Hello all,

I bought my '72 a few weeks ago. The car was not advertised as having its original engine. At the price I got it, I really wasn't concerned if the engine was original or not. In fact, I knew it had a hotter cam and assumed the motor was probably not original. Well, yesterday I got curious and I removed the paint that was covering the ID pad on the block, and *suprise* the partial VIN on the block matches the car. While I was doing this, my neighbor stopped by and said that the heads were "194's". He claims they are decent heads. Any opinions on that? Are these correct for the car? It's the base model (VIN code "K") engine. He also claimed the cam sounded like a "327/350 horse cam". Uhhhh, was this a stock grind of some sort? With all the camshaft choices out there today, I have no idea how to even start identifying what is in there. Suffice it to say, it lopes pretty hard at idle, and runs like a mad ape all the way up through 5000 rpm (I'm afraid to push it any harder, so I shift at 4500 - 5k). I think the engine has been removed at some point. Is there any way to determine the compression ratio without pulling the heads?

Like I said, the engine has a non-stock cam. It's also got headers and a 2 1/2 inch dual exhaust (out the back, no sidepipes). The original shifter was shot when I got it, so I put in a Hurst comp plus. Are these kinds of modifications de-valuing the car? So far, everything that has been done is un-doable (the cam would be hard, though). Am I hurting the car's value with bolt on modifications like these?

Thanks all,

Mwieczorek

 

My advise would be if your sure the numbers match, and value is your objective, put it all back together like it was when it came off the assembly line.

 

If you plan on selling the car then yes, doing anything that is not numbers matching, year correct is hurting the value somewhat. If your building the car for you and numbers matching is important to you but you also want to make changes save the old parts and you can always go back.

I dont think the cam not being original will hurt the numbers matching portion of your car. When someone is buying numbers matching they usually are just concerned with the engine/trans/drivetrain. Even with NCRS the inside mods to the motor dont matter much as long as it appears stock and it cant be detected by the ear or eye during judging (not 100% sure on this others will correct me).

The heads that you mention I cant find with just the three letters given. If you can give the entire casting number that will be easier for me at least to look up. Someone else here might be able to tell you off the bat with what you have given and they will chime in. While you are posting numbers also post the three or two digit suffix code on your engine. This will give us a lot more information about what you have.

One last thing, POST PICS! We all love to see pics of other year vettes.

Good luck!

 

By 194 heads he is refering to the Intake valve size 1.94 inches. A 1.94 intake valve was stock on your car but to tell if the heads are correct you need to Get the casting # and date codes off the head under the valve cover. The correct casting # is 3973487 for early cars and 3998993 for late 72 cars, built after Jan. The date code on the heads will be a letter number number configuration. Example A 21 2 is Jan 21 1972. C 3 2 is March 2 1972 The 327 350 Hp cam was used from 1965 to 1970 in the 327 and 350 CU IN. 350 HP cars. It is a Good hydraulic cam and pulls hard idle to 5500 RPM. Great street cam. Your friend would be hard pressed to tell if you have a 327 350 HP cam by listening, as there are a lot of cam manufacturers out there with their own grinds and versions of this cam, and the heads are the same on the outside weather they are 194 or 202 heads. With the value of Chrome bumper cars skyrocketing I would try to leave this as stock as possible. They are going to do what the midyears have done in the next 5 years. The prices are going to go through the roof for original numbers matching chrome bumper C3's.

 

MWieczorek,
Welcome to the madness.

Keep EVERYTHING you pull off if you want to maintain the value. Bolt-ons do not hurt value as long as the original stuff comes with it.

The cam your neighbor was refering to is the 327/350 HP Factory cam. Also commonly refered to as the "151" cam for the last three digits of the part number. It is a good stock performance piece. It will idle with a slight lope. It might also be the factory 350/350 cam or even an aftermarket one. Tough call without tearing down the engine or driving it hard. The stock 200 HP cam will run out of power sooner in the RPM band so that would be a dead giveaway there.

-Mark.

P.S. - I used to know a Dave Wieczorek 30 years ago back in Buffalo NY. He and the rest of his family was into cars. They had some sweet rides.

 

I love to listen to people that can tell what kind of cam just by listening. There is no way in *&%# anyone can tell just by listening to the motor. Chances are it has a non stock cam but with all the cams out there I doubt it is what he says. If you like the way the cam performs leave it in there.
As far as original, keep all the stuff off the car if you care about selling it. Mine is an original LT1 car but it is far from an LT1 now. I kept the body original because I like the looks. Everything else has been changing because I like it like that. It is your car do what you want. If you are going to sell it then keep it original. I think everyone is getting hung on the value of these because of Barrett Jackson. Everyone thinks their car is worth major $$$.

 

I'm not planning on selling this car anytime soon. I'm not planning on selling it at all, but you never know what may happen down the road. As for the camshaft, if what stingr69 said is true, this is definitely a replacement cam, because it's still pulling hard when I shift at 5000 rpm.

At the end of the day, I don't care what part numbers are under the hood. I LOVE this car...

Here's a not so great picture of it...



Later,

Mwieczorek

 

On the money
When I was driving my car around alot...back and forth to work, or for groceries, I would get all kinds of comments like..."wow you need mufflers" Obviously from people thinkng it was a small block. "tune that up" From those that didnt really know what a healthly BBC sounded or smelled like at Idle. But as the saying goes..."To each their own". I agree that as far value goes it's up to the judges or more importantly the buyer! The thing is enjoy the car the way you like it most and if the day comes that you sell it consider what buyers are really looking for and your resources on hand.
Larry

 

since your not planning on selling the car, do it the way you like it