1969 l88?

[dave cart]

i just bought a 69 corvette 4 speed ..was wandering how i can tell if it is a real l88 ?
the car is in pretty bad shape but it is complete ........and has a small block in it now not the orig motor .......it has the big block hood on it...and on the console it reads 427 cu l88.......if it is a real l88 car what is its value without the orig motor and needing restoring ?........im looking to sell the car

[Mike M.]

Re: 1969 l88?

hire a knowledgable appraiser(chuck Berge) page 3 of restorer mag. he can ascertain likely hood of it being an original L-88. good luck, mike

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 l88?

Dave-----

Hiring a good appraiser would be the best bet (NOTt me, though; I don't do ANY appraisals or ANY other work on Corvettes belonging to others). However, if you can answer a few questions, we might be able to get a "first cut", at it.

1) Does the car have 2 fuel lines running along the right side frame rail (i.e. a 3/8" main fuel line with a 5/16" fuel return line right next to it)?

2) What is the redline on the tach?

3) What is the size (OD) of the FRONT sway bar?

4) Is there a rear sway bar?

5) Does the car have an original-type radio and does it have an original-type antenna mounted in the original location?

6) If you can measure it, what is the wire diameter of the front coil springs?

7) Does the car have a 9 leaf or 7 leaf rear spring?

[Mike Cobine]

Re: 1969 l88?

The one item everyone has missed is to drop the gas tank and check the build sheet, if the tank is still original.

After that, remember that 35 years have passed on that car, and with all the wild times of the '70s and early '80s, many items can be removed and added by owners to do what they wnated with the car.

A lot of people built L88s out of cars so they could drag race, street race, and autocross. NCCC was king for much of the Corvette club activities. So if the car is rough, it could be the product of a lot of building and unbuilding. Time, patience, and expertise is needed to sort it out.

Post some pictures. Or a URL to where you have pictures. You will get a lot more results to the questions.

[Chas Kingston]

[Dick W.]

Re: 1969 l88?

Another thing to look for. Differential u-joint caps retained by u-bolts or caps. Transistor ignition. On radio installation look at antenna cable routing. Is it routed through the clips under the e brake console, or just laying there. Radios were added to cars over the years. The field installation was usually somewhat haphazzard. Radiator core support. The L/88 used an aluminum radiator 3007436, although some small blocks also used an aluminum radiator 3155316. Just a few more things to look for.

[dave cart]

Re: 1969 l88?

here are some things that i will add that i just found out about the car
it has 9 leaf rear spring....7,000 on the redline tach ,no rear sway bar,no radio but has antenna and luggage rack ,as far as the console reading 427 cu l88 it is actaully part of the console surounding the shifter not a plate ..like a glue on or anything .......and it does have the l88 hood on it after looking at some other ones on the internet .......

[Tom D.]

Re: 1969 l88?

Any holes in the trailing arms (from holding a prior sway bar)?

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 l88?

Dave-----

Based upon the information that you've provided here and in your e-mail, I would say that the car is DEFINITELY not an original L-88. In your e-mail you described that it has the fuel LINES like I described in my previous post. That means that the car had to have originally been a small block or a 390 hp big block. Certainly, no one would have ADDED the fuel return line. It's VERY difficult to do and who would go to that trouble and to what end?

The 9 leaf spring was not used on L-88's either, so that's another "discrepency"

No rear sway bar (and, assuming one hasn't been removed which can be discerned upon closer inspection) is another "discrepency".

There never was a tach used on a 1969 Corvette that had a 7,000 rpm redline. By redline we mean the point and which the redline BEGINS rather than where it ends. You are likely reading the latter.

If the antenna looks to be stock and original to the car, that would be another "discrepency"; L-88s could not be ordered with a radio (or, an antenna).

Measurement of the OD of the front sway bar which is likely original based on the description in your e-mail might help reveal, in combination with other things, whether the car was an original big block. A vernier caliper, if you have access to one, will do the trick nicely. If it's 3/4", then the car was an original small block.

Checking the attachment configuration of the inboard half-shaft u-joints, as other have suggested and I failed to mention in my original post, would be another indicator. U-bolts indicates an original small block; cast iron caps with through bolts indicates a big block (but, not necessarily an L-88).

The plate that you describe on the console is VERY easily changed; it is NOT part of the console plate. It can be easily pried off with a thin blade. A replacement can be just as easily installed. They used to be available from GM in SERVICE and they have also been available for years in perfect reproduction from Trim Parts. You just pry off the old one, remove the backing from the self-adhesive strip on the back of the new one, and press it into place. About 5 minutes, total, will do the trick.

The other items which we mentioned can also be changed to the "L-88 configuration" and many have been (I've personally seen all 500 of the 216 L-88s ever built), but changing all these things is a LOT more difficult than changing the plate on the console.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 l88?

Geezer------

You missed it. In 1969 the engine data plate for the L-88, GM #3958747, carried a GM list price of $0.60.

[William V.]

Re: 1969 l88?

Joe

Did the 69 L88 come with a heater? I thought the L88 had heater delete or was this just the 67?

Thanks

Bill

[Joe L.]

Re: 1969 l88?

Bill-----

Heater delete was for 1967 only L-88s. For the 1968 model year federal law required all passenger cars to have an operable defroster. In order to have same, you have to have a heater. So, all 1968-69 L-88s were equipped with a heater. It could not be "optioned-off" or deleted. I don't think that such a thing could have been obtained even through the "COPO" process since I don't think that Chevrolet Central Office, even in those days, would have authorized the build of an "illegal" car.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1969 L-88?

That's even a cheaper horsepower boost than chrome valve covers.

Patrick

[Chas Kingston]

Re: 1969 l88?

Guess that's what I get for trying to trust my memory of 35 years. Or, maybe I didn't look for a half-dozen years?

Geezer

[Mark #28455]

Re: 1969 l88?

You also missed the front brake caliper cast supports for attachment. The calipers can be easily modified for the two pin pad attachment but the support brackets (and original two pin brake pads) are hard to get.