A.I.R. on 1965 Vettes??

[65 Sting]

Hi! I'm a first time Corvette owner having bought a 1965 Milano Maroon Coupe. The question I have is that it seems to have the K19 (Var.1) A.I.R. system on it, and I thought A.I.R. didn't come out until 1966? I have a matching numbers engine with the engine serial number 5121377F0628HE. I thought the HE was a 250 HP motor, but on the code section at CAC, that HE code stands for an Air Injection Reactor manual trans. 350HP engine. Now I don't know if I have a 250HP or a 350HP engine. The engine has Corvette finned valve covers, an alum. intake..GM#3844461, and a Holley R2818A #3849804 4 barrel carb. It has the heat riser choke with a chrome tube going from the exhaust manifold to the carb. and a rubber tube going from the chrome enclosed air cleaner( open on the cowl side), down to a metal tube which connects to the underside of the same exhaust manifold..(passenger side). Any thoughts or ideas?? Other GM code sites say that HE is a 250HP and HF as a 350HP. Are the 65 codes on this site the correct ones?? Thanks for any help offered to the new guy!:confused

 

[rowingone]

In 65 HE was the 250hp manual, the intake and carb you have are not correct to that engine as they were from the 365hp version.

 

[Tom65L76/96LT1]

Where does your tach RED LINE? If the tach is original to the car that will tell you what HP engine it originally had. As for codes HE is a 250hp with manual trans and no a/c,HF is a 300hp with manual trans and no a/c,HI is the correct code for the 250hp with manual trans and a/c,HJ is the code for the 300hp with manual trans and a/c and HU is the code for the 350hp with manual trans and a/c. If your original engine code is HE it appears that it was redone with the hi-rise aluminum intake manifold,the carb,aluminum finned valve covers,and air cleaner to make it look like the 350hp and 365hp engine. Hope this helps Tom

 

[ro.co2]

Welcome new guy, I was checking some of my books and cant find any k-19 cars(AIR) in 65. Also it shows 65 HE as a 250hp man. so I looked at 1966 and HE is a 300HP man. but not a k-19 car..The code in 66 for a (k-19) car are HD-HH-HR-KH. I hope John Z will chime in here soon maybe he can shed some light on this. By the way dont feel bad my car has some issues like this that are driving me crazy. I noticed you are in ST pete I'm in Clearwater If I can be of any help E-mail me. Roland.

 

[ctjackster]

are you sure the pad suffix is "HE"? As other have said, no AIR in 65, so if you have an A.I.R. unit on there that's a clue that something is other-than-original on your 65 engine - meaning that you have crossed over into "it's been messed with" land. If the engine is not a re-stamp, then we can all confirm your suffix would indicate a 250 hp mt configuration in 1965, and the engine stamp, at least, shows it to be a 65. The tach is a good suggestion, advise where the redlines begin, if this was a 250 hp car and the earlier efforts to jazz it up did not include replacing the tach, then you would find a 5300 redline tach, a sure sign that this car did not start out as a L76 or L79 (both used the intake and carb combination you found on your car, the L76 - 365 hp would have a 6500 redline, the L79 - 350 hp would have a 6000 (?) redline).

 

[65 Sting]

Thanks to all for the info. The car has a 6500 redline tach., but that might have been added too, since it has a 60 psi oil pressure gauage and not the 80 psi that the high performance cars had. The motor is beening torn down at this moment and I'm going over to see what cam it had in it. Does anyone know the factory cam numbers for a 350HP and 365HP motors?

 

[rowingone]

the 350/365 also had 2 1/2 inch exhaust . . the cam numbers 350hp - 3863151, 365hp - 3849346

 

[ctjackster]

Hi! I'm a first time Corvette owner having bought a 1965 Milano Maroon Coupe. The question I have is that it seems to have the K19 (Var.1) A.I.R. system on it, and I thought A.I.R. didn't come out until 1966? I have a matching numbers engine with the engine serial number 5121377F0628HE. . . . The engine has Corvette finned valve covers, an alum. intake..GM#3844461, and a Holley R2818A #3849804 4 barrel carb. It has the heat riser choke with a chrome tube going from the exhaust manifold to the carb. and a rubber tube going from the chrome enclosed air cleaner( open on the cowl side), down to a metal tube which connects to the underside of the same exhaust manifold..(passenger side).

I'm curios 65 Sting, how far did they take this SHP look (and to be sure, actual performance parts) on your engine, you say you have the finned valve covers (SHP-issue) - did they place the "350" or "365" stickers on the valve covers too? What was it represented to be when you bought the car? If the thing is going to be apart soon, you will be able to confirm whether you have a solid lifter (365) set up in there, or maybe just the 350 cam, and perhaps if you have a 2 1/2 exhaust, if so, you are pretty much there, maybe not a pefect numbers-matching configuration (hey your engine block still matches the VIN, that's #1), but if that is not your primary concern, it sure beats a plain jane 250, right? maybe all they missed was the 80 lb oil pressure guage? also check the band on the distrib, aside from the date code (start pulling those from the block and heads too to help verify the block stamp) you would really like to see an '0069 distrib in there, or if not at least the use of the SHP points (I think the distributor "shells" are all the same, really).

