67 Valve covers - only one flawed?

[Chris E.]

Ok gang, my motor is done with its rebuild (see attached picture), and I just noticed something. Only one of the valve covers has the standard casting flaw through the "O" in Corvette. After reading the TIM/JG, it looks like that is acceptable. In other words, ALL 67s don't ALL have BOTH valve covers flawed.

Comments?

[William C.]

Re: 67 Valve covers - only one flawed?

It really comes down to what the flaw looks like, how bad it is, once the mold broke, there was some intermixing, but by '67 that was pretty much over. As time went on, the flaw continued to get worse in over-the counter versions, so there some issues on that end. A '66 might have one and none, but a '67 starts to strain logic. (Not that some other issues don't)

[Kevin M.]

(Message Deleted by Poster)

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[Gary B.]

One flaw; one not; Unlikely in '67, but...

Chris,

My July build date 1966 L79 is a pretty original car and when I bought it it had one valve cover with the flaw and one without. Problem is, the '66 JG says that the flaw started aourn VIN 17000 or March of '66, so by July the consensus is that both covers should have the flaw. Both L & R valve covers are the same part number; i.e., they are not different L and R parts.

I predict that you will not have any success arguing to the judges that your car came with one flawed cover and one non-flawed. Dimes to donuts you're going to get a deduct. It will be small and if you really believe your valve covers to be orginal to the car and if you can stand the deduct, then you might keep the car as you think it was, with one flawed cover and one not and live with the deduct.

Gary

[Jack H.]

Say wah???

Yes there are differen PN's for the cast aluminum Corvette valve covers, but the PN's distinguish the version of the cover (staggered vs. straight across mounting holes) and not RH vs. LH mount... The 3772669 number covers '56-59E with staggered mounting holes (doesn't distinguish between 7-rib/9-rib and high/low relief script variance) while 372086 calls out the 59L and up cover with straight across holes (doesn't distinguish between flawed and non-flawed 'o' in Corvette).

[Peter L.]

Re: One flaw; one not; Unlikely in '67, but...

It never ceases to amaze me how "accurately" we are when it comes to idiosyncracies like this that end up taking on a life of their own and we end up seeming to know them as fact 40 plus years later when the folks who put the part on the car did just that, put part ######## on the car or engine in this case period. If there was a Technical Service Bulletin or some other documentation associated with the activity or part that's one thing, e.g. matching 1966 or 1967 L79 Corvette valve covers, but "urban legend" that's another.

Remember GM "made money" in the old days, anyway, and it's a great hobby.

Pete

[john daly]

Re: One flaw; one not; Unlikely in '67, but...

My unrestored early 67 L79 engine has a August 31 cast date and a Sept 15 assembly date with one flawed and one unflawed valve cover. I took the hit in judging, but I won't change it.

john

[John D.]

Re: 67 Valve covers - only one flawed?

Chris and others, I have seen more valve covers than I care to remember. I had a customer with an early 67 that sent me a pair of valve covers that I called a mismatch. One had the typical seam and the other did not. So I called him up and he said to me that he bought the car from the original owner and the owner said the valve covers were never replaced. The inside of the "smooth" valve cover had quite a crack but the top was perfect like a typical 60 to early 66 valve cover. Soooooo. Who knows.
But from my 30 years as a member of this club I can tell you that if you wanna play the game you must abide by the judging standards and go with the flow or take the hit.
Simple as that. I have a similiar problem with 63 FI car. I know my distribuor cover-shielding came with my early March AM radio car. No cutouts-no FI, etc. Well the judges don't like it (except for Bill Clupper who knows the truth) and I get hit on it. AM I going to change it. No but I am looking for another one and then I will bring both styles to a show just for the hell of it. Yea I know you can't do dat but who cares. John

[Chris E.]

Re: 67 Valve covers - only one flawed?

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I appreciate it.