Almost November.

And, for those who swear that Corvettes were never Super Sports...I offer page six of the 1967 Chevrolet Super Sports factory brochure. :D












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;)
 
I remember it well in the day: A true high torque monster. I never experienced the torque of the vette's L71 but I did have a taste of Chrysler's hemi monster and it was absolutely breathtaking. I suspect the performance was similar to the L71.

My friend's late '60's hemi equipped Satellite had a sign on the dash (passenger side) saying: "SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, AND HANG ON" which was just about all you could do when he nailed it.

What is truly amazing was that we survived those rides and times to be able to tell about it now.:)

Those were the days.

Thanks for the little blast from the past and of course for keeping a true sports monster alive and kicking today.

Colin.
 
Again, I just can't get enough pictures of that car. I love the stance; so menacing. That 435HP cam had quite the overlap, it's a wonder you could get one to idle at all!
 
Case75 said:
Again, I just can't get enough pictures of that car. I love the stance; so menacing. That 435HP cam had quite the overlap, it's a wonder you could get one to idle at all!
Click to expand...

Thanks Case75. Here are the specs for the original 427-435 solid lifter special-high-performance cam - Chevrolet part #3863143, used in the following RPOs:

396-427 (RPO L-78, L-72, L-71, L-71/L-89) Yes, same cam was factory-installed in all those RPOs.

Intake: 0.024" Lash
Duration - 316 degrees
Duration @ .050" lift - 242
Valve Lift - .520"

Exhaust: 0.028" Lash
Duration - 302 degrees
Duration @ .050" lift - 242
Valve Lift - .520"

Overlap - 108 degrees
LSA - 114

Here are the specs for the factory 427-430 ZL-1 cam I installed in my warranty-replacement 427 (along with several other interesting modifications). This cam was Chevrolet part #3959180 and was used in the following solid-lifter, heavy-duty RPOs:

427-454 (RPO L-88 2nd design / ZL-1 / LS-7 [over the counter only])

Intake: 0.024" hot lash
Duration - 327
Duration @ .050" lift - 262 degrees
Valve Lift - .580"

Exhaust: 0.026" hot lash
Duration - 333
Duration @ .050" lift - 273 degrees
Valve Lift - .620"

Overlap - 135 degrees
LSA - 110

You had to hear this cam to believe it. Boy, did that (and the other modifications) wake up that little ol' L-71 427, but on the street there was a severe lack of vacuum and difficulty in keeping it running at the stoplights. Pulling away at normal rpms was boggy at best, but once it reached 2,500 it was like the devil himself woke up.

PLEASE NOTE: There are a variety of ways to pull numbers from these grinds, and Chevrolet was never very loyal to a particular method. Your numbers may vary. ;)

If there's any interest, I'll post the specs for the Comp Cam that I just installed this summer in my ZZ502.

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L88 and COPO Cars

In 1969, Beare Motors in Port Perry sold three COPO Chevelles and one L88 Corvette. Al Bertrand was the salesman that I knew there when the L88 Vette arrived and it was in for pre-delivery. He fired it up for me to hear. It was on fast idle at about 1700 rpm and the whole car shook. What a sound. None of these cars showed their true potential until they were jetted for performance and the advance curve set up. The emissions settings took away a LOT of power. With headers, timing and advance curve where they should be, the old F70 Uniroyals were absolutely useless. I had big Pos-a-traction tires on the car within the first month and they weren't much good either. The Chevelles were around 3700 pounds. I can only imagine the performance in the lighter Corvette. A red '67 427 Corvette would top my list of all time favourites. I could take a silver one too. ;)
 
Keith Tedford said:
In 1969, Beare Motors in Port Perry sold three COPO Chevelles and one L88 Corvette. Al Bertrand was the salesman that I knew there when the L88 Vette arrived and it was in for pre-delivery.
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Keith, if that Corvette was a blue coupe, I remember it, and I ran it. It was either on Harmony Road north of Oshawa, or on Goodwood Road, Utica. Those were the days.

You're correct on the problems with a stock L-88 as my L-71, with side-mount headers, beat it both times. If memory serves, the owner wore great big workboots while driving. That wasn't you, was it?

How's that for a 43-year-old memory? :D

P.S. My car was silver back then.
 
