Nowhere Man

John I got one question at the Tonawanda plant did they assembly the engines in batches or could a 427 be built beside a 396 or a tall deck truck engine as it was going down the line?

JohnZ

Their schedule depended on the forecasts from the order banks at all the various car and truck assembly plants; they probably batched where it made sense on a given day, but all big-blocks went down the same line.

Nowhere Man

that is what I thought. thanks

rgs

Except some have the gussets and some don't. Isn't the 961 block known for some having gussets and some not?. How did that happen?

Larry N. Johnson

So this one could properly be used in a 65 L78-car Corvette?
Since "all 962 blacks are the same" (gussets excluded), there must be a second clutch boss hole forward.

JohnZ

I'm not familiar with the 961 block - it wasn't used in Corvettes; having gussets or not could be a random foundry error by using the wrong front pattern when the mold was packed.

JohnZ

Yup - see the left side of the photo below.

midstyle

John -- Colvin's Chev-b-t-Numbers '65-9 shows blueprint of front view of a 961 bock (top of pg 60), and the two gussets show clearly. There's even a section (side view) EF-EF through one of the gussets [shows the passenger side gusset 1.88" right of engine centerline], the details of which must be on another drawing.

TESTADURO

I had a 1965 impala with a 4 bolt 396. it was a 962 casting and looked exactly like the corvette block except no gussets.

turbojet

Is this a legit 396 block # match but no ribs /gussets

billd1954

If the block does not have front and rear gussets, it is not an original 396 corvette block. It may work in other Chevy models.

Bill

turbojet

Can it have rear and not front I only ask cause I did not check the rear. The car is 3hrs away so not that easy

billd1954

No - The gussets must be front and rear.

Bill