VetteZr

Does anyone know for sure which pressure gauge the L79 engine had in the dash, 60 or 80 pound? Thanks for any help.

mgr40021

I have a 65 w/L79 that has a 60 lb gauge.

68hemi

If I am not mistaken I think it changed to 80 psi for the higher h.p. engines sometime during the year.

cblankin

my 1965 L79 built in Jan 65 has a 80 psi gauge.

VetteZr

My car has a 2/15 assembly date, so 80 it is, thanks for your input & to the others for their help.

cblankin

my vin ends in 107440 Should be close your vin

SoCalErv

I thought all SB's were 60# unless they were solid lifters. I am out of country right now. Anyone have a NCRS Judging Manual available?

Powershift

My 1965 NCRS Judging Manual indicates 60 psig gage for both EARLY and LATE L-79 engines.

FWIW.

Larry

EDIT: Neither Rick Miller's Book on C2 Corvettes or Noland's Book on C2 Restoration show anything different regarding the oil pressure gage from what is stated in the NCRS JM.

Critter1

That's what I thought too.

VetteZr

My VIN is 109812

VetteZr

Thanks for that input, I guess I'll have to go with the NCRS book on this one.

midstyle

Here's my first car, VIN 04835, picture taken May 1968; had 32,600 miles. L79 (350hp), no radio, had back-up lights but no day/night mirror. Didn't know at the time that it was such a strange bird. Notice the 80 lb oil gauge.

Critter1

Thanks Wayne. I just learned something.

Powershift

I went back and rechecked Rick Miller's and Noland's Books. Had a bit more time to search. Nothing I could find in Noland's Restoration Book about the 60 or 80 psi oil pressure gage changes.

However in Rick's Book I found two references to the L-79 with the different oil pressure gages that i did not find earlier. One was on page 65 regarding inspecting a prospective corvette for purchase. Rick stated here that some 1965 L-79 cars had an 80 psi oil pressure gage and early L-79 also had the low 5300 RPM redline tachometer.

On page 140 regarding the 1965 specific model year corvette, Rick showed a picture of the instrument cluster of a 1965 car (engine/car not identified) that had a 5300 RPM redline tachometer and a 80 psi oil pressure gage. Rick stated that this suggested that it was an early production 327/350 (L-79) engine.

So there is evidence from his book as well as forum members midstyle and cblankin that the 80 psi oil pressure gage did exist from the factory.

There is no additional knowledge I can find that ties this difference to a particular VIN range or month of production. Midstyle's picture shows the higher 6000 RPM redline tach for the L-79 along with the 80 psi oil gage..........so the oil pressure and tach redline changes were not done together or simultaneously.

The NCRS 1965 Team Leader may have additional info and could be contacted. His name is K.C. Strawmyre from Newburg, Pennsylvania. You can PM me for contact information.

MikeM

Was the 80 lb gauge used with the six quart pan? 60 lb gauge used with the five quart pan?

BWT

I would be interested to see the broadcast label on a 65 with a mid rpm redline and an 80 lb. oil gauge..

Powershift

Me too............

Larry

Nowhere Man

the five quart pan plus one in the filter was used on the solid lifter engines Mike.

Powershift

It was rumored to also have been installed on early 1965 L-79 engines. But by VIN #4835 and #7440 this was definitely changed (if it happened at all) and all should of had the smaller capacity oil pan. Nolan says car with VIN #159 had the small capacity pan and power steering.

Larry

Nowhere Man

no expert on 65 L79 cars would like to see some one owner low mile cars with this