Help! L 88 Motor

[Long Island Ralph]

A friend of mine has a 427 L88 that he says is orignal.The front of the block has T 0613 IT with aluminun heads single 4 barrel on an Elibrock manifold. Does anyone have an idea what the motors worth and what year Corvette or car belongs in.The block last three casting numbers are (3904351)and I think there is another casting C 31 or c 31 7.No vin.munber on the engine. Thanks for any info,Ralph; P.S How do i post pix's?

 

[Tom Bryant]

IT was used in '67 and '68 L88s but 3904351 was a 1967 casting number used in most 427s according to the NCRS Spec Guide. C 31 7 would be March 31 1967. Looks like the engine was assembled on June 13th. That seems a little far from the casting date but who knows. Since it does not have a vin number I'd guess that it was an over the counter engine not originally installed in a Corvette. We call them crate engines now.

As for value, Well that depends on who wants it. It could go anywhere from a lot of money to a stupid lot of money. If I had a 1967 L88 without the original engine and this one is dated close to being a match to my car I'd have to have it at any cost. I was told once that of the 20 1967 L88s that only 3 still had their original engines. That also makes a seriously limited market for the engine unless you are building a L88 clone.

If you have pictures loaded onto your PC just click on the manage attachments bar in the area below the text box when you are posting then click on browse. Go to the picture on your PC and click on it. Then click upload. If you use a picture hosting site such as Shutterfly or Photo Bucket click on the envelope icon above the text box and past the address of the picture in there.

Welcome to the CAC,
Tom

 

[Long Island Ralph]

Thanks for the info,my next step is to speak to the people who knew of the engine and who worked on it as well.Any ideas as how to get my hood 1967 BB to except my carb. to air box simalar to a L 88 hood? And is it reasonable to spend $600 or better for a year correct 1967 carb for that engine(L88)?

 

[Tom Bryant]

The air box and all of the air cleaner parts are available repro. 67HEAVEN did the conversion to his car and I'm sure he will be posting some picture and sources as soon as he sees this thread. As for carb and intake that depends on how authentic you want it to look. If you can find the right parts it would be nice to have them on the engine.

Tom

 

[Long Island Ralph]

Thanks for the advice.A little background,I've owned 2 corvettes before I could splurge again,it only took 42 years for me to buy my 1967,my first was a stripped '58,when i could have bought at that time a '57 2 4's a record 1/4 miler but no I bought the '58 and then my very next car was a '65 coupe 3 sd.,when my father talked me out of a left over '64 FI with every option GM could put on that vette(this was at GM show room in NYC) for the same money as the '65 4K out he door.I was also looking at a XKE and a 289 Cobra at the same time both were 6K,2k more than I could afford making $68/wk at that time wking for Con Edison.I could list all the options on the '64 like the 37 gal gas tank,knock off wheels etc. but the memory is still too painful.Thanks again.

 

[Hib Halverson]

If the engine in question has an "Edelbrock" intake manifold, it's either not an L88 or at least, it's not an "original" L88.

Stock L88s had a high-rise intake made by Winters Foundry.

 

[Long Island Ralph]

Thanks I knew that fact more concerned about the front pad which was marked T 0613 IT.What do you think?

 

[Hib Halverson]

"IT" is the correct suffix for for an L88 engine for MY67 and 68.

3904351 is one of the numbers used on 427 blocks for MY67, but it could have been used for any 427 in MY67, not just an L88.

Does this engine have a canister-type or a spin-on oil filter?

Also, where were those date stamps, on the side of the block or on the clutch housing flange?

Is this engine assembled, partially disassembled or in pieces?

 

[JohnZ]

Without a VIN on the pad, it's an over-the-counter L-88; hundreds of them were sold that way (vs. the 20 that went into Corvettes).

 

[motorman]

Without a VIN on the pad, it's an over-the-counter L-88; hundreds of them were sold that way (vs. the 20 that went into Corvettes).

built a few myself into dirt track engines back then. GM sold a lot more L-88 engines over the counter than they sold in corvettes.

 

[Long Island Ralph]

Thanks for all the advice. The engine is now mine and I’ll get as many date period parts as I can to build as close to an original L88 without going broke. I like the look of road racers with the exposed side pipes (Hookers, still makes a look alike) and I’ll need to get a fresh air box for the hood and if all that comes together by the summer I’ll be a happy camper. All the help has been wonderful. When it’s done it will just be a ’67 with a period L88 under the hood nothing more but something I’ve wanted to do for some time, to enjoy and make the ground shake just like those dam Cobra’s running all over the place. Does anyone have any feed back on the Grand sport Corvettes building built? Any advise it greatly appricated.

