I was just wondering...on the 71 and 72 SS cars equipped with the 402 engine, did they use the "396" badge under the SS fender emblem?

Also on the 71/72 SS cars equipped with a 402, did they come with chrome valve covers and a chrome open air filter housing?

In 1972, there was no '396' available. It was a 250 six, 305, 350 and 400 small block V8 and the 454. I'm not positive about '71, but I think it's the same line up. You could have a 350 or 400 SS, but only the 454 got the engine size emblem.
-Bill

The 402 was available in 71-72 El Caminos. Probably not in California though. I don't think it came with chrome valve covers nor chrome air cleaner. I say this because my original 1972 SS 454 had orange valve covers and a black air cleaner.

I'm pretty sure the 402 was avaliable thru '72 but they were calling it a 400 in '71 and in '70 they were still calling it a 396 though GM done give them the .030 bore.

In 71/72, the only engine emblem included with the SS emblem was on the 454, the rest just got the SS.

Hate to be the exception to the rule, but my '72 402 equipped SS has the 396 emblems. Is it supposed to? Best I can tell, no. I bought this car from the original owner and it was fully stock at the time.

This car was purchased in Katy, Tx two weeks before another friend of mine's SS from the same dealer. My car has the emblems, his does not. My car has the front grille stainless strips, his did not. My car had the amber front lenses, his did not. So go figure.

Leo is right, no 396 exterior badges on 71 and 72. If its there, someone put it there. If they are drilled holes, then someone drilled them or the fenders are not the original. Only 454 engine had exterior engine nameplates.

As for the amber vs clear turn signal lens, either is correct. Seems there was a 1st and 2nd design.

Per the parts catalog;

Amber - 1st Design
Clear - 2nd Design

What 1st and 2nd design means has been argued for many years. All I can do is speak from experience. I owned a new 1972 El Camino SS 350 that was purchased (just came in) in April of 1972 and it had clear lens. Another guy at work had a Chevelle SS 350 since Sept of 1971 and his had amber. So I would say they changed over to clear later in the model year but when who knows and it could have varied greatly by assembly plant.

Of course the 402 big block was available in a Chevelle SS in 1972. My documented 72 ss came with it. They did not come with any fender engine size id. Mine was built in Nov. 1971 and has amber turn signal lenses.

Mike

Yeah I've wondered about the clear/amber lens thing. But it seems more like the lenses would be clear at the beginning and then turned to amber later on?

I'm beginning to wonder if some head honcho with some safety/quality assurance board decided amber was a more appropriate color than clear? Or they just wanted to dummy proof the lights so some dummy wasn't sticking white bulbs in otherwise clear lamps.

Example: for those of you who know your Novas, you notice in '70 they used clear turn indicators but then in '71 they went back to the traditional amber ones.

Of similar interest I've noticed at the mid point of the '71 the reverse lamps on both the Nova and the Chevelle went from smaller to larger.

Then if you've ever noticed no Chevy cars prior to '68 had the side marker lamps. From '68 and after all Chevys came with side marker lamps. Of course this wasn't just limited to Chevy as I've also noticed the Pontiac Firebird had a similar trend.

I think they found out it was cheaper to use amber bulbs. Even though they were clear lens, the bulb was amber.

Every 1972 I see with amber, it stands out and does not look good. Clear blends in with the rest and is not so obvious.


I have some 1972 brochures for the GMC Sprint (same as el camino) and all the photos in there show amber turn signal/parking light lens, so they were planned from the get go.

Mine has the clear lens with an April,1972 body build date. Im not sure that they are original, I can only assume they are since most all the rest of the Camino was original when I bought it. I prefer the clear lens over the amber ones. The amber lens just don't look good to me. Thats just my opinion though.

The badge only was on the 454 . Some early built 71 motors had chrome . But after that no.