I looked at a V0302CTU stamped LT1 with power steering. Did any CTU engines get a 5 quart oil pan? If that is the case, was power steering available as early as March 2nd on LT1s?
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
Leonard-----
I SERIOUSLY doubt it. The primary, if not only difference between the CTU and CTK-coded engines was the oil pan. So, to build a CTU engine with a CTK oil pan seems very "incongruous".
It's very possible, though, that some previous owner decided that they just had to have power steering. So, the "6 quart" oil pan would have been changed to the "5 quart" and the power steering retrofitted. I'd say a VERY likely scenario. The person that did it was smart, too. Power steering is WAY, WAY more important and desirable for a street driven Corvette than a "6 quart" oil pan.
The only other possibility I can see is a "CTU" engine "converted" to "CTK" configuration at St. Louis (i.e. to build a car requiring power steering when a shortage of CTK engines existed). However, I'd say the chances of this are very, very slim. If a conversion had occurred at Flint for any reason, I would have expected the engine code to have been ground out and re-stamped. This would likely not have been done at St. Louis.In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
Thank you Joe.Comment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
no, only the CTK was the block had the 5qt pan. the CTU had a different oil pump and the big 6qt pan. no room for power steering with the big pan. when you were able to order power steering in late june it came with a CTK block. all other got the CTU until supplys ran out some time in july. then all lt-1s got the CTK blocks.Comment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
Terry and Mike-----
The oil pumps were the same. All LT-1's used the "high pressure" pump, regardless of whether they had the "5 quart" (CTK) or "6 quart" (CTU) pan. Actually, the only difference between the standard pump used for base engine and L-46 and the "high pressure" pump used for LT-1 was the installed pressure relief spring. Otherwise, the pumps were identical.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
thanks joe. i was told by an engine guy years ago that the oil pump was redesigned for the ctk. always thought it was true. i never had a ctu car to compair it to. thats why i come here and read this stuff every day. lots of good info here!Comment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
More to learn Mike:
CTU production stopped in March 1970 & CTK began the same month. And that is as close as I will tell in public, but we do know the exact production dates. Once Flint began producing CTK engines, they produced no more CTUs. So after the stock of CTUs were used at St. Louis (and as far as we can tell there was no effort to "stock-up") ALL 1970 LT1s were CTK engines regardless of whether that car had N40 or not.TerryComment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
There are 7 LT1s with a CTU engine, N40 and early VINs (512, 1369, 2744, 5360, 6049, 6471, 8128) listed in the 1970 Corvette Registry. What can we assume about them?Comment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
Right, but the description says "N40" which was a factory order option, as opposed to saying just "power steering" which I would interpret as an add-on.Comment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
No assumption Ken, We CAN say St Louis didn't build them that way. CTU and N40 simply do not go together. Some of those parts want to occupy the same space, and there is no way St Louis could put them on the same car.
In about 1993 I did a story for The Restorer about how we figured out the difference between CTU and CTK. One of the keys was a conversation with a group of Corvette enthusiasts at a car-related social event. This group finally noodled the oil pan difference and one individual, still involved in the hobby today, who when informed of the suspected oil pan difference said: "Now I know why I had to beat the *)&^ out of some oil pans to get the power steering ram on, and others just slid right in." It was as if a light bulb went off for the whole group. Subsequent documentation from Flint Assembly sealed the deal, but some measurements at the National Convention in Warren Michigan, and that conversation provided the clues.
The rest of that conversation involved several people talking about how many C3s they had added power steering to over the years -- and that was in 1992.TerryComment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
Ken-----
My feeling would be that any CTU-coded engine in a car which was also equipped with N-40 represents a post-factory conversion to N-40.
As I mentioned previously, the only way that I can see that a CTU-coded engine could have been originally equipped with power steering is if (1) the oil pan was changed at St. Louis which is almost inconceivable to me, or (2) if, at some point, the specs for the CTU engine were changed to provide for the 5 quart oil pan instead of the 6 quart. I HIGHLY doubt that such a change was made. The engine suffix code defined an engine configuration. If that configuration was changed, especially in a way that materially affected assembly plant requirements (which was most of the purpose for the engine suffix code in the first place), the code would be changed (as we know it was with the introduction of the CTK code).
Consider this: if CTU-coded engines were produced with both "5 quart" and "6 quart" pans, how would the St. Louis assembly line workers know which one to use for power steering applications? Do you suppose that someone would have told them that they had to learn to identify the oil pans and then select the proper engine based on their assessment of which pan was installed? I don't think so.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
Terry, Joe,
In the past I always looked at those seven LT1s as being fakes. I guess I was being a little too closed minded in my observations. They could very well be real LT1s that have been converted simply by replacing the 6 qt. oil pan to make room for the power steering unit. What confused me was the N40 option designation in the description, which I mistook for implying "factory installed".
Thanks.Comment
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Re: 1970 LT1 power steering question
Without close examination, it is impossible to say, but your first suspicion might be correct as well. I once saw a 1970 that the owner insisted was an LT1, and it was equipped with C60. He was showing it off to a crowd of people at a show. He was enjoying his 15-minutes of fame, and I saw no reason to dissuade him from his delusion.TerryComment
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