It was a big deal in '65 for the BBC debut over the older 409. 1st 325hp 396's were dogs, a good 300hp 327 would hang with the 396's back then, but it was the cornerstone of one of the best engines GM ever used. Look at all the BBC's people still use inc. me.
I had a 70 Mach 1 351C 4spd 3.90 posi IIRC in 80-82 that ran great, my dad use to argue with me that the 351 windsor was a better engine lol, I also had a 65 Impala SS vert like in the pic but was an orig. 327 pg bucket console car I bought without engine or trans it had a 12 bolt, I put a 73 350 and T350 from a rusted out suburban I had, would have loved to put a BB in it but it ended up being stolen, big block torque is just fun 👍
I bought a 65 SS Impala from a guy I worked with in 1980, it had a 396 and a P/G trans. Just for sheets and giggles I put the 4.88 12 bolt in it prior to winter, that car was a blast to drive and raced a ton of people stoplight to stoplight. Pulled the 12 bolt out in the spring of the next year and tripled my money on the car, still wished I had not sold it.
Local guy bought 66 396/325 Impala new for family car. Carried it to strip, made top of weight class. Cleaned house weekly. Owner took it off street and made dedicated racer out of it......”Redlight Bandit”
I started working for a soCal GM assembly plant in 1965. I got to see it all, live in living color. Just imagine, 409's and 396's stacked on pallets to the roof in various rpo's. Then came 1966 and 427's. :surprise:
A friend I knew from high school had a 66 Caprice with a 396 T400, man for an all stock car that car was fast, ran real close with another friends 62 galaxie that had a 427 bigger cam & headers & 4 spd , he might not have drove as good?
My old buddy Steve passed away two weeks ago. Several months back he sent me this photo of the '65 L78 (396/425) SS Impala he bought new. It was one of 1,800-odd built by Chevrolet during the last half of model year 1965, when Chevy switched from the 409 to the 396 (MK IV) platform. I recall him speaking of that car often when we worked together in the machine shop at the Naval Torpedo Station in Keyport, WA. Below photo was taken in Bremerton, WA.
It would be cool to see a serious collector buy 2 '65 SS Impalas, one equipped with a 409/400HP and 4 speed, and the other a 396/425HP with 4 speed. What a pair to own.
Back in 1976 my Brother bought a 4dr. Caprice fully loaded with a 396 and turbo 400. I spotted a '66 2dr. Caprice for sale for $325 so we looked at it and it was pretty loaded with the strato buckets, gauges console and a tilt telo wheel so I bought it. It had a 369 with a P/G, my Brother could always beat me with his 4dr until I blew up the P/G and put a 4 speed in the car then I could beat his Caprice, then I blew up the 396. Tossed in a 327 but the car lacked torque so I bought another 396 to make the car whole again. Sure fun back then.
My block is a 962 4 bolt 396 /425 -IE code which designates full size car. I think the IF might be the same block different stamp code for the corvette. I think about the same number went in Corevttes as full size Chevy's. 2000 each. Kinda a rare transition motor that performed pretty well.
If I recall I think the full size Chevy carried the 425hp badging on the air cleaner and maybe front fender.
This was a quote from Crazy Davey who passed away a few years back:
I had 2 of the '65 396/425 Impala's...one new and one 3 years old. There was always rumors that there was something different about them compared to the typical L78 Chevelle/Camaro cars. Of course I never heard anyone come up with what (other then maybe exhaust manifolds) but I can tell you that none of the L78 Chevele's and Camaro's my friends had could run with that Impala....it was a total freak motor....:yes:
Your friend "Crazy Davey" may be right about the exhaust manifolds. L78 engines in Chevelles respond very well to the addition of headers, which really wakes them up, especially above 5,000 RPM. I know Corvette manifolds flow much better than Chevelle BBC manifolds also.
It has been dumbed down compression wise, to run on pump gas but has the same crank and heads and intake. Cam is Crane hyd 282. Never been bored and the crank only polished. Hard t believe those same parts are still doing their job 55 years later. Runs well on 91. You would think some restorer would love to have this. Sure I'd take a Mark Jones motor for a replacement. The 962 block had a high nickle content, 4bolt mains and was thicker than the 2 bolt 961 block which arrived next.
Watch the master, Bill Jenkins put hemis on their respective trailers w/a 396/375 (no factory support) Chevrolet.
One video tutorial on how to launch, how to shift and how much HP these semi-hemis produce (540 !) in NHRA stock form !
I don't believe the early L78 engines had "dimple" rods. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Also there was a small difference in the cam specs on the early ones.
I got to drive a real orig one back in the 80s, worked for a guy in Canoga Park that dealt in 60s muscle, C1-2 vettes 1 gen camaros etc.
It was a white 65/66...he asked me to go move it, was a little surprised when I started it. 4 spd buckets console the works. Wish I had the $ to buy it...back then nobody could be bothered with a big car though. He popped the hood afterwards when I asked what the hell was in it and laughed. Bone stock..
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