 

[JohnZ]

Yup, no A.I.R. on any Corvette engines until 1966, and then only for California. Yours has apparently been re-stamped, as the VIN derivative stamping says it was produced on March 11, 1965, but the engine plant stamping next to it says the engine was built on June 28th; what are the block casting number (behind LH head) and casting date (behind RH head)?

When you pull it apart, you won't see any part number on the cam, but you will see a raised casting number; the OEM cam casting numbers were as follows:

250/300hp = 3732798
350hp = 3863152
365/375hp = 3849347

 

[ro.co2]

John I'm with you and your reply ,but I'm not sure I understand the March build date with the 121377 wouldn't that be a July build aprox. And by the way I beleave our paths almost crossed recently as you were at Jerrys new place. The reason I know you met my friend and neighbor Minnow. I was going to come up with him but had something come up, maybe next time. Jerry is a great guy and really knows his vettes. Roland.

 

[Dave65]

John I'm with you and your reply ,but I'm not sure I understand the March build date with the 121377 wouldn't that be a July build aprox. And by the way I beleave our paths almost crossed recently as you were at Jerrys new place. The reason I know you met my friend and neighbor Minnow. I was going to come up with him but had something come up, maybe next time. Jerry is a great guy and really knows his vettes. Roland.

The 5121377 indicates 1965 (the 5) and 121377 should be the last six digits of your vin number. I disagree with John in that I think that is an early July car (I have 120597). The engine code decodes as Flint (F) June 28th (0628), and 250Hp Manual Transmission (HE).

A 6/28/05 date on the engine would be reasonable. Mine has the original engine cast 6/14/65, built 6/15/65 and put in the car about 6/22/65. There were a number of cars built in this time period with very short engine dates according to Noland's book. June, 1965 was one of the highest production months for the mid-years.

My guess is you have the original block that has been modified to some degree. Do you have 2" or 2 1/2" exhaust pipes?

Dave

 

[ctjackster]

yup, handy-dandy NCRS WI Birthday Calculator ( http://www.ncrswi.bizland.com/wi_ncrs/bdaycalc.htm ) shows a July 2, 1965 build-completion date for that production number, I am sure Sting 65 fainted when he read JohnZ's well-intentioned note, someone should waive some smelling salts under Sting 65's nose . . . I DO agree that you should pull some casting dates off of that block and the heads to help confirm the validity of that engine stamp and get some clarity on what you have there. Might also suggest you crawl underneath and check the VIN stamp on the tranny and date codes too.

 

[65 Sting]

ctjactster, Yes, I just got up off of the floor!! The block casting number is 3782870 and the casting date Feb. 2, 65 ( forgot the feb. code but it was feb.) heads were 3782461. HP rating labels on valve covers were worn off. After motor torn down found that is WAS NOT 365HP. Motor had been REBUILT before using USED pistons(skirts narled on sides for piston slap) and crank had been damaged and repaired... maybe a broken rod or two before... only ID on cam was #10606 on front end of cam. shaft. Any other thoughts??? Thanks

 

[Dave65]

Feb. 2, 65 is not a reasonable date for the build date. June 2nd would be coded something like F025. Feb 2nd would be B025. What does it actually say?

Dave

 

[ctjackster]

:eek on that Feb 2 65 casting date for a block with an assembly date stamp of June 28th . . . agree with Dave, post the code you found on the P-side near the bellhousing, perhaps you interpreted it wrong - now, I'm not saying it ain't possible, and to be sure if you were looking for something to satisfy NCRS judges you are within the 6 month window, but that gap is a big flag that might indicate all is not right there, again only if you care about the block being original to the car . . . you still have a proper 327 block, you already own the carb and intake manifold for a 350 or 365 configuration, I say put the right cam in there and valve train (I am partial to the L76 solid lifter set-up myself ), put the proper 2 1/2 exhaust manifolds on, etc. and vroom vroom there you go . . .

 

[JohnZ]

Oops! I mis-read the VIN as 12137 instead of 21377 - sorry :cry . A February casting date is OK for NCRS judging with the engine and car build date, IF it's dressed-out as a 250hp. If judging isn't in your plan, build it up however you like and enjoy it! The cam must be aftermarket - no GM cam ever had a raised casting number close to the one you found, and none were stamped on the ends like aftermarket cams are.

 

[65 Sting]

I think the casting date read F 2 65, but the car is away at the shop and I'll try to recheck the number early next week and let everyone know. Thanks for the help!

 

[ctjackster]

F = June, , that makes perfect sense, a June 2 cast date for your engine build date later in June.

cheers!