 

[JohnZ]

Does anyone have any feed back on the Grand sport Corvettes building built? Any advise it greatly appricated.

What would you like to know? I've built one - from a D&D kit, in 1995.

 

[Long Island Ralph]

Sorry for the delay in not responding to those beautiful pictures of your car. I think that has to be one of the most beautiful race cars every produced. Does the vette have A/C, PS, and PB? How big is the engine and how does it run. Comfortable lets say for a 200 + mile run etc. One of the greatest race cars of all time!! Very busy with getting my engine rebuilt.P.S.What kind of headers did you use and whats it sound like with those side pipes and where did you get them?

 

[JohnZ]

Sorry for the delay in not responding to those beautiful pictures of your car. I think that has to be one of the most beautiful race cars every produced. Does the vette have A/C, PS, and PB? How big is the engine and how does it run. Comfortable lets say for a 200 + mile run etc. One of the greatest race cars of all time!! Very busy with getting my engine rebuilt.P.S.What kind of headers did you use and whats it sound like with those side pipes and where did you get them?

Yes, I built it with Vintage Air A/C (the D&D body has no provisions for kickpad-area ventilation), used an Appleton power sprint car rack & pinion steering rack with a GM mini-pump and remote reservoir, and a C4 booster and master cylinder offset 90* under the fender. I built a stout 383 for it - only weighed 2340# wet with the tube frame. Relatively comfy for long runs, but it was LOUD - 4" open sidepipes with no baffles/mufflers; headers were custom-made Hedman #68280 that run under the frame tube, and D&D made the sidepipes for me.

 

[Long Island Ralph]

I have a coupe of questions for any of the guys that are running an early model L88 engine on the street. I'm currently having a 1967 L88 engine that I bought rebuilt to put in my car, a 67 Vette, the motors in very good shape and basically I'm just having it freshened up. Right now it's in stock form with 12.5 compression pistons. I was thinking of putting in 10.5 compression pistons in to make it more streetable. The car will be driven occasionally to shows and short trips.

1-I'd like to know if there's anyone out there running the 12.5 compression on the street and how streetable the car is; are there any problems with the available commercial gas(93 octane), do you get detonation, the car overheat or any other problems with the high compression for street use?

2-Do you think that changing to 10.5 pistons will affect resale in the future?



Thanks,

Ralph

 

[Hib Halverson]

You cannot safely run a 12,5:1 engine on 91-93 oct pump gas unless you drive it real easy, the car has excellent cooling, you drive in places were it's not too hot in the summer and, perhaps, you make the spark curve not so aggressive.

To run 12.5:1 on the street and keep the engine out of detonation you'll need to mix about 1:2 91-93-oct pump gas with 100-oct unleaded race gas or 1:1 91-93-oct with 110-oct leaded race gas.

That said, if this engine is only going to be used to go to shows and you're not going to run it hard, you probably can get by with much less of a percentage of race gas, say 2:1 pump 91-93 and 100 unleaded.

Switching to 10 or 10.5:1 compression will allow you to run 91-93 oct pump gas will little or no problems.

Will that decrease the value of the car?

I'm not an expert on the issue, but I'd guess since the car is not an original L88 to begin with, there will be little or no impact on the value of the car if you rebuild the motor with 10:1 compression.

 

[Tom Bryant]

I agree. 10.5 is about the limit for 93 octane and aluminum heads. I have seen some guys get away with 11:1 with the right chamber shape on a small block. As for resale value of the engine alone, out of the car, the numbers on it are what is going to sell it not the pistons. Correct external parts such as the carb and intake, should you locate them, will be of more concern to a buyer.

Tom

 

[Long Island Ralph]

Thanks for the insight.Will get back with the advice from the engine builder and add his thoughts to the mix. Thanks again Ralph

 

[wallyknoch]

I Street A true L88

Thanks for the insight.Will get back with the advice from the engine builder and add his thoughts to the mix. Thanks again Ralph

After 35 years it`s back together again and with the L88. Completely refreshed as new because it was caught in time from possible disastrous results .. I put 28,000+ miles on the engine using all types of gas. Sometimes driving it very easy with regular gas. Those 28K were hard miles and I beat the hell out of it. Not sure how i`m going to approach the gas problem at 7-8 MPG and now today priced at $3.49 a gallon. Laying around without it`s engine the car got a little beat up too. That also got a complete renewal from top to bottom. You asked who ran one on the street, well I did and will again....and in short order. it runs perfect.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Looks nice and I'll bet it sounds great. My '59 was '68 Safari Yellow when I got it.

I am a little concerned about the amount of dust on the Olds though. Cat tracks too? :nono

Maybe you should keep it at my place.

Tom