69 VIN NUMBER question

[69redvette]

I know my 69 has a different motor than the one it came with. I was wondering if I could find out from the VIN NUMBER which motor came with the car. It now has a 350 ci in it and I think it came with a 350/350 but some things don't add up. The car had big block engine mounts. Maybe someone put the wrong monts in at one time? It also came with the hi performance speedo, the one with the red indicator that can be set to a specific MPH and I think it sounded an alarm when that MPH was achieved. A corvette guy near where I live says Chevy only put those speedos in hi performance Corvettes, (Big Blocks). The vin number of the car is 194379S728418. Any help would be appreciated.

Joe

 

[paintdaddy]

You cant tell by the vin # ,i do know that There is a way to tell by looking at the tach assuming it is the original tach.Big blocks had a higher redline but I am unsure what the differences were.I may even be wrong on that as I think the 350 hp cars had the same redline as the 390 hp cars.

 

[69redvette]

It's not the tach that I asked about. It's the speedo. The speedo has a red indicator that you can set to a specific speed and an alarm sounds when the speed is achieved. (Or so I'm told, I can set my indicator to a speed but either my alarm doesn't sound anymore, or there is no alarm). There has to be some way that you can find out what motor came in your car, right? Any body have an idea how?

 

[paintdaddy]

I am not sure about the speedo but the tach thing is one way.There isnt another way to find out ,thats why there is so much fraud out there regarding this.Thats why there are more "original "435 hp vettes out there than were actually built.

 

[69redvette]

Ya, I guess your right. The tach has a red line at 5,400. Probably was a small block. Have you ever heard of a speedometer like mine? The Corvette guy I use says he's been in business for 25 years, Corvettes Unlimited, and hasn't seen many. Says it's pretty rare. Was it an option?

 

[paintdaddy]

Yeah Ive heard of the speedo warning like you have.I think they are rare on corvettes but Ive seen them as standard equipment on old buicks and Caddies.You might talk with JohnZ on the forum,hes a wiz at what is correct and options.

 

[redvett]

The Speed Warning System you are talking about is RPO U15 and in 1969 they built 3561 units with it out of 38,761 units built. It was available on all engine options.
This info is out of the Corvette Black Book.

 

[69redvette]

I learned something new today, thanks for the info redvett and paintdaddy. So roughly 10% of production that year had these units. Doesn't sound to be all that rare.