how to tell a LT1?

[94conv.]

Afriend of mine/co worker has a 72' vette with a LT1 hood on it. It was there when he bought it and the engine had been rebuilt and beefed up a little bit, nothing extreme but it did come with the paper work containing all the work done on the enging ( blueprinted ? ) I have the corvette black book and it has the RPO codes for the LT1 engine, which if I read correctly is LT1 but how do you find it on the car? I dont think he has the build sheet but is there anywhere else on the car to look? I dont know for sure if its the original engine or not so Im looking for something other then block and head numbers. What about the VIN, does it decode in there somewhere?

 

[94conv.]

Afriend of mine/co worker has a 72' vette with a LT1 hood on it. It was there when he bought it and the engine had been rebuilt and beefed up a little bit, nothing extreme but it did come with the paper work containing all the work done on the enging ( blueprinted ? ) I have the corvette black book and it has the RPO codes for the LT1 engine, which if I read correctly is LT1 but how do you find it on the car? I dont think he has the build sheet but is there anywhere else on the car to look? I dont know for sure if its the original engine or not so Im looking for something other then block and head numbers. What about the VIN, does it decode in there somewhere?

Sorry, Its a 71' coupe

 

[red70vette]

Sorry no vin derivatives in 71. The only way to tell is the engine stamp pad which if it is the original engine will have the vin# last 6 digits and CGZ for an LT1 or CGY for a ZR1. That and original paperwork. Everything else is window dressing.

If it is not the original engine it is all academic. The LT1 engine is what made it an LT1. Any other engine is just a replacement whether it is a small block, big block or a hemi. Once the original LT1 engine is gone it is whatever the builder wants it to be and it is no longer worth what an LT1 is worth. Many people put LT1 or big block hoods on their cars because they thought it looked cool. That doesn't make it what it isn't.

 

[Crimson Thunder]

You can still look for some other clues to see if it once had a LT-1.Look for the 6500 redline on the tach,the absence of a fuel return line,the yellow emisions sticker under the white sticker under the hood,and make sure it dosent have AC.(70-71 only)

 

[94conv.]

Thank you. That answers it, it does have A/C, its an automatic, that part I know, I'm not sure of the tach but I dont think I have to look any further, he's asking around 10k for it and I was thinking of selling my C4 convertible and buying his and restoring it if it was an LT1, its still a sharp car and runs strong but it does have a few minor issues. Thanks again for your help.

 

[6880 Mike]

....That answers it, it does have A/C, its an automatic...

It's not an LT-1. All factory LT-1s were four speeds and AC was available with the LT-1 only in '72.

Adding the LT-1/big block hood was popular and a bolt on swap.

She ought to be a keeper just the same.

 

[GaryS]

It's not an LT-1. All factory LT-1s were four speeds and AC was available with the LT-1 only in '72.

Adding the LT-1/big block hood was popular and a bolt on swap.

She ought to be a keeper just the same.

In addition, 72s only had a/c in the last few months of production.

Gary