1966 L72 Biscayne
 

Check out the 1966 L72 Biscayne www.legendarymotorcar.com

Nice looking car! Lots of the correct stuff from what I can see, with the exception of the air cleaner. No pics of the POP or paperwork. It would be nice to see those.

I never realized the '66 L72 was that rare.Wonder how many are left with their original motor like this one?! Reading the ad again...does it sound like the tranny or rear are original?

Well the ad says "believed to be 1 of 200 Biscaynes built" which if you believe it, it will be. Being a Canadian car and having GM of Canada documentation, it maybe could tell how many. I'm not familiar with what those documents reveal. It would be nice if they were posted with the pictures. Canada kept track of things. GM in the US apparently didn't keep track since there hasn't been any documentation found to tell us anything different except that 1,856 L72 full size 1966 Chevrolet cars were factory built. I don't know if that includes the export cars or not. I have some docs at home, I'll have to check. That total includes the Biscayne, Belair, Impala, Impala SS, and Caprice. Oh and don't forget wagons thrown in there too. Between all those models, :dunno:. Maybe one day somebody will find a secret stash of paperwork and bring it to light, so there's no more guessing. There have been a few '66 L72 cars come to light lately that I know of and they've been sitting for a while. All appear to have born with components and a few with the POP. Maybe there's a few others lurking in the shadows.

I had trouble with the link you posted. If anybody else does click this:

http://www.legendarymotorcar.com/inv...ayne-1698.aspx

That number (1856) seems very low. 1856 427-425s I would believe though!......Bill S

#

YES!! 1,856 L72's... sorry 'bout that detail... thanks Bill.

Is the body colored firewall a Canadian thing - or just a mistake? Did Biscayne's get carpet or a rubber mat?

Looks like a neat car.

Canadian cars painted the firewall.....unless, customer ordered carpet....rubber floor was standard :D

Dan

Thanks Dan!

I fixed my link...thanks Mark.

WOW, very nice!!

"believed to be 1 of 200 Biscaynes built" which if you believe it, it will be. Being a Canadian car and having GM of Canada documentation, it maybe could tell how many.

I bought my L72 Biscayne from a gentleman in MN 14 years ago that had 4 L72's at the same time! He advised me that GM built 183 of them in 1966...? My car was built in Janesville Wisconsin and I'm surprised to hear that the Legendary car has 'Canadian Roots'. The Canadian Documents are worth their weight in gold....

My car is also Aztec Bronze with the fawn interior and looks pretty good with Cragars...just sayin'

L72's US built in 1966
 

US built totals unfortunately don't differentiate between Belairs and Biscaynes; For L72, there were a total of 269 Belair and Biscaynes produced. For 2 door models ending in "11" there was a total of 225 Biscaynes and Belairs built.
Another breakdown is that of the 269, 11 were wagons but the 11 is not broken down either between Belairs and Biscaynes

Paul

1966 L72 Biscayne question
 

I recently purchased a very nice 1966 Biscayne that is suspected to be an L72, The car has all of the date correct component's with matching casting numbers that would represent it to be a real L72. This includes the engine block, heads, bell housing, intake, carb, transmission, tail shaft housing, starter, alternator, rear end housing, along with radio delete, heater delete, 7k tach and more.

My only concerns are that the VIN plate in the driver door pilar and the protecto plate have 15311 yet the cowl tag uses the 15411. I have researched and found that this could happen if the vin plate and protecto plate was produced prior to changes made with options during the ordering timeline?

I appreciate any feedback, I want to fully understand this car.

It is my belief that by 1966 all Biscayne's received carpet.

Need some pictures of the car and the engine plate to help..

Per Alan Colvin's book, all 1965 thru 1971 Trim Tags (cowl tags) were stamped with a V8 model number, even if the car was originally equipped with a 6 cylinder. The VIN is the true indicator of what engine originally came in the car, and in the case of your car, it originally came with a 6 cylinder engine.

The trim tags all have V8 codes on them even earlier than 65. I can't say just how far back it goes but I can tell that true as early as 1962.

The 3 on the vin tag means it was built as a 6 cylinder Biscayne originally.

Already answered in the other thread posted by the O.P.:

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=183338

POP also confirms 6-cylinder car originally.

new purchase 1966 L72 biscayne
 

hello folks.

i am brand new to this.

i joined because i recently purchased an 1966 L72 biscayne.

im jumping on this thread because i see that the discussion is about a 1966 biscayne L72....i hope thats right.

anyway, there are a few things that i could use help with, so i was wondering if anyone could help me.

first, i'm pretty sure the car is real, based on the vin, cowl tag and numbers from the trans and rear, so i'd like to register it, if not already in the registry (i guess the follow up is whether or not this car shows up already).

second, though i haven't done a deep dive and taken the interior apart to find the build sheet (if it is still there), is there a way to get one?
third, i will be looking for some parts to get it as close to original as possible.

the motor is not the original as it was said to have been blown in '68 and replaced with a chevy crate engine (i'm looking into the dates and numbers on that but at first glance appears to corroborate in that it is a 512 block)

it is missing some interior things like a drivers visor and dome light but what is odd to me is that it doesnt have a factory tach, so not sure what happened there.

also the exhaust manifolds arent correct and it is missing the idler pulley assembly.

id love to start gathering all of these things to maybe bring it back to where it was, so any help with where to go to get them, would be great.

thanks,
adam

Very cool! Welcome to the best site on the net.

