switching an auto car to a 4 speed? is this 427 vette engine worth big bucks?

[thecraiger]

Thanks for all the help lately…I got a couple more for you.

#1 How hard is it to swap a car from an automatic to a 4 speed car. I have an opportunity to buy a 1967 396 and 4 speed transmission from a camaro and am thinking about putting it in my automatic car?

#2 I found a guy that has a rebuilt 427 out of a 1969 Vette the numbers are showing it as a late 1968 engine. I understand that “this is the engine to have” is that correct? i am told this is the engine they use to make a car a Yenko?

This is the e-mail the guy sent to me - THE PRODUTION DATE IS J 08,JULY OF 1968 SO IT IS AN EARLY 1969 ENGINE,
THIS IS THE OTHER NUMBER ON THE BLOCK ? 3963512 NOT REALLY SURE ABOUT THE VIN # BY THE OIL; FILTER?IF YOU SEND A FAX # I CAN FAX THE SPEC SHEET FROM THE MACHINE SHOP WERE IT WAS RE-BUILT.WHEN THE BLOCK WAS PLANED THE V.I.N. #S WERE PLANED OFF.I HAVE GIVEN YOU ALL THE INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO VERIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE `69 427/390 HSP ENGINE .THANKS BOB

It has the original Oval heads and I can buy it for $3500

[JohnZ]

This is the e-mail the guy sent to me -

THE PRODUTION DATE IS J 08,JULY OF 1968 SO IT IS AN EARLY 1969 ENGINE,
THIS IS THE OTHER NUMBER ON THE BLOCK ? 3963512 NOT REALLY SURE ABOUT THE VIN # BY THE OIL; FILTER?IF YOU SEND A FAX # I CAN FAX THE SPEC SHEET FROM THE MACHINE SHOP WERE IT WAS RE-BUILT.WHEN THE BLOCK WAS PLANED THE V.I.N. #S WERE PLANED OFF.I HAVE GIVEN YOU ALL THE INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO VERIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE `69 427/390 HSP ENGINE .THANKS BOB

It has the original Oval heads and I can buy it for $3500

If "J08" is supposed to be the casting date, it's incomplete; "J" in the casting date isn't July, it's October. The 3512 block casting didn't start at the foundry until October, 1968, and wasn't seen in Corvette production until "late" in the 1969 model year, which ran through the end of December, 1969. It may be an early 1969 427, but it didn't come out of a Corvette.

[Jon Mello]

#1 How hard is it to swap a car from an automatic to a 4 speed car. I have an opportunity to buy a 1967 396 and 4 speed transmission from a camaro and am thinking about putting it in my automatic car?

If you have a '67 Camaro, the floor mounted automatic shifter sits in the same hole as a 4-speed car. It makes the swap a relatively easy proposition. I did it on a car of mine and no holes needed to be drilled. You can even use the same crossmember if the old tranny was a powerglide.

-Jon

[thecraiger]

Great info..Thanks guys!!! I just posted a new question under the originality category about a 396 that I found and wondering if the factory A/C will fit?

[hotrod68]

I very well may be wrong, but if it had oval-port heads it ain't a 427, unless it's a truck engine. Dang CRS... Seems to me all car 427s were high-performance with rectangular-port heads.

[dd442]

No that is not true, your 390 horse 427's were oval port(Good Ovals Ports By the way Just like your LS5 454's were Oval) At least all of the lower HP 427's I have built were. And most were factory.

[dd442]

By the way all the holes for the 4 speed should be on the car, Zbar frame bracket,clutch pedal to Zbar Rod hole etc. The speedo cable comes out of a different place on 4speed car than an auto but u can make it work with a longer cable. 

[hotrod68]

Thanks for the reminder, dd! Duly noted.