69 Chevelle Questions

[3macs1]

I never owned a 69 Chevelle so need some help with this one.A friend of a friend with more money than brains purchased a 69 Chevelle through e-mails state side never seeing the car just to get a 69 396 oval port engine out of it that matched his 69 camaro dates. Car was a basket case and came out of the mid west so I assumed a rust bucket.When he finally got it here the motor was fine and he was happy and he planned on selling the rest to a guy who was going to pro street it. However the car is far from rusty and if anything a very dry body and almost zero rust.The individual he bought it from said he was the second owner and it was originally ordered in as a race car. Oh how many times have we heard that one.However there are a few strange items to me that is now making me wonder if we have a l-78 here or maybe a COPO.
Car has no cowl tag and it does not look like it ever had one. SS I would say for sure based on the emblem mounting with no drilled holes etc.Factory bucket seats but no console. Dash is gone, Car came with a m22 which the guy indicates is original but there is no stamping on the case date or vin but all of the orignal shifter is in the trunk.Also a 8 inch balancer, the right 8" timing cover, chrome valve covers and a GM open element chrome top lid,Gm holley fuel line and a 499 dist.The car has a 3/8 single fuel like that looks 100% original and a KK 410 posi rear with the reinforcements for the 4spd. Disc brakes, standard steering and front and rear sway bars which look the same as the f41 in my 70.Frame brackets under motor mounts are welded to the frame and you can see the remains of chain links what were at one time holding the engine down.Cannot see any spring tags.
What else can I look for to see if this car was an original square port from the factory.
Thanks for ther help Joe

[Keith Tedford]

Our L78 Chevelle has its original KK 4.10 rearend. The COPO cars had the KQ rearend. This very well could have been an L78 car. The COPO cars had their engines, transmissions, and rearends all stamped, with their specific codes, just like any other car.

[3macs1]

Thanks Keith for the feedback.Worth making a few calls to see if he can find out some more info on this car.I would say she was a l-78. Was there many of those produced in the 69 chevelle and did many have the m22??
Thanks again Joe

[Keith Tedford]

I think that there were somewhere in the area of 8600 L78 Chevelles built in '69. Not exactly rare. I know of several locally. None of the ones I know of are M22 cars. A friend's COPO Chevelle had one. Most people were hard pressed to afford the performance engine and the stuff you had to have with it. There wasn't much left over for F41, M22, gauges and such.

[Dog427435]

There were 9,486 L78 Chevelle's built in '69.
1,276 Chevelle's came with the M22 & only 722 had the F41 suspension.
How many had all three??

[3macs1]

Can I assume only the F41 got the rear sway bar and the front was 1 1/4 diameter. If so this car has both and is 100% original in the back right to the shims on the bar ends??

[Keith Tedford]

The rear bar was only F41. Our 396 car has the F40 option and doesn't have the big front bar. I think that the F40 was perhaps just stiffer springs and shocks. I added the rear bar to our other Chevelle shortly after buying it. Someone had also added the rear bar to our 396 car as well. These cars needed all the help they could get in the handling department. That Chevelle sounds like it would be well worth fixing up.

[3macs1]

That Chevelle sounds like it would be well worth fixing up.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree Keith and I think now he thinks so also even though he is a camaro guy. Not that I have anything against a pro street set up but not on a SS car with or without it's original cowl tag. Get a good 6 cylinder and cut until you drop.To give you an idea of the last of rust the rear was removed from the car with a 3/8 set of gear and the bolts pushed through the bushings with a screwdriver.Like to see anyone do that on a Nova Scotia car. Thanks for all the help. Joe

[TDW]

The cowl tag isn't in the same place on a Chevelle as a Camaro, in case you didn't know that.

[3macs1]

Hi Tony:
It would be in the same spot as a 70 chevelle correct???If so it is gone.