1970 L-78 Engine Code & Car Vin # Question

[CamarosRus]

Talking to seller who has T0226CKO engine for sale (1970 L-78) with 10W274985 also stamped on Deck of Block. The "W" would be Willows Spring where Nova's were built but the VIN # starting with "2" belongs to Monte Carlo, according to the Alan Colvin book. Would anybody give me there opinion. Is the a website for Nova buffs. Also I have seen a Sept 69 CKO L-78 with VIN # down by oil filter on Bell Housing Flange.....so was surprised when this seller said VIN # was on deck??? Engine located in St Jo Missiouri, anybody avail to inspect? Thanks, chuck sharin [email protected]

[COPO]

As far as the location of the VIN, around Dec. of '68 the stamping location was switched to down near the oil filter and the Norwood plant was pretty consistent. I know the Van Nuys plant switched back to the alternator pad location. Not sure about Willow. The stamping location was not very consistent for all of the plants at that time. Can't help you w/the rest.

[JoeC]

The "2" does not look like it belongs there. Ask the guy to recheck the number. CKO is for a L78 for Camaro, Nova, and Chevelle but I don't believe the L78 was available in the Monte Carlo. Here is a Nove site
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/6432/

[Rowdy Rat]

The "W" is actually GM's Willow Run plant which is located in Michigan. While many 1969 Norwood Camaros used the area near the oil filter to stamp the VIN derivative, I can tell you (with reasonable certainty) that Willow Run used the pad in front of the right cylinder head exclusively. I have not seen or heard of anything different on a Nova.

I know that the Willow Run plant built other cars besides Novas (Corvairs come to mind, but that would have ended in 1969), but I wouldn't rule out an error in the Colvin book either. I'm with Joe - I never heard of an L-78 Monte Carlo, but I guess stranger things have been built.

Regards,

Stan Falenski

[elcamino]

This is a L78 from a 1970 Nova!

T0226CKO
T=Tonawanda Engine Plant
02=Feb
26=Day
CKO=396/375HP with manual transmission. This engine suffix was installed in Chevelle's, Camaro's, and Nova's. So to ID the car you have to use the VIN and the Plant location to determine. During this time the only models that were being assembled at the Willow Run assembly were Nova's, so it was a Nova without a doubt.

10W274985 is the VIN code from the Nova
1=Chevrolet Division
0=Model Year
W=Willon Run Assembly
274985 are the last 6 sequence numbers from the VIN of the Nova. Your reasoning on the digit 2 is incorrect. Its just a sequence number used by the plant and does not indicate any model information.

This information is from the Chevrolet Parts Catalog from the era.









[Edited by elcamino (02-08-2001 at 06:07 PM).]

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

I am not sure on the '2' in question. The VIN starts with the '1' above, the '0' being the year, the first '2' after that dontes the model??
M