1970 L78 nova

[Salvatore]

Zul's 1969 camaro was his. It got stolen in early 70's. We talked to him at the SS nationals in York. That car was his. He told us that his father knew who stole the car. Don't know what happened then. he then borrowed or leased Jenkins car. I believe it was the 1970 or 71 car. (not sure about dates) Jenkins was doing the Vega then I believe. Also Zul was in the low nines with stamped steel GM rockers. I SAW them. At one point, he was the fastest big block. Sam

[RichSchmidt]

Back then,Zul was one of the first guys to run Ford Cleveland rockers on the big Chevy because it bumped the ratio from 1.70 to 1.73:1.He was also a big believer in compression,and he used to it run very late cam timing and was one of the only guys running 5.86:1 gears behind a bigblock at the time.He came to my friends shop to look over his prostock car that as also racing at the time,and he let in on a few of the ways he could have identified his engine.One way was that he milled the block so much that the top water pump bolt hole was almost breaking through the deck,and the other was that the heads were so angle milled that the headers were smashed against the starter motor.He claims he later started refacing the exhaust flanges to make the headers not hit,but you can imagine how milled down all that stuff must have been.The popular opinion at the time was that the engine ended up in a very fast big money race camaro from Newark{who I wont name},but looking back at it,many agree that during the time frame that Zul's car disappeared,there was a certain big tire 409 impala that got real fast out of no where at the street races,and that seems the be the new opinion on where it might have went.Either way,everybody seemed to agree that the engine wouldnt even show up in an actual race car.
SO the only part of the story that was incorrect was that the 69 car was never in the hands of a Jenkin's team racer.Either way,Zul should have put better locks on his doors.Having the second car stolen must have really stunk.
Thanks again for the imput.

[Salvatore]

Thanks for trying to wake up my memory. Who was the N.J. street racer? Come on....Give me a hint. Ronnie Lyles, Levi Holmes??? Not Rufus B. Come on.

[RichSchmidt]

Back when it happened,a lot of fingers were pointing at Levi,but after all the smoke cleared,it seemed like it probably wasnt him.Another name I heard mentioned was a guy by the name of Chinaman,But after 30 years almost all of the players are dead or half baked,so I doubt the truth would ever be known.

[Salvatore]

Gotcha Rich! Sam

[WILMASBOYL78]

What happened to the docs or codes for that 4.10 L78? Inquiring minds want to know.

[GTO_DON]

JUST BOUGHT THE CAR! DONT HAVE THE TIME TO LOOK AT THE CODE.BEEN BUSY AT WORK WITH ALL THE SNOW AND ICE! ALL MY FRIENDS WRECKED THEIR TRUCKS WHEN I WAS AT BJ. PROMISE TO GIVE THE CODE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

[GTO_DON]

TOM,YOU WERE RIGHT. I CHECKED THE CODE ON THE REAR AND IT DECODES AS A 355 [C BT 0702 G2] BUT WHAT I DONT UNDERSTAND IS THE CAR WAS ORDERED WITH A 410,[DOCS TO PROVE] AND THE GEARS IN THE REAR ARE 410'S. WHAT DO YOU THINK? ENGINE NUMBER IS TO701CTY, DATE CODE GI9.CASTING NUMBER 3969854 TRIM TAG SAYS 07A TR741,58-58 PNT

[cammer427]

RichSchmidt, would you happen to have any more info on this "Chinaman" character?