Thoughts on this 71 454

[charger49]

Just after some peoples opinions on this 71 big block vette which is for sale at Joes gasoline in south Australia  http://www.golden-gasolines.com.au/ is this a reasonable price for the car they have $42750 on it. I have noticed that it is missing the badge on the front nosecone between the headlights (holes filled in?) and also the exhaust cutouts are round as opposed to being square?

Can you tell of the VIN no of a vette if it was originally a big block car?

Thanks Jason

If looking at thier website it is the yellow one.

[77CVT]

Looks ok but would need to see the paint close up.  $42k is about average price.  Heres the link to the page - Yellow 71

VIN No is - 194371S117075 It was the 17075'th one built for the '71 production run.

KM's - 63040 but most likely 163040

See more facts here

[charger49]

ok so from the serial

194371S117075

19437 is base Corvette sport coupe

1s1 ?

17075'th one built for the '71 production run

what is the 1s1 representing???

How can you tell if the car originally came with a bigblock or small block?

Do they have a option plate anywhere?

Thanks Jason

[69 DIRTY RAT]

I think small blocks had a bolt on middle crossmember and big blocks were welded?. You would have to look at it close up I'm afraid!,you just cant tell enough from the pictures. For that price its probably a high milage driver (like what 77CVT says!).Plus its weird that it has round exh. outs, they should be square like you said....smells of a prior accident. If Joe is selling it for 42750 he probably bought it for $15000 US, so it probably needs a bit of work! BUT its still a reasonable price for a Big Block if its in reasonable condition!

[77CVT]

The 1 refers to Chevrolet Division and the S refers to St Louis assembly line.  The other 1 is part of the last production numbers.

There should be a plate on the LHS ft door pillar that has the build date etc.  Not sure how to find the RPO codes that your car was built with.

[69 DIRTY RAT]

You need the original 'BILL OF SALLE','WINDOW STICKER' (stuck to the window of every car sold when new in the US) or 'TANK STICKER' (on top of petrol tank). All of which have the vettes option list and probably long gone, BUT you should ask Joes if he has or can look on the top of the Petrol Tank to see if there is a decayed paper stuck to it? I have my Tank Sticker! so its not imposible,but rare!

[charger49]

So the only way to tell wether a 69 to 71 vette was originally a big block car is if it still has the original bill of sale, the tank sticker or the original engine? I would imagine that most of these things would have gone years ago on a lot of the vets out there.

As I understand it from 72 the vin no tells you which engine the car had in it originally eg 350 or  454

So if you were looking to buy a 68 to 71 big block vette which was not numbers matching and the tank sticker and bill of sale were gone, there is no way of really knowing wether the car started life as a small block or big block car?

[77CVT]

Post the VIN No on one of the other forums and somebody will chime in!

[MJ355]

its a very nice looking vet but when doesn't yellow look good on a vet well worth a look

[Nik]

Originally posted by charger49
So the only way to tell wether a 69 to 71 vette was originally a big block car is if it still has the original bill of sale, the tank sticker or the original engine? I would imagine that most of these things would have gone years ago on a lot of the vets out there.

As I understand it from 72 the vin no tells you which engine the car had in it originally eg 350 or  454

So if you were looking to buy a 68 to 71 big block vette which was not numbers matching and the tank sticker and bill of sale were gone, there is no way of really knowing wether the car started life as a small block or big block car?

the engine block will have a serial number under one of the heads (the right one off memory). This will match to the car's VIN. If it doesn't then in my opinion, whether or not it was an original big block car is irrelevant as it isn't the matching #'s engine anyway.

If they want to sell the car, they should be willing to take off the head and put it back on to prove it. 1hrs work is worth $40,000 imho.

[69 DIRTY RAT]

Yea Niks right, see if you can get the block number from behind the engine, it is visable while pushing all the wiring out the way.Its not that hard! It roughly sits left side of dizzy (on the block).Have a long brush of some type to clear any dust & muck, and it should appear. ASK JOES TO DO THIS! then if the numbers much the vin. then it will be an original BB!

[Brutus]

FWIW....I think you'll find the trans X members were bolt on for autos and fixed for manuals.

[69 DIRTY RAT]

Yea your right brutus,I got it mixed up!;30

[MJ355]

i think some one on this forum offered once before to have a look at cars at joes because he didnt live to far away from there does any body remeber how that was

[charger49]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I am still checking out what other ones are available in Australia, I might look into what’s involved to import one from the states.

[Thunder Kiss]

I believe genuine big block cars have an oil pressure gauge that reads upto 80psi and small blocks cars have 60psi gauges.
Also, an engine size is stated on the top left of the "Vehicle Emissions Control" sticker in the engine bay.