The next cylinder head…

In this video, I get to install a cylinder head on the 100 Millionth small block engine. Using the head bolt torque attachment device (sorry I don’t know the proper name for it) was really cool. It felt really weird bringing the machine down to the head and then after it got started tightening the bolts, it just finished automatically. I think installing one of the key components for this build was a highlight in my almost 25-year career in automotive journalism. I also had to write down the serial number for that head so it can be tracked for history’s sake. Very cool!

Walking the Assembly Line with General Motors 100- Millionth Small Block Engine Build

Here we go!

Back on November 29,  I was invited to attend and participate (I actually installed one of the cylinder heads) when General Motors  built its 100-millionth small-block engine – 56 years after the first production small block – representing an engineering legacy that will never be replicated. While most of you may already know these facts,  Chevrolet introduced the small-block in 1955 and the production milestone of this engine build came in the same month the brand marked its 100th anniversary.  The milestone engine built was the already-infamous 638-horsepower supercharged LS9 small block – the power behind the 205-mph Corvette ZR1 – which is hand-built at GM’s Performance Build Center, the site of this build as well. It represents the fourth generation of the small block and is the most powerful engine ever built by GM for a regular-production car. GM will preserve the engine as part of its historical collection.

This is the first of 27 videos I shot that day..please feel free to share them all with any GM fan you may know.

Sincerely

Alan Colvin

Stunningly Beautiful 58,001 original mile ‘56 Ford T-bird Now for Sale on AlanColvin.com!

This recently professionally detailed (www.richiescustomdetailing.com) T-Bird (VIN: P6FH260053) is painted Raven Black with a white convertible top, which matches the trim tag (AE). Car has the correct continental kit on the car as all ’56 T-Birds had the kit as standard equipment. Car has optional rear fender skirts which are in excellent condition. There is absolutely no exterior rust on car. Body gaps are very good for a 55-57 T-Bird. Car lines are excellent and there are no visible waves in any of the panels due to excess bondo or mis-matched panels or repairs. Paint color is consistent with no orange peel found. Stock front grille is in excellent shape. All glass is in decent shape.

Car has the correct optional 312 4V/225HP engine with the factory dress up kit which would include a chrome air filter cover, chrome oil filter tube cap, and finned aluminum valve covers. Since this car was built later in the model year, the 3-bladed chrome fan would not have been installed and it is not on this car. Car has a new Ford 29N Power Punch reproduction battery-installed. All paint finishes look correct and most of the engine looks very original. There are multiple decals and stamps throughout the engine compartment that look very original and correct.

Car does not have A/C. Car is running the correct Ford-o-matic automatic transmission. Car has optional power steering and drum brakes (Front & Rear). Car does not have power brakes. Power steering has no leaks. No brake leaks evident. Rear axle is original design for this year T-Bird.

Factory white trim tag coded correctly convertible top is stowed behind seat. Factory painted white porthole hardtop is in place and in great shape. This porthole hardtop is more desirable and looks to be original. 1956 was the first year for the porthole hardtop, but non-porthole tops were produced for 1956.

All body panels are of original design. Door handles are in excellent condition. Exterior emblems on car are in good condition and may be original. Exterior stainless steel is in decent shape and all look to be original to the car. Weather-stripping looks original to car. Car has both front and rear bumpers and they are in excellent condition.

Interior is Black & White vinyl, which matches the trim tag (XA). Interior looks original and is in excellent condition. Headliner is clean and looks like it is in excellent condition with no rips or tears. Gauge cluster panel and gauge faces are in excellent condition and have not been restored. Dash pad has no evident rips or tears. Car has original Town & Country AM radio in dash . Car has optional heater. Car has the original stock Ford T-Bird steering wheel and is in great shape. Car has original type floor mats and they are in excellent condition.

Underneath of car looks very original and is very clean. There is no evidence whatsoever of any rust under the car. It looks as though much of the original undercoating is still in place. Car has factory type exhaust.

Excellent near new reproduction Firestone 6.70-15 rubber all the way around. Car has the optional full hubcaps and they are all in excellent condition.

Trim Tag:

Serial NO: P6FH260053

Body: 40A

Color: AE

Trim: XA

Production Code: 40CX320Trim Tag denotes this car is a Raven Black/Black & White Interior Thunderbird built on 4^th day of April for a dealer in the Chicago zone. It was 320^th car scheduled (not only Thunderbirds) to be assembled on April 4^th, 1956.

Price: $29,550 OBO. If interested in purchasing this excellent classic T-Bird, please email me immediately!

Incredible ’67 Corvette “Pro-Classic” Convertible Now for Sale at AlanColvin.com

I am honored to have the exclusive listing for this incredible 3-owner “Pro-Classic” Corvette on my site. I consider it to be one of the top 10 modified Corvettes in the US. Rich Lagasse built this car and he is considered by many to be the premier modified Corvette builder in the country. This car is not your typical “trailer queen/show only” Corvette….it’s way too much FUN to drive!!

Check it out here.

