1966 L79 Ac

[jordan]

I have just purchased a 1966 roadster."stated"as a L79,ps,pb,factory air,trans,ignition,electric windows,teak,tele,ko,side pipes,black,black tops (2)a 1967 code white interior.AND shoulder belts
The car is clearly not authentic(or Zora himself would have had to have owned it!!)and I am aware and OK with that fact.
My question is;The numbers match in that the VIN on the engine and under the dash are the same,the suffix on the engine(HT)makes this originally a manual transmission car.(to have factory air and power steering,it would have to be a KH suffix.So which is it 1)did somebody add AC??? to a non air car,or 2)did somebody add an L79 motor AND its corresponding tag to the car?or 3)were there any instances where you might have factory air(and power steering) in a car with the HT suffix.and finally;if it turns out to be a motor and VIN tag added to this car,is there any place else on the car that shows the VIN?.phew.Jordan

[fatherlarry]

Welcome aboard! You must be excited about your purchase. I guess I have my work cut out for me with these questions:lol:, but I definitely will get back to you. I want to do a little research. By the way, I have a friend who just purchased a '66 Maroon hardtop all matching numbers, 327/300, factory air, factory side pipes, no teak wheel since that was an option, as well as, the power windows, power steering, power brakes and sidepipes. Mike and I checked the car out at a Chevy dealer and we couldn't believe that the undercarraige was completely original except for one upper ball joint. The car has 76,000 miles and he paid $30K for it and $1,200 to get it shipped out from Nevada. The only thing that wasn't original was the hood, which was from a big block '67, the carburetor which was an aftermarket AFB, but the original Holly was in a box, the high voltage coil and the chrome covers for the wiring and distributor were missing. Now the only thing that's driving us crazy is the air cleaner. Being this engine is a 327/300, we feel it should come with the air cleaner that has two snorkels on each side. Some books show the snorkel air cleaner only up to '65 and with the 327/350 it comes with the round chromed open air cleaner which wouldn't be correct on this car because its the 327/300.

Also, if you want the information right away, I would suggest you call Stoudts Corvettes, Reading, PA and ask for the parts manager. Tell him FatherLarry sent you. He should be able to give some answers. If you do go that route, let us know how you make out, and I'll see what I can find out in the meantime. Here's his number (800) 523-8485
I'll get back to you shortly.
:chevy: :smoke: ;bt

[fatherlarry]

Mike and I talked it over. Ok, since HT: 327ci, 350hp MT (manual trans) is indicated by your serial # under dash and on engine, it seems more likely that the air conditioning, power steering was added on later. To double check this, on top of the frame right where the driver sits there should be a serial number. It's very hard to see unless you drop the frame. Another place to look is on the driver side,near where the left rear bumper wraps around the quarter. There's a bumper bracket on the end of the frame. Around where the bumper bolt bracket mounts on to the frame, there should be a serial # stamped on the frame that you may be able to see with a mirror. If this is different then it would seem that an engine was dropped in. If the serial number under the dash doesn't look as if it was played around with and looks original, then it would seem that the extras were added on. Also, if you drop the gas tank, the original build sheet should be there. If it is, your question is answered. If the build sheet isn't there, and you can't find the numbers on the frame then you may have to play detective a little longer, by trying to trace the family tree of owners as far back as you can.

This is what you know so far: The engine serial # is for a 327/350 manual tranny which was the option that year without air. The KH suffix represents : 327ci, 350hp MT (manual), AR (Air Injection Reactor), AC (Air Conditioning), PS (Power Steering). So both are manual transmission with one having the additional options to make it KH. Below are the different suffixes and combinations available. Now if your car does work out to have the correct engine to match the car, then there shouldn't be too much concern, because you would have a matching number car. The add ons really don't take much value away, as an engine and tranny would.

Let us know if you find the other numbers or build sheet.

Suffix:

HD: 327ci, 350hp MT, AR
IK: 427ci, 425hp MT
HE: 327ci, 300hp MT
IL: 427ci, 390hp MT
HH: 327ci, 300hp MT, AR
IM: 427ci, 390hp MT, AR
HO: 327ci, 300hp AT
IP: 427ci, 450/425hp MT
HP: 327ci, 300hp MT, PS
IQ: 427ci, 390hp AT
HR: 327ci, 300hp AT, AR
IR: 427ci, 390hp AT,AR
HT: 327ci, 350hp MT
KH: 327ci, 350hp MT,AR,AC,PS

MT=Manual Trans, AT=Automatic Trans, PS=Power Steering, AR=Air Injection Reactor, AC=Air Conditioning

Base Engine: 327ci V8 300hp