Is there REALLY a difference between a "Vette Motor" and a stock Chevy 350? I am asking because everything I have read or heard says NO (with the exception of the Ram's Horn exhaust manifold....stock is 2" stock...2.5" for Corvettes). Yet, when I go to car shows that have hot rods, custom cars etc...I hear "My car has a Vette Motor...." or "Yep...it goes real fast cuz it has a Vette Motor..." I am not talking about the C5s..only C3s & C4s engines. When I look at mine, I see a pure, straight 350 engine (without all the federal mandated smog crap). Help me straighten this out.....

 

Before the smog years some "Vette" motors were always the right at the HP top of what GM was releasing in both small and big block. Any motor producing over one hp per cubic inch is special.

later C-3 l-82 motors might have only had a 225 hp rating, but the internals were all 350 hp 350's So with a head change with some good flow and compression increase they had all the forged crank and good rods to make them spin 7000 rpm every day of the week.

You also said C-4 They really didn't have any power till 1989 and later unless you had the ZR-1

 

I think the idea of the engine coming from a "Vette" just sounds more inticing.

 

 

I the early C3 years you got a 4-bolt block sometimes and better heads. By the mid 70s there was no appreciable difference.

 

 

We had a thread about this recently. The L-48 is basicaly a stock commuter car engine. I am trying not to offend base model L-48 owners here as most C-3's have them. Good engines for the application but just not "unique" when compared to other engines.

The L-79, L-46, L-82 and LT-1 were Vette specified and had all the good internal parts Chevy made at the time. These type engines were also used in the Z/28's during the 1970's with a few minor changes such as exhaust manifolds, carb calibration, disributor specs and other minor differences. They all had forged bottom ends, HP cams, bigger dampers, windage trays with maincap studs etc. all designed for higher RPM performance. The later C3's had crappy heads but the early ones with optional HP engines had the best Chevy HP heads on them with big valves, chamber work, screw in studs and guideplates (after '69) etc.

BTW - The same rams horn exhaust manifolds from the Vette were also used on full size passenger cars so they are not Vette specific. Most were 2" even on HP Vettes.

An "optional HP" Vette engine definately has better pieces in it. The base engine is not functionaly different from a commuter car engine. Even so, if someone is telling you his car has a Vette engine in it, he is probably just trying to make conversation.

-Mark.

 

I should have qualified that this was for the later L48 engines. Although the later L82 engines were better than L48, they were still not what they were in the base engines of 68-72 or so. They will all respond to head work, intake, carbs, exhaust, etc. You just start a little ahead with an L82. If you are going to rebuild it, the block makes little difference. A forged crank is nice, but not necessary until you make some serious power. My .02

 

The early V8 with the 265 and 283 CI passenger cars and trucks could be ordered with the identical Vette HP engines as an option. Some very rare pieces even had the FI engines factory installed. Subsequent applications using Vette parts in hot rods, Vettes, and and hot stock machines became the norm for those cars that were first ordered with the underpowered engines and carries right on today. And yes, calling a V8 a "Vette engine" is much more impressive than describing it as a 350 or whatever.

 

And this is why Vette engines were better (up until about '74)...

 

How about the 82 L83.was that just a Vette and Z/28 engine?

 

The C3 had the L82 which had the forged internals. there was also the older LT1, I think that the corvette also had the L88.

The C4 people brought up had the aluminum heads, which were different from the camaro TPI which had iron heads and was only a 305 as compared to the 350 in the vette.

 

On my second trip down to Bowling Green, I got to BSing with a guy who was on the Assembly Plant tour with me. His Z06 was being built right in front of us (very cool! ). Anyway, he got to asking me about my Vette and I told him it is a 69. He asked if it was a 350 and I said it was. He then told me he probably built the motor in my car. He was retired from the Flint, MI engine plant. Then he went on to tell me how the Corvettes always got the best motors. For example, if a motor for a Camaro or Impala came in with a nick in the cylinder wall, they would weld it, grind the weld, hone it, and then send it out. Vette motors were not allowed into the cars with any flaws or repaired flaws. If it had any manufacturing flaws it was rejected.

There may be some truth that Vette motors are special.

 

Didn't one of the early '70s Base Novas actually produce more horsepower and speed than the same year Corvette? I thought I read that somewhere. Funny to think that one year the Corvette was the second fasted car in the Chevy family. Can any trivia buffs straighten this out?

 

As far as C3s go not really. The overwhelming majority of C3s from 1969 on came w/ the L48 as their base engine. This 'base' engine was widely avail as an 'optional' engine in many other Chevrolets. About the only thing that made it special was the ram's horn manifold, distributor and maybe air cleaner and a few other details. Optional Corvette engines were somewhat more unique however as mentioned above.

 

There was no L48 in 1969

 

...windage trays with maincap studs, etc. From the factory? I didn't think anything of that vintage had this. Am I wrong? Maybe I'm looking for the wrong block for my 383.

 

I replaced my stock motor on my 80 coupe with a 383 stroker and have been offered some serious money on the original with 55,000 miles on it. I don't get it. It's just a 350 bogged down with smog equiment, but people think because it's a Vette engine it is something special. I'm holding on to all the original parts just because, (you never know) and one day I might be saying boy that was stupid to sell that motor, tranny, hood, etc. Just my $.02 worth

 

Yes they did.

68 Vette L-79 327/350 HP engines had 2 bolt mains but all the 69 and up 350 cube SHP C3 Vette engines have 4 bolt mains and windage trays w/studs. The "studs" GM used are closer to what I would call a "stud bolt". When I think of main cap studs, I typicaly think of a threaded fastener with no hex head on it that uses a nut for cap retention.

Either way, GM was selling a very good foundation for hot rodders to build up on with the factory SHP engines. The emissions equipment and low octane gas requirements caused the thing to disapoint you in the power production area as you left the showroom floor. For "off-road" purposes you could remove the emissions equipment, get some high C/R heads, recalibrate the tuning and drive away happy just like we did in the good old days.

Yes, the optional engines had lots of good parts in them.

-Mark.

 

That must have been one hot 6-cylinder Chevy was stuffing in those base Novas.


There most certainly was. In fact, it was the first year of the L48 and all base Corvettes had one and many other 69 Chevrolets optionally had 'em.

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It should also be noted that even the base L48s common to almost all years of C3s since '69 was special in a sense. It represented the entry level 'performance' engine. It was standard in Corvettes rather than optional like in other cars. Many other SBs only came with things like 2bbl carbs etc.