1970 L78 nova

[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

[Bill Pritchard]

Waaaayyyy back on page 3 of this thread I posted that a friend of mine bought a new 70 Nova L78 with 4.10 gear.

Mea culpa

Talking with him last night he said it came from the factory with a 3.55 gear. Very shortly after delivery he had a mechanic friend at the dealer "confirm" that his ring & pinion was "defective" and GM warrantied a 4.10 gear into it. That's why I thought it came from the factory with the 4.10. Sorry for any confusion

Even the 4.10 didn't stay around long, as within a year he had a 4.56 in it - at his expense

[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

[lowmile]

Don, you can always look at the date code on the ring gear for more clues. mark

[cammer427]

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