Hot Rod Project

[Dennis McGill]

I see a lot of project cars advertised with Corvette engines. Are there that many Corvettes junked or do these engines just have Corvette valve covers?
Just read an ad for a 46 chevy coupe with a 327 Corvette engine.

[Ed Jennings]

Re: Hot Rod Project

The only way to really tell is if the block's stamp pad has an original stamping and indicates a sufix code that is Corvete specific. In the majority of cases I suspect these engines just have some Corvette valve covers. GM must have sold a billion sets of these covers over the years. They probably sold enough fuel injection emblems to put a set on every Vette built during the years FI was available. I even saw one set on a farm tractor, no kidding.

[Tony Merendino]

Re: Hot Rod Project

In their early lives many Corvettes were the victims of auto theft. The main reason they were popular among cars thieves was the desirability of their drive trains. Many Corvettes were stripped and their parts became intregal components on the local hot rod scene. I am sure many of these engines are still sitting in cars that have been sold dozens of times to unsuspecting owners. Corvette engines of the sixties were high performance engines and very desirable since they could bolt into most chassis with a minimum of fabrication.

I remember a NY Times article in the late 60's where one of the insurance periodicals estimated that the life of a Corvette on a New York City street was less than 1/2 hour before it was stolen.

[Mark #28455]

head castings

Many times the hot rodders refer to any engine with the "camel hump" heads as a Corvette engine. Those heads were available on the 300 HP pass engines too.