Blue L88

I'm pretty sure it was blue. In '65 I went from school right into a tool and die apprenticeship in Oshawa and left my old barn boots behind. ;)
I remember Al saying that the guy wasn't going to pick the L88 up until he got some special oil in the crankcase. I don't ever recall seeing the car around the Oshawa area after that and I believe it went to the US a few years ago. The L88s weren't exactly user friendly for the average where as with the L72 engine, you could take Grandma to church or scare the hell out of her. You could put along in stop and go traffic or cruise at 4000 rpm which was about 75 mph with 4.10 gears. Al the salesman used to test drive the cars and didn't feel that the L88 felt any stronger than our Chevelles. I've had two L78 powered Chevelles and they certainly weren't in the same league. Two of us had silver COPO Chevelles and my buddy Ken had the orange one. Ours left for Alberta on Sunday and will be kept one building away from Ken's old car. The new owner has about 30 cars including a '66 427 425 hp Corvette. We should be so fortunate.
67heaven, by any chance were you one of the Oshawa boys with the Corvettes and inboard, V drive ski boats in the late '60s and early '70s? Wayne from Peterborough had a Mandella with an L72 for power. I rode in it once and it literally idled along at 55 mph. It was the maiden voyage so he was just feeling the boat out and checking for any problems.
I remember more than a few runs on North Harmony in '68 and '69. ;)
 
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Keith Tedford said:
67heaven, by any chance were you one of the Oshawa boys with the Corvettes and inboard, V drive ski boats?
Click to expand...

You're thinking of Phil Bradley who had a Goodwood Green L-71 '67 coupe with factory sidemounts. The sight of his 435-hp '67 Corvette towing a 435 hp-powered boat on a trailer (with rally wheels to match the car) was almost too much to comprehend. :D

He sold it in 1969 to buy a Chevelle SS396 (also dark green) after he got married. As soon as his Corvette left Oshawa, in 1969, I immediately changed mine from Silver Pearl to Goodwood Green. :rofl:

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Your car is just plain stunning.

I really like hearing about the glory days of muscle cars. I know we have another hp race going but it just doesn't seem the same. There is such a restriction on street racing now and it is dangerous and I won't participate in it. However, it seemed like times were different back then and it was not as dangerous or frowned upon. I wonder what changed? I heard there is WAY more traffic now so it actually is more dangerous than it used to be.
 
Riley P said:
I really like hearing about the glory days of muscle cars. I know we have another hp race going but it just doesn't seem the same. There is such a restriction on street racing now and it is dangerous and I won't participate in it. However, it seemed like times were different back then and it was not as dangerous or frowned upon. I wonder what changed? I heard there is WAY more traffic now so it actually is more dangerous than it used to be.
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You hit it on the nose, Riley. Today, there are approximately 35,000,000 people living in this great country. Back in the glory days of the late '60s ('67 for example), there were only 20,500,000 of us. That's a lot fewer people in your way, and most of them knew how to drive.

Back then, people tended to concentrate on the art of driving, rather than texting, tweeting, yammering, GPSing or reading.

These days, you're lucky to find more than a few who can even drive a standard shift car. Soon, the cars will be doing the driving for us. Yuck! :D

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High lift...long duration...standard shift...armstrong steering. Mark me down as old school. :rofl:
 
I agree with your thoughts on the current state of "driving" in Canada. While I grew up learning to drive 80's front drive K-cars and Citations and a '75 Dodge Colt, I had an older brother who had a '72 Chevelle and his friends with some late 60's muscle cars that I always coveted. We didn't have any electronic distractions (except maybe the tape deck) and most of us could drive a stick. I'm seriously looking at switching the 'vette to a Tremec 5 speed within the next couple of years after the daughter gets done with college. I like the feeling of a V8 hooked up to a manual transmission; makes you feel like your driving the car! The better highway mileage is an added bonus!
 
I remember Phil's car when he lived on Simcoe Street in Oshawa. I believe Norm Phillips also was into the Corvettes and inboard ski boats. Wayne Lazure was in Peterborough and he had a gold 1971 LT1 Corvette. He used to tow his 427 Mandella ski boat around behind it. That car is still in the Peterborough area after all these years. These guys all hung around together for runs up Lake Skugog and the Trent system. Did Phil's L78 have "engine problems" and end up with an L72 short block?
 
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