1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

[James G.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

It has the oil galley plug in the front which is UNIQUE to FLINT's machining... so even though it may have been cast in Tonawanda it was machined and assembled in FLINT...

[Terry M.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

James------


By "014" block are you referring to a GM #3970014 block? If so, that's a Tonawanda-cast block and these were, as far as I know, not used in Corvettes for 1969 and later. What does the stamp pad on this engine look like?

Joe

We have seen 3970014 cylinder cases on 1969 to 1974 intermittently. There was a story about them in The Restorer a ways back. The Cliff Notes:

In order to assure a supply of cylinder cases for Flint Engine, should Saginaw Foundry be unable to provide them or be unable to provide a sufficient quantity; Chevrolet would occasionally send Tonawanda cast cases to Flint for machining and assembly. The purpose was to be sure the Tonawanda castings would fit into the Flint machining and assembly fixtures. Some of those wound up in Corvettes. We verified this with personell at Saginaw Metal Founder. This information came from them.

We have documented these for several decades, and it has been called out in the 1968-69 and 1970-72 Judging Manuals for that long. I suspect this practice (with different casting numbers) pre-dates C3s and extends to the end of C3 production, and perhaps beyond. I am not aware of the research, if any, beyond 1969 to 1972, but I know this is not the first post 1972 Corvette to have a 1970014 case. Marvin Burnett asked me about this back in the early to mid-1990s when I was 1970-72 National Team Leader. At a Regional he was presented with just such a case. We looked over the car and determined the cylinder case was original to the car. This decision was based in part on my experience with the same cylinder cases in 1970-72 Corvettes.

[Tom R.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

We have documented these for several decades, and it has been called out in the 1968-69 and 1970-72 Judging Manuals for that long. I suspect this practice (with different casting numbers) pre-dates C3s and extends to the end of C3 production, and perhaps beyond. I am not aware of the research, if any, beyond 1969 to 1972, but I know this is not the first post 1972 Corvette to have a 3970014 case.

Yeah, nice footnote we included in the 1973-74 revision. I see you're up late as well.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

Yeah, nice footnote we included in the 1973-74 revision. I see you're up late as well.

Sorry Tom, but I don't have a copy of the 1973-74 Manual (I had a very old one, but it went to a younger collector). Lat for you and I, but not Joe L.

[Jimmy P.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

Great photos James.....thanks for posting!

Tom,
Wish we would have had this car available when we were working on the 73-74 revision. Note that there is a transmission part number metal tag. Being that this is an early built car probably why it is still present on this tranny. Not found on the later cars. I'm betting if we could see the numbers they should be 6271518WK which would be correct for the 73 M21. It was the same for the 72 M21 as well as the 74.
The date code on the EGR valve is hard to see, but from what I do see, I don't see a 2(72)or a 3(73)which would work. Interesting!
However, the broadcast code and part number is correct for the L82 4speed.

[Tom R.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

Note that there is a transmission part number metal tag. Being that this is an early built car probably why it is still present on this tranny. Not found on the later cars. I'm betting if we could see the numbers they should be 6271518WK which would be correct for the 73 M21. It was the same for the 72 M21 as well as the 74.

Yeah I caught that!

The date code on the EGR valve is hard to see, but from what I do see, I don't see a 2(72)or a 3(73)which would work. Interesting!
However, the broadcast code and part number is correct for the L82.

Yes. JP is referring to the footnote in the 3rd revision of the 73-74 TIMJG that notes early 73s were shipped with EGR valves assembled in 1972 stamped with a four digit-date code. Valves assembled in 1973 incorporated a five-digit date code with the fourth digit indicating the year.

[Robert G.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

Here some pictures of the underside of the air cleaner lid and wing nut. We are just cleaning it. It is really dirty underneath.

[Stephen B.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

Great Car!!! My first cousin, once removed, purchased a black 73 coupe in 1974. It has the SPEC or PRIME on the trim tag, and he still has it.

Stephen H. "Bunky" Byrd

[Harmon C.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

I have a folder on black 73's with copies of build sheets and other information. All 50 were built in a row for Horny dealership. If you bring it to a regional I will have the information to check the car out. The cars were all L.82's and 454 4 speeds built in late 72.

[Tom R.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

I have a folder on black 73's with copies of build sheets and other information. All 50 were built in a row for Horny dealership. If you bring it to a regional I will have the information to check the car out. The cars were all L.82's and 454 4 speeds built in late 72.

Is it 50 or is it 30?

[Robert G.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

I have a folder on black 73's with copies of build sheets and other information. All 50 were built in a row for Horny dealership. If you bring it to a regional I will have the information to check the car out. The cars were all L.82's and 454 4 speeds built in late 72.

[Robert G.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

I just got confirmation from the ncrs that my dealer package has been shipped so, hopefully I will have that in the next few days.

[Jimmy P.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

Is it 50 or is it 30?

Hi Lyle,
I always thought it was about 30 cars too, that left St. Louis painted black
By chance were any of them convertibles? Or all coupes? Just wondering.

[Paul B.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

Yes. JP is referring to the footnote in the 3rd revision of the 73-74 TIMJG that notes early 73s were shipped with EGR valves assembled in 1972 stamped with a four digit-date code. Valves assembled in 1973 incorporated a five-digit date code with the fourth digit indicating the year.

My EGR valve dated "18632"(July 5, 1973 according to Alexa). From my 9/11/73 build 1974 coupe #01950.

[Tom R.]

Re: 1973 Special order Black paint L82 4 speed coupe -

I'm south of you in Myrtle Beach and look forward to spending time with you and the 73. Looks like it even got some undercoating as shown on the four-speed case.