Mystery of the ZL/X

[markjohnson]

I was going through some old magazines the other night and ran across some interesting advertisements from all the big Supercar dealers. Motion and Berger quite a bit. Both of these dealers offered something called a ZL/X. This is not something that I see talked about very often. I was always kinda under the assumption that a ZL/X was a an exact copy of an open-chambered ZL-1, but only in affordable cast-iron. I even owned what believed to have been one back in the Eighties. A 1971 over-the-counter 427 with a 512 block with open-chambered 12.5 GM pistons and cast iron #026 heads. If you look these heads up, they are shown as 1971 LS-6 heads. Well, we all know that that didn't happen. As far the LS-6 Corvettes in 1971, they came with aluminum 074's. That leaves the orphan'ed #026's as the prime candidate for being ZL-X heads with their cast-iron construction, rectangular ports and open chambers. It's probably even a superior head, although heavier, than the aluminum #074's with their terrible giant exhaust port.