I found a 70ss 454 chevelle that was built in Flint. I am quite sure that it is a 454 car but not sure if it is a LS5 or LS6 car. The owner (of course) claims it is a LS6. The engine has been decked so it has no vin on it but most of the engine parts seem correct for a LS6. The tack is not the high redline tach. The owner claims he was told that they possibly ran out of the correct one at the assembly line and put in the lower redline. IS THIS POSSIBLE?. I checked the rearend code and does not seem to correspond to any codes listed in the chevelle books. The code on the rearend housing looks like "C U K" I know the book shows a "C K K " but it does not look like the "U" could possibly be a "K". The owner said it did have a 4:10 rear but they were taken out and a set of 4:56's were put in for racing. It does have a heavy duty radiator with the correct radiator plate. I originally thought these were LS6 only along with the 4:10's but read in a post here that they were thought to be used in the LS5"S too. I am looking for any other things that could possibly help me in identifying what it is. The car is an automatic with what appears to be original. I would like to buy the car but he is asking alot for the car and probably more than a LS5 is worth. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I've never personally seen nor heard about this "tach" issue. Have never personally seen an ls6 with the 5500 redline in any mags or in person.

Bottom line is documentation. If I was looking to buy an LS6 and the seller wanted a good chunk of coin but could not verify the car with docs I would look elsewhere (but again, thats just me)

To be honest, the tach claim alone would of had me walking but I could very well be undereducated on the matter.

I agree...when the big money starts to fly, you need to see some paperwork.

Jeff

Without documentation and non-matching numbers there is no way to definitively identify what it is. However, I couldn't see the factory putting in the wrong tach (interior door panels, yes, but tach, NO).

FWIW, any 4-series gear was optional in any year Chevelle and could be ordered in just about any series. The std gear for the 70 would have more than likely been the 3.31.

Why not list out all the rest of the options and equipment on the car.

Remember that you should always consider every suspicious car as a forgery until proven otherwise. He has you right where he wants you: you are very interested, yet unsure of his stories - and not sure enough of LS-6's yourself. He may even wrongly believe what he is telling you - because that is what he was told when he bought the car.

A couple of good questions to ask with this kind of car:
1) How long have you owned it?
2) Did you buy the car from someone you know - can I talk to the previous owner?
3) Why are you selling?
4) What have you done to the car while you owned it?

If you do buy it from him make sure the bill of sale clearly states that it is an LS6 SS454 Chevelle that you are buying. That won't really count for much - but if he is unwilling to sign for it being an LS6, then that would in my book be further confirmation that he knows better.

Thomas

A "CKK" sufix code on the rearend is specifically a 396/L-78 application only,not any 454.
The LS-5 & LS-6 shared a different rearend suffix code.
I would disregard his Tach explanation.
I would aim for these:
What is the casting date of the engine block?
What is the cowl tag build date?
What is the transmission Suffix code & date?..LS-5 & LS-6 did not share the same code.
What is the rearend suffix code & casting date?
The 4 core Radiator was not LS-6 specific,what is the suffix code if there is an attaching tank tag?
You can email me the results privately if you don't want their answers revealed.
If all of these can be sufficiently answered,the sum will help determine what it was originally born as.