1970 1/2 396 short block value?

aok9195 · Oct 21, 2023

Texas Squirrel said:
It is nothing special. It is an 854 block and it doesn't matter if it came out of a truck, or a Camaro, or your mom's Impala. T means Tonawanda not TO. The 0808 is the date. C10 or C20 truck engines aren't worth "stupid money". I have sent many of those blocks to scrap because I will never use them. These aren't "Hard to Find" as you put it.

Ok teach me more as I stated the c10 c20 trucks are going for stupid money (should have said restored) I did not say the engine!
If you can find a 19701/2 396 actually there 402's - block casting 854 date code H 70 cast on back of block like this one i would like to see it and i will pay you for your time cause i have been looking with no luck.

71350SS · Oct 21, 2023

aok9195 said:
Yes it has a c something on pad too but if you read what I stated it came out of an original 1970 1/2 camaro and i stated need to sand pad paint ,maybe dye to be accurate i know the (T0 ) ON PAD meant tonawanda 1970 and if it is a truck 396 out of a c10 or c20 those things go for stupid money too! THINK IF YOU HAD ONE OF THOSE TRUCKS AND WANTED THE CORRECT CASTING BLOCK AND DATE CODE YOU CANT JUST MAKE A CALL!

If it's an 854 block & has a 3 letter suffix code starting in C then that's a 402 block but still called a 396 by Chevy after they increased the bore size. If it's in a 70 Chevelle, Nova or Camaro its a 396 IF its in a C10 or a Malibu its a 400. Chevy had a lot of advertising dollars invested in the 396 name and didn't want to have to lose that so ythe 396 name stuck. If the cast date is a 70 date then its a 402.
This is a paragraph copied & pasted from Chevellestuff.net :

A few things should be mentioned about the 1969 396/402 engines. Towards the end of the model year the 396 cid engine was increased to 402 cid. Rumors abound for the reason of the 402 cid existence. One is that Tonawanda has a lot of bare blocks rusting away and decided to bore them +0.030 to clean them up. GM wouldn't do this. It is believed the increase in bore size was done in preparation of 1970 (when all "396" cid engines were really 402 cid) because engines over 400 cid had lower restrictions on smog regulations. Whatever the reason the 'new' 402 would become the base engine in the 1970 SS396 option even though it was the larger 402 cid engine size. This 402cid engine was also available from 1970-1972 as RPO LS3 and referred to as either a 400-4 or a Turbo-Jet 400 to distinguish it from a newly introduced 400 cid small block V8 referred to as either a 400-2 (as it was only available with a 2-barrel carburetor) or a Turbo-Fire 400. The small block version of the 400 cid engine was only available in full size Chevrolets and the 1970 Monte Carlo.

Hope this helps you to sell it as to what it originally was from. You can also use airplane paint stripper to expose the suffix from under the blocks paint so you don't damage the font.

mrjay53 · Oct 23, 2023

71350SS said:
Well if you can fix a Chevy you have the skills to fix a Honda you just need some guidence as to what is what. They aren't as complex as some people make them out to be. Most of the harder repairs are listed on You tube and the normal stuff like maintenence and disc brakes, suspension repairs are easy to handle yourself. Bleeding the brakes are an easy gravity bleed if you have the patience and the rear drum shoes seem to last forever. Rotors are cheap enough that machining them is a time waster for you. A set of struts are easy enough as they are available for around $60-$80 with the springs already installed and you'll be about 6 bolts R&R away from being done.

At the very least don't let her get ripped off at a fast oil change place or a tire store. Tell her to get an estimate and bring the car home so you can go over what they're trying to sell her.

I agree. I am old school too, but if you've been wrenching on cars all of your life like me (50+ years) you can definitely do the work. Especially with youtube videos. Also, spending the time with her will be rewarding and just maybe, she will come to "the dark side" with you. I still do maintenance on our newer cars. And besides, it gives you an excuse to get more tools😂

Rich

aok9195 · Oct 23, 2023

mrjay53 said:
I agree. I am old school too, but if you've been wrenching on cars all of your life like me (50+ years) you can definitely do the work. Especially with youtube videos. Also, spending the time with her will be rewarding and just maybe, she will come to "the dark side" with you. I still do maintenance on our newer cars. And besides, it gives you an excuse to get more tools😂

Rich

aok9195 · Oct 23, 2023

Thanks Rich
I talked her into a chevy (NEW 23 SILVERADO CREW CAB)
Had it now 4 days and not sure about the 4cyl turbo yet.
As far as the 396/402 i decided to keep it after going to my storage and looking through my heads i found a set of casting 291 square ports dated 1970 and thought i'd look through my muncies and found what I was looking for a muncie out of a 70's LS6 454 Chevelle (had it 38 yrs)
So with all these good parts i am looking for a 69 chevelle (my favorite year)for myself!

mrjay53 · Oct 23, 2023

aok9195 said:
Thanks Rich
I talked her into a chevy (NEW 23 SILVERADO CREW CAB)
Had it now 4 days and not sure about the 4cyl turbo yet.
As far as the 396/402 i decided to keep it after going to my storage and looking through my heads i found a set of casting 291 square ports dated 1970 and thought i'd look through my muncies and found what I was looking for a muncie out of a 70's LS6 454 Chevelle (had it 38 yrs)
So with all these good parts i am looking for a 69 chevelle (my favorite year)for myself!

aok,

Congrats to your daughter! I just had my 454 rebuilt by a professional race engine builder. Punched to 460, AFR 265 heads, roller cam, air gap manifold... Anyway, I also have 1970 291 rectangular port heads. Was going to use them for the rebuild, but got talked out of it. I now have them, a 1970 Muncie M20, two winters intakes, and a bunch of original parts for that motor. I am torn whether to sell them or keep them for a possible future 454 LS6 tribute rebuild. Asking prices for those heads are between 1500 and $4000 depending on where you look. If I sell them, I can recuperate a lot of what I spent on the upgrades. Not sure what to do. Anyway, if you do decide to sell those heads, look around. They sell for a pretty good penny.

Rich

aok9195 · Oct 23, 2023

Thanks Rich
Had no idea the heads are worth that much.
They will be for sale and i'll buy afr aluminums

mrjay53 · Oct 23, 2023

aok9195 said:
Thanks Rich
Had no idea the heads are worth that much.
They will be for sale and i'll buy afr aluminums

I'm happy with the afr's, except it did change exhaust height which made my plugs more difficult to access. Had to dent headers to give access on a couple of tubes.

Rich

1970 1/2 396 short block value?

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