L-88 in 1968

[gary 427]

I have a dilemma, I'm wondering if any l-88's in 1968 were built with an auto trans. or all with 4 spd trans., they facts on this site contradict each other. in one section it says all 80 were 4 spd, and in the perf. section it shows 2 of the 1968's tested had 3 spd. autos. any help would be greatly appeciated. also any way to verify it as being an l-88. thanks

 

[SwaveDave]

Dont know about the auto trans qu estion., but . To identify an stock L88 engine (other than going for a ride in it and loosing your lunch....) : Look for the Holley 850 carb with the flame arrestor screen and solid top , there will be no power brake booster, there will be no fan shroud , it should have a high idle , and make sure its numbers matching.

If its a factory L88 car : There will be no radio or heater .

Dave

 

[Paul Borowski]

I had always read '69 had 17 automatic L-88s(I've seen three personally)of the 116 made. None in '68. Of course there is always the possibility GM made a "couple" '68 L-88s with automatics as "test mules".

 

[Rob]

Actually, this is partly my fault. For some stupid reason, I had the incorrect model years (1968 instead of 1969) listed for the Car Life and Road and Track road tests. Keep in mind as stated at the top of the L88 Performance page:

It should be noted that the performance test results from the Road and Track, Feb. 1986 issue were taken from the July, 1969 Car Life magazine. Road and Track tested a privately owned 1969 L88 but chose to report the test results from the Car Life magazine.

If I recall correctly, Road and Track was calling it a 1968 model however the article in Car Life leads the reader to believe that it is indeed a 1969 model.

As per Michael Antonick's Corvette Black Book:

For 1968:

RPO M40 Turbo HydraMatic transmission cost $226.45 when combined witht he 327 ci, 300 hp engine, but was $237.00 when combined with the 427ci, 390hp or 400 hp engines.

For 1969:

RPO M40 cost $290.40 with L71 or L88

Hope this clarifies the issue.

 

[gary 427]

thanks guys, thats what i needed to hear.

 

[SwaveDave]

Keep in mind that, when Road and Track do a performance test on an L88 ,its most likely with the skinny redline tires on it ; thats why youll see surprisingly high ET's for an L88 (no traction) in thier magazine . Put some slicks on it , and you can knock at least 2 seconds off.

I went to Mid AMerica's FUNFEST in 2001 , and saw a 1968 'ZL1' L88 Convertible (with ZL1 on the license plate) ; only trouble was.....none were made in 1968 and only 2 (coupes ??) in 1969 . In all appearances , it looked like the real thing ; but it had to be a crate motor / cloned engine. The guy did do an excellent job however. Its interesting to see what you find when 7000 corvettes get together in a field.


Dave

 

[SolidLifters]

There were no 68 auto L88's and the only year that the heater was a mandatory deleat was in 1967, which only amounted to 20 cars. All 3 years were mandatory radio deleat. There are many differences that distinguish the L88 and if I try to list em all here I'll probably forget half of em.

The radiator core support is different, if it's an auto car it would have to be late production with the second design open chamber heads. If it's 4 speed it would have to be an M22, and a properly serial numbered M22 would prove the authenticity of the car since they weren't available on any other Corvette in 69. There are so many other components that frequently get changed such as the radio, fan shroud, J56 brake calipers, etc that they become additional evidence, but certainly not an indication that the car wasn't original if they're abscent. Of course an orginal L88 would have to have many of the characteristics of the SHP car, such as CY transmission (if it's automatic), serial numbered to the car, hd rear, trans. ignition, no fuel return line, high RPM tach, etc. In 69 the J50 power brakes were also mandatory in addition to the J56 HD option, unlike the 67 which could be ordered without the power assist on the J56.

 

[mvftw]

I'm working on the website for the owner of the FIRST L-88 made. I was in it last week, it's was being prepped for the Jacksonville show this weekend (with the 5 Grand Sports). It's a '66, please don't write back saying the first L-88 was '67, that was first to the public. Roger Penske got the first and only L-88 in '66. When site is up I'll post the address.

 

[JohnZ]

That's this car, which was shown at the NCRS National Convention in Monterey last August; Kevin has done a fabulous job of restoring it as it was raced at the Daytona 24-hour. It was raced with a Traco-built L-88, which was installed at Penske's shop in Reading after the car was driven from St. Louis to Reading for race preparation. A LOT of research has been done by many people on what engine was actually in it when it left St. Louis, and the jury is still out due to lack of factory documentation on how it was really built originally.

Shots from Monterey:

 

[mvftw]

That's It! This is supposed to have the back up motor in it. Penske got 2 L88's. This is the backup motor, L88 #2. I'll be getting more info when Kevin gets back from Florida and hopefully have the site up.

 

[jonstr]

If it's 4 speed it would have to be an M22, and a properly serial numbered M22 would prove the authenticity of the car since they weren't available on any other Corvette in 69.

Solidlifters -
Great info, and dead on on every point. I do have one question on the above portion though. A friend of mine and I have been going back and forth on this issue, which then relates to how many automatic L88s were made in 1969.

He uses essentially this same point - that the M22 was only available with the L88 in '69, and since there were 101 M22s delivered in '69, then there were 15 automatic L88s (116 L88s - 101 M22s=15 autos).

I think there were two M22s installed in the two ZL1 cars, which would then make 17 automatic L88s, which is the number I have always heard. I'm really interested in figuring this out since my L88 is one of the automatic cars.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Jonstr