1965 Z16 Chevelle production dates?

[VintageMusclecar]

Can someone shed some light on the production window on the Z16's, esp. when the last of them rolled off the line?

Much obliged.

Eric

[Chevy454]

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[Mr70]

I think production began February 15th,1965 with only 201 made.The first two being built at Baltimore,while the remaining were built at Kansas Leeds plant.

[jfkheat]

Does the 201 figure include the test/preproduction cars? The red one that was here in Greenville SC was supposed to be one of the test cars. Kevin Whittaker had it displayed at one of his Chevy dealerships. It disappeared last year. I don't know if he sold it or moved it.
James

[markjohnson]

I bought a complete Z-16 396-375 HP engine from a bank parking lot swap meet in the early '90's for $900.00 that had a casting date of Feb. 5, 1965.

[PeteLeathersac]

On a similar note, isn't Feb. '65 the same time Mark 1V production was replacing 409s in full size units? . What would the earliest casting of any Mark 1V production blocks be? . So Mark, where did this Z-16 motor go....did you find any info on the car it was from? ~ Pete

[markjohnson]

I'm pretty sure you're correct in the assumption that Feburary 1965 was the changeover month from the 409 to the 396 in full size cars. Back to my old Z-16 engine, I was street racing pretty heavy at the time and was not worried too much about the "IX" suffix on the block. I was more interested in the fact that it was a fresh four bolt main, steel crank Rat motor that would handle some serious spray. I don't remember the VIN of the car but I do know that it was punched out to 427 cubic inches which was possible on those 1965 four-bolt 396 blocks. I ran it for about a year, then sold it to a collector on the east coast. What's funny is, when he asked me what state I'm in, I told him Missouri. He tells he recently purchased an engineless Z-16 Chevelle body from a town called Imperial, Mo. I then tell him that I live in the town next to Imperial about two miles away, and I think he went into cardiac arrest over the telephone. It turns out though that it wasn't his original engine, but from a different car. I was actually shocked that I did not know about the car he had bought from Imperial that had been so close to me for years.

[PeteLeathersac]

Cool story Mark....gotta' love where things can go when keeping check on suffix codes! . Not to take away from the original post of the production window of Z-16's (anyone who knows please respond), but was the replacement to L-78 from FI motors in the 'Vettes this same time period too? ~ Pete

[mrrec]

Except for the two Engineering Prototypes, all were built from late Feb thru early April, 1965. The Prototypes are probably included in the 201 total count. I don't believe any big cars or Corvettes received their 396 until well after April.

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Dave

[VintageMusclecar]

Dave;

You have a PM

Eric