Sincerely,

INSPECTION NOTIFICATION

I recently did a pre-purchase Level 1 inspection on a ’66 GTO and it will be posted on my website later this week. For any type of inspection/appraisal done on any car, please contact me at services@alancolvin.com

BOWTIE ADVISOR

El Camino Ideas

I have a 1968 El Camino SS with a 396/ 4 Speed combination. I purchased your Chevrolet by the Numbers book a while back. It has told me all I need to know except for a couple of things. On the trim tag, the numbers “117412 and 201490″ at the top and the letters “BF” in the trimline at the bottom . What do they mean? I would also like to know if the transmission is an M22? It has the drain plug boss drilled and tapped  and a plug like the one in your book. Can you tell me if this car had a 396/350HP or 396/375HP engine from the factory? The engine block I know is not correct but it still has the original intake manifold with casting #3933163. Thanks for all your help. -K. P., Burwell, NE

The numbers you are asking about are the daily production sequence numbers which were used to track the car through the plant. They make no reference to the options of the car. The letters “BF” do not have any reference to options either. Many Chevelles had one or two letter codes which were stamped on trim tags but no one has ever discovered any correlation to them relating specific information to the car. The transmission is original to your car since the VIN matches the cars VIN.The front drain plug being tapped is a good sign that it could be an M22. When the car is driven, you should hear a REAL loud whine, which is indicative to all M22 transmissions. The only sure way of telling if it is an M22 is to pull the side cover and inspect the pitch of the gears. On the issue of which engine was originally installed, check several other original cars to see if there any differences in the fuel lines of a 350HP car to a 375HP car. This can sometimes be a tip off since the Rochester carb cars sometimes had two lines (one was a return for emissions regulations) from the tank, where a Holley equipped car would only have one. If the intake is original as you say, it would only be correct for a 375HP car. On a final note, if the car does indeed have the M22, it is also doubtful that someone would order an M22 transmission behind a 350HP car. Food for thought, huh?

LS6 Chevelle Dreams

I have a ’70 LS6 Chevelle and I am interested in determining if the VIN, trim tag and engine are matching. It is difficult to tell if any of these numbers were forged or if they are all original. As you can see they do match. Do you feel these are matching numbers and are they correct? Thank you for your help. -D.R., Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Trim Tag:

ST 70 13637 A 49297 BDY

TR 756 B80 B90 75 75 PNT

05C       375660   480270

VIN: 136370A163437

Engine Code: T0413CRV

Engine Stamp: 10A163437

Transmission VIN: 11P148894

Transmission Build Date: P1A21A

Rear Axle Code: CRV1223B1

It looks like the VIN, trim tag, engine and rear axle are correct for this car, although it looks like someone launched the transmission at some point. The transmission is obviously wrong and looks like it came from a 1971 Pontiac. It has the letter “A” in the build date which designates an M20 wide ratio transmission, which is totally incorrect for this car. All 1970 LS6 Chevelles came with either an M22 (build date code “C”) or a Turbo hydramatic 400 transmission. No other four speeds were ever installed. Other than this transmission, it looks like a pretty complete car. If you need a correctly dated M22 transmission for your car, call some of these top 4 speed rebuilders: Darrell Shepperd/4Speeds by Darrell at 800-365-1102 , Keith Hoak/Hoss’ Gear Shop at 412-423 6502 or Eric Davidson/Crash Enterprises at 414-657 1962 (6 10PMonly) Tell them I sent you.

Got a Chevrolet question you can’t find the answer to, well send it to me and let me take a crack at it! Email me at bowtieadvisor@alancolvin.com

For more GM &Chevy Q & A, visit www.alancolvin.com

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Stay tuned.

randy

Here’s our trusty Cayenne. It’s the V6 version equipped with an 8-speed Tiptronic transmission. I’ll calculate mileage when we get back to Stuttgart but meanwhile we put in gasoline in Sant Englmar and paid $9.75 per gallon.

Sant Englmar is in the Bavarian Alps. Walter Rohrl is an avid skier and mountain biker (he left for a ride with a friend as we drove away). His village gets more than two meters of snow each winter.

This is typical Bavarian residential architecture, and the build quality (mandated by the government code) is extraordinary. Walls are thick and roof pitches are fairly steep to aid snow runoff.

For more information Click Here.

Less than 9 months after acquiring our ‘desert-stored’ 1954, today the rebuilt 1962 327 V8 engine was run for the first time, fitted into the fully body-off restored 1954.

Started first touch, run at very fast idle to bed in the new camshaft, oil pressure on the the Auto-meter gauges 80psi, falling to 60 psi hot, and no overheating. The 1959 T-10 transmission is running a new 1957 4-speed ‘ball and slot’ shifter. A correct cast-iron 1958 bell-housing hides a new Luk clutch , driving through an original 1956 3.55 axle.

This close replica of the first V8 Corvette, as developed by Zora Arkus-Duntov will be driving, if not MoT’d for the NCRS-UK Spring Shakedown on Saturday 9th April. Tom’s Le Shuttle crossing is booked for this car the 2011 Le Mans 24-hr on June 6th,

Click to see a short movie of engine running size 4.81mb
Click to see a long movie of engine running size 9.84mb