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Finally got the car in the garage, still waiting for New York to clear up the title fiasco and scraping out carpet glue is where I am at now. Going through some more of my brother's papers and receipts I found this paper and got excited thinking it was the numbers for the block that is in there now since the pad is clean. Well, one look on my block and this is not it as my number is GM 3858174. I'm wondering if this note is a motor he was looking at or was in the car when he bought it. It wouldn't have been original for this car and I don't even know if it is a corvette block. Here is what was on the paper.
Behind flywheel right side - SPECIAL H23 with 870 over 852 and the letter S below the H23
Back top left side- GM 3782870 1962-65 3782870 327cuin 250hp-375hp 2-bolt main, car, truck
Right side front - 5121522 F05I0HR and the I is not a 1. HR 1965 327 300hp 4 barrel Pwrglide, h/p, a/c
HR was used in the 1965 Corvette with 300hp, auto trans, and A/C, so it could potentially be a Corvette engine, especially if the "5" at the beginning of the VIN seq is really an S
Thanks Gusto. I wondered what that went to. I don't have it and just wonder why he wrote it down and stuck it old receipts. With my brother, who knows. What scares me more is if he took the build sheet off the tank and stuck in some random place and I threw it away. I tried to keep all the car paperwork, and it was mostly together, but I found the title in a random box in a random spiral notebook. The first load of papers that went to the dump weighed 1100-1200 pounds so I may very well have missed something. He always said it was a big block car and was confident. Don't know if he figured it out like you guys did or had the build sheet.
I'm just going with what I was told here with the way some things are laid out in the car. I have been told this was probably a 390 car based off of instrument cluster, rear sway bar, rear end, front sway bar thickness, big block radiator mounts, the way a wire is attached to the firewall, driveshaft bolts and would have to go back to the beginning to see what else was listed. If im wrong, let me know because I learn something new about this car all the time.
Well here is the 30 plus year old prestone antifreeze. The particles blew in from the wind. Could not find a trim tag on the radiator but it is a four core. I would consider yesterday as the first official day on the start of restoration. Should I start a new thread for that?
The radiator tanks look good, you need to let a good radiator shop look at the core but there does not appear to be deposits inside. My suggestion for the time being is to cap all openings tight and store the radiator with it full to the top with 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water, keep the air off of the inside.
If someone directed a question to me about why I believe your car is originally a big block car that got answered in the first dozen or so posts. I don't believe i'm mistaken but you learn something new every day.
Thanks. I plan on going with a Dewitt’s but keeping the original. How should I store it then? I really don’t want to keep it full of antifreeze unless I have to. Or would it be best to have it gone through and then store it?
If it was mine i would have it looked at and use it. if you put a big motor in the car and build it stock use all the seals etc. You will probably be fine.
From the pictures it looks to be in nice shape, if there are any issues after having someone look at it you can always get the DeWitt but you may be surprised.
I will be going with a big block, just not sure if 427 or 454. All depends on the best deal I can find. I guess I could still put an electric fan on if I decide. Here's a new question. Is the crossmember in front of the engine supposed to have two humps in it? Also notice that the vertical bracket by the second hump seems high. The vertical bracket on the driver side is flush.
I will be going with a big block, just not sure if 427 or 454. All depends on the best deal I can find. I guess I could still put an electric fan on if I decide. Here's a new question. Is the crossmember in front of the engine supposed to have two humps in it? Also notice that the vertical bracket by the second hump seems high. The vertical bracket on the driver side is flush.
I can't answer your question about the second depression in the crossmember except I will look at my 67 tomorrow, I don't believe it belongs there but someone here may know.
FWIW, to maximize your cars value consider a 427 with a cast date prior to the car build date and build it stock. It's your car and I respect whatever you decide to do but I read so many stories here where engines, brakes etc. are changed and not engineered correctly and the owners have nothing but problems.
If you want to go fast buy a new Corvette, these cars are old school now a days.
I agree with you but it’s just insane to me the amount people are asking for a period correct block. That’s why I was considering a 454 also. I’m in no rush for the engine right now so hopefully I can find a 427 deal somewhere.
You need to keep in mind that the engine in these cars does not sit in the center of the engine compartment, it is offset slightly to the passenger side. Someone here will recall the exact amount, right now it has slipped my mind.
Because it is offset to the passenger side, the larger depression of the two is also offset to the passenger side to clear the Big Block crank pulley's. This has the effect of making the rear, lower control arm pickup point appear to be sticking above the crossmember on that side. In reality the upper surface of the crossmember on that side is lower than the driver's side because of how the tooling shaped the crossmember depressions.
The bottom line is that the crossmember is probably just as it left the factory.
Thank you Gustov. I didn’t even notice the offset and now as I look at it it is as plain as day. Any idea what the second smaller depression is for and was this crossmember used in all cars or just big blocks?
