vettedan

A friend has a lead on a ’68 L88 vette without the original engine. Does anyone know if the VIN no. Identifies the ’68 L88 or information how to identify a L88 VIN.
Thanks,
Dan

Robert N

I do not think the VIN will ID the engine. The best find would be a tank sticker, protecto plate, or window sticker. The protecto plate will offer the VIN and engine codes.

If the car IS an L88 AND has documentation to prove it, the car is worth buying for the right price, even without the engine. I would be sure that the car is legit.

gerry72

All documentation is available through various vendors so any car -even a 327 car- can become an L-88 if you buy the counterfeit items. There will be certain items, and even those can be knocked off, that are unique to L-88 cars and you need an expert in these cars to look it over. Do not go by the paperwork no matter how aged it looks (the ageing is an additional fee for these documents). In today's world, paper means nothing.

If the person is asking Corvette without a drivetrain prices then that's fine but if they want a premium due to its claimed L-88 status then they are going to have to prove it beyond all doubt.

Chinaski

when somebody says they have an L-88 it tells me instantly that they are full of :bs

PRNDL

Unless you can trace the car back to the original owner, and that person is trustworthy ( :) ) there is no way to know for sure if the car was originally an L88. Otherwise, an expert on these cars (there are a couple on the forum) could inspect the car and either rule is out as an original L88 or tell you that it "appears possible" that the car was originally an L88. A lot of these cars (maybe I should say " a high percentage" because there were not " a lot " ) were raced and do not have the original engine. Does the car currently have a replacement L88 engine, or is it without any engine? MJ

vettedan

Quote "Does the car currently have a replacement L88 engine, or is it without any engine? MJ "quote

MNJack-The original engine is gone.


Thanks for all the information. I'm sending this discussion over to my friend and he will need to decide what to do.
Thanks again,
Dan



[Modified by vettedan, 1:00 PM 3/6/2003]

SBR

I would check to see if the car has an M22 transmission also the heavy duty brakes, it also should be a radio delete car. The car should also have the heavy duty suspension as well. Hopefully Rowdy Rat will reply because I am sure I missed some details. Good Luck.

Teuffelhunde

uh. . .I believe the VIN can identify what engine was original to the car. The 5th digit is the engine code. The last 6 are the production number. I'm not sure what the engine code was on an L88, but a J is for the L48. Hope that helps.

PRNDL

1972 was the first year GM started doing this. Before 72 the vin revealed no engine info... coupe vs convertible, yes, but no engine info. MJ

Teuffelhunde

I learned something new today! :thumbs:

lampedusa

If it helps, this is a '68 L88 Block part number...3935439 :cheers:

lampedusa

Also, that year the L88 was the only car to have the Muncie M22 "Rock Crusher" tranny, and the special brakes, the heavy duty suspension, and there was no radiator shroud.

vettedan

Thanks for all your help. All great ideas! I beleive this vette he's looking at has a TH400. I suppose you could have ordered them that way.
Thanks again,
Dan :cheers:

Rowdy Rat

You got the big three that I would check in the first sentence Steve...

An M-22 with a VIN derivative appropriate for the car and assembled within a reasonable date range would be strong evidence of an original L-88... Provided of course it was not a restamp (they do that for transmissions too).

The brakes are pretty hard to come by, but they're out there... Still, some of the associated hardware that was used with the J-56 brakes are harder to locate than the calipers themselves. That's what I'd be looking for.

The L-88s could not be ordered with a radio... Lots of areas to look at here.

The F-41 suspension parts are generally easy to pass off except for the shocks... Which of course are wear items and are probably long gone from a 30+ year old car. Add to that cars other than those equipped with L-88s could be ordered with the F-41 option so it isn't ironclad proof by any means (the same could be said for a 6500 rpm redline tachometer). Still, a set of correctly numbered and date coded shocks would pique my interest.

There are other clues... Like a correctly dated aluminum radiator mounted in the proper support, but I'll leave those items for another time.

A THM 400 car in 1968 pretty much rules out an L-88... That was strictly a 1969 powertrain combination. In fact, the only solid lifter big blocks to get a THM 400 transmission during the 1968 model year were the 50 L-78 Novas ordered by Fred Gibb under COPO 9738... The rest of the Chevrolet line had to wait until 1969.

I don't suppose the build order copy (aka "tank sticker") is still in place on top of the fuel tank? Might as well take the easy way out if it is available! :)

Regards,

Ironcross

A 68 L88 engine will be stamped on the pad of the engine. There are no actual body #`s . The correct engine would have aluminum heads and a pad id of {IT}. The block was used in both 67`s and 68`s, only the date casting would change for the appropriate year. And naturally the vin would be of the cars vin. :thumbs: