Barn find 1966 L-79 Corvette

[sYc]

After a good bath and redoing the fuel system, road worthy again. Fires right up with nice idle, shifts great, drives really well.

While cleaning, had a chance to check a few numbers. Rearend code as it should be, with posi tag still attached. Trans code matches, metal tag still attached.

Motor wise, was told there had been a problem with the engine early in its life. Seems the short block was replaced in 1970, as it has a 3959512 block which was used only for CE blocks during that time frame. The stamp on the pad is CE0B05128 which means a 1970 CE block. The heads, intake, carb, etc all are dated coded for 1966, so assume they had the dealer replace just the short block. Whoever did the swap did a nice job, as all of the little stuff, ballast resisters, capacitors, ground straps, ignition shielding, etc all there.

One interesting note, when we went to run the lifters, discovered that the owner went with a solid cam versus the standard L-79 hydraulic unit. In 1970 a dealer could order anything from bare block to complete engine, from 283 to 350, in about any configuration, usually same as being replaced under warranty, all using the 3959512 block. We assume it is a 327 short block with solid cam, but can't say for sure.