what type of motor us this?

mgerhold · 06-11-05, 04:16 PM

I'm looking at a 71 conv. looks in good shape but i'm confused of what kind of motor this is. it has a 454 BB hood. the motor looks to be a tight fit in the engine compartment. strange thing is that the alternator is on the passenger side where the AC compressor would normaly be. the car doesn't have factory AC. any ideas why the alternator would be on the oppsite side of the motor? i am trying to get him to give the me the engine codes and #'s of the heads and block. any other suggestions i could use to determine this motor? never seen a 454 before so i'm not sure what i'm looking for to prove it's real. i can email u a pic of the motor for those that want to see it. just let me know.

KOPBET · 06-11-05, 04:34 PM

mgerhold,

If you want to email the pic to me I'll post it for you.

KOPBET · 06-11-05, 07:59 PM

Here you go ... Nice car! I want it!

KOPBET · 06-11-05, 08:01 PM

more

KOPBET · 06-11-05, 08:01 PM

Nice!

ßill · 06-11-05, 08:59 PM

Sorry I can’t help you with the motor. That is a good lookin’ car. It looks like it has been well taken care of. Someone will come along and give you more info on it than you ever wanted.
Good luck

72VETTE454 · 06-11-05, 09:41 PM

That isn't the greatest picture in the world, but it definitely looks like a small block to me. The valve covers are an easy way to tell. A big block valve cover has 7 bolts attaching it to the head, 3 on the intake side and 4 on the exhaust side. I believe the small block only has 4 bolts.

BarryK · 06-11-05, 09:51 PM

yep, i agree. The angle of the pic may be fooling me but that sure looks like a SB in there. yes, SB's valve covers have 4 bolts.

Not a huge surprise, as lot of BB cars got SB's swapped into them later on when gas prices skyrocketed.

Nice car though, i love the early chrome bumper sharks, especially the 'verts.

maxrevs85 · 06-11-05, 09:55 PM

Its definately a 350...The hood looks like an LT1...I cant read it in the pic.

Dave

Jack · 06-12-05, 02:02 AM

Not the best angle, but looks more like a small block ... maybe LT1 ... numbers will bear it out. I believe body color may be Ontario Orange. Nice looking car.

Lotsa good helpful info at this site for 71 vette... numbers etc:
http://www.71corvette.com/

JACK

-edit- this car has auto trans ... I'm not so sure 71 LT1 available with auto ... maybe ... I dunno.

JohnZ · 06-12-05, 04:25 PM

It's a 350 SB with a Camaro long water pump accessory drive setup; LT-1 was never available with an automatic.

srs244 · 06-13-05, 01:58 PM

for what it's worth, my 71 454 (LS5) el camino has the alternator on the passenger side and the frigidaire a/c compressor on the driver's side. i realize that doesn't really add much to the conversation in this thread, but it was a query raised in the first post, lol.

goertz · 06-13-05, 02:06 PM

definately a small block, and probably going to experience the same cooling woes someone else just posted about a BB fan shroud with a SB under the hood. the fan doesn't get far enough into the shroud. Great looking car though! this looks just like one on ebay I saw this morning? if the price is right, buy it! but get a good deal, it's a BB car with no BB under the hood.

Tuna · 06-13-05, 03:32 PM

Under the "Tech Center" of the CAC, follow the "Gallery" link and there are lots of pictures of Sharks. 2 or 3 of the engine compartment. Now if the Gallery's pictures had more descriptive captions about what we're looking at, you could do a real comparison between this car and the ones pictured in the Gallery.