First sorry for the long read. Back in the late 90s I was made aware that my friends. Father had a motor sitting in his basement. Turns out he had a 69 Chevelle back in the 80s that he thought he had a 396 in it. He pulled the motor to get it bored .30 over. While the motor was in the shop, they called him and said his motor was actually a 427 out of the 67 Corvette. At the same time, the motor was in the shop he had to get rid of the Chevelle . The motor sat at the shop for about a year then he took it home and it sat in his basement for probably 20 years till I found it and got it for $500
The specs he had on the motor are
•425 hp before the work
•4 bolt main
•11.01 compression,
•new TRW pistons,
•stock forged steel piston rods
• steel HI Perf Heads large square ports
•and a bunch of other smaller things
Over the next two years, I built the motor and put it in my 71 Chevelle and enjoyed it for a few years. I decided to do a frame up restoration back in 2003 ish. When I took the body off the frame, I realized my frame needed much more work than I thought and the car sat in my yard till a few months ago. I came across another rolling chassis that was cheaper to buy them to redo the one I had. So I’ve started putting everything back together. While the motor was out I wanted to run all the casting numbers on it. This is where the story gets a little bit interesting.
The casting numbers
•Block is 3963512. Which checks out as a 427 or 454 . The casting date is March 1969.
•Heads casting is 3919840 and also 1969.
•Block stamp T0325JD
•I have the oil pan on now so I need to get the crank casting numbers still
So clearly this is not out of the 67 Corvette. The JD could be two possible cars 1967 Corvette with 427 or 1969 Chevelle with a 396. I actually still have contact with my friend’s father and reached out to him and ask “by any chance do you still have your Vin number” and he did. 136379G339916 The Vin number of the Chevelle is also on the block however the first four letters are almost missing. It’s clear this was out of that car
But it also clearly is not a 396 with the 512 casting numbers . Which led me to believe this possibly could be a COPO or a Baldwin Motion motor. He lived with in 30 min of Baldwin and so do I. I should also add he was not the original owner.
Then I found a website that could run a build sheet with a Vin number and that told me the car was built with 307. I don’t know legit this site is tho
detailed vehicle history
At this point, I’m so confused . He said the car was a SS 396 but the when I decode the VIN 36 in a Mailbu. I think all COPOS had a Malibu trim but the Motions had a SS trim. Copo’s were assembled in Maryland this one was assembled in New York. Any help would be super appreciated.
See attached photo and build sheet.
The specs he had on the motor are
•425 hp before the work
•4 bolt main
•11.01 compression,
•new TRW pistons,
•stock forged steel piston rods
• steel HI Perf Heads large square ports
•and a bunch of other smaller things
Over the next two years, I built the motor and put it in my 71 Chevelle and enjoyed it for a few years. I decided to do a frame up restoration back in 2003 ish. When I took the body off the frame, I realized my frame needed much more work than I thought and the car sat in my yard till a few months ago. I came across another rolling chassis that was cheaper to buy them to redo the one I had. So I’ve started putting everything back together. While the motor was out I wanted to run all the casting numbers on it. This is where the story gets a little bit interesting.
The casting numbers
•Block is 3963512. Which checks out as a 427 or 454 . The casting date is March 1969.
•Heads casting is 3919840 and also 1969.
•Block stamp T0325JD
•I have the oil pan on now so I need to get the crank casting numbers still
So clearly this is not out of the 67 Corvette. The JD could be two possible cars 1967 Corvette with 427 or 1969 Chevelle with a 396. I actually still have contact with my friend’s father and reached out to him and ask “by any chance do you still have your Vin number” and he did. 136379G339916 The Vin number of the Chevelle is also on the block however the first four letters are almost missing. It’s clear this was out of that car
But it also clearly is not a 396 with the 512 casting numbers . Which led me to believe this possibly could be a COPO or a Baldwin Motion motor. He lived with in 30 min of Baldwin and so do I. I should also add he was not the original owner.
Then I found a website that could run a build sheet with a Vin number and that told me the car was built with 307. I don’t know legit this site is tho
detailed vehicle history
At this point, I’m so confused . He said the car was a SS 396 but the when I decode the VIN 36 in a Mailbu. I think all COPOS had a Malibu trim but the Motions had a SS trim. Copo’s were assembled in Maryland this one was assembled in New York. Any help would be super appreciated.
See attached photo and build sheet.
