but would like to keep the car as it was, thus staying with the 427 cu engine size. ( Some of my mates think its crazy to build a 427 when you can build a stroker for the same price)

I am wanting to keep with 427 to limit the potential madness ie 540..572, new gear box diffs ect...... I been down this road in the past. I plan to keep the car on 15's so traction will be the limiting factor with any big block I would have thought.

My question is, do a build a 383 with the parts I have, have an honest 500hp, spend little more than I have currently invested.......or start a gain, put the car back to a 427 BB, have a short stroked monster???

Oh yeah, gas over here is about $2 NZ a liter for the good stuff ( $5US a gal)

Thanks Richie

 

Its Your car but I think You would be best to do the small block and if it is a BB car? I think You can tell by the Vin, at least You can on a 73. Then I would over time try to aquire the right 427 parts, they are expensive. The car will be worth more with replacement 427, if it is a BB car. Just My .02 cents. By the way Im complaining when gas reaches 1.09 per liter.If thats Your car in the avatar it looks great.

 

Thanks,

No way of telling from the vin on my understanding, if there is a build sheet on the tank, have not checked for that yet.
Regards

 

Not a thing wrong with a 427. Built correctly, they can be a real good performer. Look for the thread here about Elle88's build. If you swap back to a BB, be prepared for sticker shock over the parts prices..

 

Agreed, I like short stroke engines!, we are kind of used to price shocks living "down under"

 

Did you try to locate the build sheet off the fuel tank? sounds like you got a 435 hp car.

 

Big Block...

There is NOTHING like the sound of a big block and nothing like opening the hood and seeing that massive engine lurking beneath.... performance isn't bad either I hear.

 

plus if you want a 'correct 69 date coded' block, you are limiting yourself to finding and paying a big premium for such a thing. why limit yourself to that when you don't have the original engine anyway. there is no reason to soup up and possible blow up a very valuable original engine.. or in this case a more valuable correctly date coded engine. just find you a nice rebuilt crate motor and save all the sticker shock and points of failure you would have by building one from scratch.. especially if you intend to run it hard.

 

Don't get hung up on the 'original' thing...because, no matter what you put under the hood, it will never be 'original'. Now, if getting the car to a similar state to factory condition is important to you, then go for the 427. But, worrying about the date code??? No one cares but you. The value of the car won't be significantly increased by having a '69 427 engine that didn't come with the car, unless you put a 'bogus' number stamp on the pad. {But let's not get into that one. }

 

Have not looked for the build sheet yet, but very pleased with what its turned out to be.
Now to convince the CFO more $$ need to be spent

 

After having gone as far as buying a 4.25" stroke crank, I aborted building a 496 BB for my shark in favor of doing another 427 because thru extensive modeling it became apparent the latter's torque/power curves would far better suit my purposes; which are definitely towards the RR end of the performance spectrum rather than drag racing. That said, if 1/4 mile ET's are more to your liking, there's no replacement for displacement. My $.02

 

This is the thread about my 427 pump gas L88
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...-thread-3.html

even if not matching ( and date code is off too for my 69 ) I still believe that vintage oem parts are more fancy than aftermarket motor parts, when reliability is not an issue.

I have for sale my other 427 block and related stuff, it's a CE replacement block , but it's a 68 , so it's not ok for your 69
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-p...mentblock.html

Aldo

Ahh... forgot . Richiev88, i don't know which your driving style , but personally with my 427 i liked to stay away from that bunch of low end torque given by bigger than 427 engines and roller cams. big torque numbers makes the car not suitable and dangerous in fast road driving and road course. My 427 , because of displacement and cam , enables you to more easily apply power out of a corner and even if just 500hp , is really a beast anyway. the throttle response is simply perfect for road course