how do you find out the exact production date for my '68
thanx

 

here is a site you can put ur vin number into and will tell you a date but i am not really sure how accurate it is
http://www.c3registry.org/index.php?...r&uid=9714

 

Mine came up 4-9-73 and I picked the car up at the dealer 4-17-73, so it's pretty close.

 

Wow shark, that is close! Did you order the car? Back when this topic was up last time, I found out that mine ('81) was MFGd in August, '81. I was surprised to find out how late in the year they were still MFGing 'Vettes, into October, when the other '82 models were out in August. I suppose it has to do with demand and I tried to get the info from the Bowling Green factory, but was told that they didn't have the date of the last '81 that came off the line there. Although that factory has a site and a page to ask factory and specific vehicle questions, it seems to be limited on info.
Like I told you before, I like the color and year of your 'Vette. I've also said that I like afew other year 'Vettes much more than mine, It's just that I madethe deal for mine in about a five minute period. It was super clean, a one owner-who I knew well. Ionly knew that the guy would sell the car about five minutes before I wrote the check.
You must have a great handle on your's having it since it was new. The perfect situation for an owner.

 

You're correct. I did order it. Three things I'd do different. Get a roadster, big block, and A/C. After a year in sauna-like conditions when it's raining in the Midwest in the summer and you can't open the windows, I pulled an entire factory A/C unit out of a wrecked '73 which fixed that problem. Also installed factory PW from another wreck. While I've heard of people making roadster conversions, that's not for me and instead of stuffing a big block in and suffering thru all of the hardships that C3 Starship has, I decided to pull the engine out and rebuild it after it started getting coolant in the oil. [] Had a small crack in the lifter galley. Also the rear lobes on the cam were going Tango Uniform which I heard wasn't unusual for small blocks of that era although I'd never heard of it.

Bored .030 over to clean up, put in LT-1 11:1 TRW pistons (10:1 w/ my low CR heads), and a Erson roller cam w/ Comp Cams roller tip rockers. Now when I get the wife to move her stuff out of the garage , I can get back to work on it.

I even experimented running a Rochester FI unit that I picked up. Ran liked a striped a$$ ape but wouldn't idle hot. After I got tired of futzing w/ it and went back to the Q-jet, I talked w/ a very knowledgeable FI guy that gave me a couple of reasons for my problem, so someday I plan on giving it another shot.

Sorry to be so far off topic.

 

shark,
When you say, "small blocks of that era," are you refering to the mid to late 70s when the castings got thinner? And did the rear lobes start going due to an oiling problem? I've never heard of that either.
In the late '80s, I knew two guys who bought Holley FI systems which were supposed to be "the thing" at the time, and they could never get them to consistently run right all the way through the power ban. One guy kept it and the other went back to a carb.
And, never off-topic to me. Alot of the time, one topic or comment reminds me of things in the past and I get off on that avenue. People probably get tired of me going on to topics other than the one I'm replying to.

 

Hadn't heard about the thinner castings but someone said small blocks tended to have a thin layer of hardening on the cam lobes and once that wore thru, the cam was toast. Don't think there was an oiling problem as it lasted over 70K miles.

I'm pretty sure with the points that this Rochester FI guy gave me, I can get it to idle right.

Were the Holley systems throttle bodies?

 

shark,
Just thought that the lobes, for some reason, may not have been getting oil.Didn't know about the hardening factor.
I built a 350 ci for a '62 Impala I had in 1983. I boughtfour sets of heads before finding a good pair,the first three were late '70s and '80. I finally gotthe fourth from a '69 dump truck w/ a governor and they had hardened exhaust seats. Two of the first three had cracks in one or more exhaust seats through to the water jacket. I had a nice '69 Impala Custom in '76 that I over heated one day due to the radiator leaking on me and it got so hot that the oil was light gray. I let it cool down, put another radiator in it, changed the oil and it ran just fine, no damage, afterward, two plus years of going from Ft. Bragg, N.C. to NYC and back running the heck out of it. What a car! Try that with a later small block.
Yes, the Holleys were throttle bodies. I can't speak for the FI first hand as I've always run carbs.
I had a friend, Joe Kiss, who bought a new '73 Z/28. I lost touch with him when I went into the Army in '75, but another friend and neighbor, Bob D'Angelo, told me that in '76, he and Joe went to Florida and in North Floridathe engine in Joe's Camaro went out some how, major work needed, Bob didn't know what exactly as he continued on to Miami. I was just surprised that he'd have a major problem w/the engine as he really took great care of that car.
I have 125,000 miles on my '81 and it still runs great and burns no oil.