1967 BB K19 valve cover diverter valve bracket question - oddity?

[Charles C.]

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My question is: Has anyone ever heard of such a thing before?





Charles

[Joe L.]

Re: 1967 BB K19 valve cover diverter valve bracket question - oddity?

Here’s a BB K19 valve cover mystery question for your ’67 enthusiasts….

My ’67 427-390 Coupe was first delivered to Arizona and 1^st came into Ca in 1969, so it definitely was not a K19 equipped vehicle. It’s basically stock and unrestored andthere aren’t any items on the car related to K19, except one - sort of.

The passenger side valve cover has the base of the diverter valve mounting bracket welded to it. The curved section that extends above the flat base area has been cut off (sorry, no pictures at the moment). The owner from back in ’69 never changed the valve cover and thinks the bracket was already there, but I don’t have the ’67-69 owner info so I can’t check that time frame.

My question is: Has anyone ever heard of such a thing before?

I realize the valve cover could easily have been replaced inthe first two years of the cars life, but what are the odds that someone used a fairly rare K19 valve cover (while in another state besides Ca), and then cutoff the upper portion of the bracket? If it needed to be replaced way back then, they probably would have just used any BB valve cover that fit versus trying to be 1967 “correct”. Maybe a regular ’67 valve cover was ordered and a K19 version was shipped by mistake?

I’m guessing this is one of those oddball things that never will have an answer, but thought I should ask just in case there was maybe one other example of such a thing out there. So how about it, what are your thoughts?

Charles

Charles------

The 1967 right side valve covers for K-19 applications were unique to those 1967 applications. They were not used for any later model year applications.

Could a non-K-19 engine have been built with a K-19 right side valve cover with part of the bracket cut-off at the engine plant? I suppose it could happen but I highly doubt it.

[Charles C.]

Re: 1967 BB K19 valve cover diverter valve bracket question - oddity?

Joe,

I completely agree with you. Highly doubt the engine assembly line would have installed an incorrect valve cover on my engine. My car is mid production (Feb '67), so it's not like they were trying to use up any left over pieces at the end of the production year before the next versions were used.

I'm guessing the previous owner replaced it for some strange reason and just doesn't remember. Just strange that it happens to be a '67 K19 only valve cover installed on a regular '67.

The local Chevrolet dealer did some warranty work on the car in 1972 (but I have no documents on their services). Maybe they damaged the original valve cover and replaced it without telling the owner? Like I mentioned before, I could see someone ordering a '67 valve cover and getting the wrong one but still using it anyway.

Out of curiosity, I'm going to look in my 1968 Chevrolet parts book tonight to see if it lists separate valve cover part numbers for K19 and regular engines and if they are maybe just one digit different.

Probably will never know the true history of this one, but it's one of those things that are worth asking about just in case.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1967 BB K19 valve cover diverter valve bracket question - oddity?

Joe,

I completely agree with you. Highly doubt the engine assembly line would have installed an incorrect valve cover on my engine. My car is mid production (Feb '67), so it's not like they were trying to use up any left over pieces at the end of the production year before the next versions were used.

I'm guessing the previous owner replaced it for some strange reason and just doesn't remember. Just strange that it happens to be a '67 K19 only valve cover installed on a regular '67.

The local Chevrolet dealer did some warranty work on the car in 1972 (but I have no documents on their services). Maybe they damaged the original valve cover and replaced it without telling the owner? Like I mentioned before, I could see someone ordering a '67 valve cover and getting the wrong one but still using it anyway.

Out of curiosity, I'm going to look in my 1968 Chevrolet parts book tonight to see if it lists separate valve cover part numbers for K19 and regular engines and if they are maybe just one digit different.

Probably will never know the true history of this one, but it's one of those things that are worth asking about just in case.

Charles------

For 1967, the big block right side valve cover for K-19 equipped cars was different than the non K-19. This was due to the bracket for the mixture control valve. For 1968 and later, there was no difference in valve covers for cars with AIR versus non-AIR. ALL 1968-69 Corvettes received AIR.