Determining a car or truck can be a tough endeavor, and an L88 Corvette is no take ion, the really to start with issue you have to search at, is the value of the car or truck. In this day and age an L88 Corvette can very easily operate 100,000 pounds or far more, and if you have located an Corvette for sale and the human being marketing the car or truck is symbolizing it as an L88, and the selling price is minimal “BEWARE” of a fraud suitable up front, these are extremely scarce and tricky to come across autos, and even a wrecked a single can operate 30,000 bucks or extra.
Now down to the brass tacks, the 1st issue that I would glimpse at is the engine codes, these types of as the RPO code and casting numbers to make confident that the motor is an L88, there are on the other hand some notify tail symptoms, hold in mind that not every single L88 had the 3X2 carburetor selection installed on it, this was an include on regarded as the L71 tri-ability selection, now an L88 is a 427 CID motor, that ordinarily arrived with a single Holley 850 double pumper carburetor, so just because you do not see a tri-electricity set-up on the car does not suggest that it can be not an L88 427 automobile.
A real L88 Corvette is a scarce find, so you can feel blessed if you transpire to come across one particular, also available was the L89 aluminum head option, that would shave 75 pounds of the front conclusion bodyweight of the car, if your blessed sufficient that the car that you strategy to acquire has a create sheet with it, you can know particularly what the car came with from the factory, but yet again this is a exceptional uncover in the vintage vehicle planet.
On the motor the RPO code is situated on a machined pad in entrance of the passenger side head, the RPO will explain to you what 12 months the motor was constructed, what motor it is, and commonly what transmission was attached to the motor, it will also reveal what manufacturing plant created the engine, the casting variety will also explain to you what yr the motor is, how numerous major caps it has and the horsepower of the engine, with the pro code you require to glimpse carefully due to the fact people have been acknowledged to machine and re-stamp these figures, if the RPO code does not match the casting range in any way, be extremely leery of the offer that your about to make, question a good deal of thoughts.
When deciphering the RPO code on the entrance of the motor it will help to know how to examine the stampings this is a typical looking at for a 1957 – 69 RPO code.
1) The first digit signifies the plant that the motor was built at
2) The subsequent two digits represent the thirty day period that the motor was created
3) The upcoming two symbolize the day that the engine was designed
4) The very last two are the suffix code
The suffix code is what will convey to you what motor is in the car or truck, and what solutions it has, underneath you may discover a record of the codes for the 427 Engine.
Horsepower Transmission, Alternatives Suffix Code
390 4-Pace, Hydraulic Lifters, Special Cam, 4BBL Carburetor IL
390 4-Velocity, Hydraulic Lifters, Exclusive Cam, 4BBL Carburetor, AIR IM
390 Powerglide, Hydraulic Lifters, Special Cam, 4BBL IQ
390 Powerglide, Hydraulic Lifters, Special Cam, 4BBL, AIR IR
400 4-Speed, L36 Motor, 3X2 Carburetors JC
400 Powerglide, L36 Motor, 3X2 Carburetors JD
400 4-Pace, L36 Motor, 3X2 Carburetors, AIR JF
400 Powerglide, L36 Engine, 3X2 Carburetors, AIR JG
430 M22 4-Pace, 4BBL, Distinctive high effectiveness cam IT
435 4-Speed, 3X2 Carbs, L71 Motor, Aluminum Heads IU
435 4-Velocity, Mechanical Lifters, 3X2 Carbs, AIR JA
435 4-Pace, Mechanical Lifters, 3X2 Carbs JE
435 4-Pace, L71 Engine, 3X2 Carbs, Aluminum Heads, AIR JH