ZL-1 #10 engine located

[William]

Rebuilt as a 454 and configured for racing, not run. Block was decked, con VIN stamp remains on the side of the block. Has original heads.

Owner would like to see it reunited with the chassis. I have heard for decades that it survives in unrestored condition. I am not a broker; convince me you own 124379N608969 and I will provide contact information.

[AnthonyS]

WOW! Awesome.

[dykstra]

That’s great!!! Hopefully the engine can be reunited with #10 car.

[dykstra]

Any updates on this?

[William]

No, crickets.

Interesting engine. It is the earliest known production ZL-1 block [053] casting.

The block we acquired from Lamar Walden in the '80s via McLaren Racing was a Pilot casting. No casting date, sequence number or main cap stamping. Had not been run with a mechanical fuel pump. Later bare block castings had the same ID markings as production ZL-1 engines.

[Igosplut]

Why would it have been a 53 that early? Curious.

[William]

At this point, there is no longer any reason to believe either casting was early/late. Most seem to be 052s.

[Igosplut]

SO, this would assume there would have been two casting runs? What would the sense of changing a core box for a number in the middle of a casting run?

[William]

Yes, indications are there were two sets, ran both. Possibly the casting numbers were different simply for ID purposes.

[iluv69s]

Rebuilt as a 454 and configured for racing, not run. Block was decked, con VIN stamp remains on the side of the block. Has original heads.

Owner would like to see it reunited with the chassis. I have heard for decades that it survives in unrestored condition. I am not a broker; convince me you own 124379N608969 and I will provide contact information.



Great find !!! Hope it gets reunited with the original car ! The COPO connection website had the car listed as sold by Van T Chevy in Kansas and owned by a Barbara P.

I assume many of the original engines ended up like this one. It is similar story to the original engine from my old #34 ZL-1. When I found the engine at summer Carlisle, it was painted orange and only original parts were the heads. Internals were 454. Engine had roller cam and had gear drive. It had been in a circle track car and had the offset oil pan. Block had winters snowflake ground off also. Racer apparently didn’t want anyone to know it was a ZL-1. Block was decked but still had partial VIN by oil filter.

[iluv69s]

Yes, indications are there were two sets, ran both. Possibly the casting numbers were different simply for ID purposes.


Interesting info ! Also seems to be a difference in VIN stamp locations, fonts, etc. So number 10 and 34 blocks for sure had VIN by oil filter. I have a pic somewhere that I took of block from #17 ( if I recall correctly). It was individually stamped digits on the front deck.

Was there any rhyme or reason or patterns on the VIN stamping?

[William]

A few were VIN stamped on the pad. Most seem to be stamped on the side of the block.

[William]

Here's another.

It's the original engine from ZL-1 #52, last of the Gibb cars. The engine is in ZL-1 #33, both sold new to Bob Jane in Australia. #33 was road raced there since new and is restored to original racing trim. #52 saw some drag racing usage, ended up as a daily driver. Said to have been destroyed in a crash.

[Pro Stock John]

Any updates?

[William]

No.