Welcome to the site. To answer some of your questions....

1. Unlike the prior poster in this thread 'kenbrogan', your car's VIN indicates it was originally produced with an 8 cylinder engine, so that's a good start.

2. Rear axle and trans pictures you have posted have good assembly dates that line up with your car's scheduled production date (from the Trim Tag) of 07A (first week of July). The EJ code on the rear axle indicates it was originally equipped with a 4.88 positraction differential, and had metallic brakes....both very strong indications of a car ordered with drag racing in mind. I believe the transmission should have a partial VIN stamping also, but it could be up on the top of the transmission where it would be extremely difficult to see with the trans still in the car.

3. Unfortunately, if there's no build sheet in your car now, there's no way to get one.

4. Not at all unusual to have no factory tach, as anyone who was going to be doing serious racing would install their own aftermarket tach....the factory pieces were never known for being perfectly accurate, and often were located out of easy viewing.

Can't help with your missing/incorrect pieces but others here might have some ideas.

thank you for your insight.
i was thinking the same thing about the tach, being a drag racer myself.
i am looking forward to finding the missing pieces.
much appreciated.

.......also a q code in group 2 on the trim tag, so it's a 4 speed from factory. Some say that indicates a M21, but not positive if that's conclusive. Love the car!!

when i did my research before i purchased, i thought the same.
the 2Q means an M21 and the fact that the rear gear is more than 3:31 (in this case 4:88) meant that it can only be a real L72 because you couldn't get that gear otherwise.
4 core radiator, no power anything...
of course, all of that could be faked but like Bill Prichard said, the date codes on the motor and trans seem right....

thanks!

That would be trans and rear axle....:)

L72
 

Hard to see but looks like it does have a tach. When you ordered a 4-spd with 325, 390 or 425 HP engine it included the tachometer. If so is the tack a 7K tach with a 6K red line?

Also as stated, he M21 was available only with the L72 motor. Also the 4.10 through 4.88 rear axle ratios were only available with the L72

Paul

Sorry Bill Pritchard, you're right, my mistake.
Paul, i heard it both ways, that it came automatically, or you could option the tach, but in this case, it is a clock.
and i also thought the M21 was only available with the L72 as well as the rear gear upgrade, of which i have both and the 2Q code backs that up

See attached
 

Price and facts book 3rd edition, Re; Tach and Trans info
Power Team Chart:

Seems to be a lot of "ideas" bouncing around here on the options...re tach and the tranny.

Tach was available as an "option", could be ordered, did not have to come ONLY with the BB engine, it could be ordered with a 327 too. But finding a car with a in dash tach would be 90% chance it was a BB. So to find a BB car without a factory tach would make me wonder. The tachs work very well, as well as any aftermarket available at the time. But they were hard to see in the right side pod in the dash, hence the tachs on the steering column were prevalent for serious drag cars.

Almost ALL cars that were ordered with a four speed got the M21, (95%+) very few came with a M20.

Also a very high percentage came with the 12 bolt rear end, very hard to find a 10 bolt rear end for parts. Even 6 cylinder cars came with the 12 bolt.

so, if my car has a date proper 4:88 12 bolt and an M21, with the 2Q on the tag and the proper v8 vin, what's the chances it isn't an original 427 L72 car?

What about 4-Spds????!!!!
 

All we are talking about here is a 1966 Full Size car.
95% of all cars ordered with a 4-spd got an M21???

For the 1966 Full Size Car, 30,467 Cars came with an M20 and 1,595 Came with an M21

thanks Paul.
any insight on my question?
i'm trying to verify my full size biscayne, of which i understand they only made 189 in 1966, if i am correct
definitely a date correct M21 and 4:88 12 bolt

L72
 

This is all I can say based on the following. If the trim tag is original, we know that a Group 2 code Q means the car came with an M21. We also know based on the previous posts that the only engine for the 66 Full Size Car including an M21 was the L72. If in fact the Trans is original to the car that further substantiates the L72 once again. I would be curious if the Tach harness was up under the dash as the car would have had to have a tach.
Records show a combination of model 15411 and 15611 total of 225 L72's between the 2 DR Biscayne and 2 Dr Belair.
Paul

Have to remember, this car is 59+ years old and a lot can happen in the interim. Factory tach could easily have become inoperative over the years and, rather than spend money trying to replace or repair it, a clock (which was far more prevalent than a tach) could have been put in its place.

Paul, that's a great suggestion, to look under the dash for the factory tach wiring.

You should closely inspect the rear upper crossmember. These cars are well known for ripping it away from the frame rails if slicks are added. Past (or current) damage might be indicative of a racing past. BTW, those front bumper guards are kinda strange to see on such a no frills, bare-knuckle fighter.

Not sure if my reply from early today went through. It's definitely an L72 car since it shows 2Q on the cowl tag. 2Q is close ratio 4spd and was only available with the L72 in 66 so all 2Q cars in 66 are L72's. See if you can find the partial vin on the front, opposite side of the transmission case from the P0630 date code. is there a metal part number tag still attached to one of the side cover bolts?

You could get a 327 with a m20 OR an M21. 2Q does not make it a BB car