Well, many of you guys know that I have a 1969 Camaro that I am fixing up; I've it for a couple years now.  My goal is to make a Super Sport clone out of it.

Well, it currently has a GM crate 350ci V8 motor in it with about 260hp and it really is not a performer.  The previous owner put this motor in it because it needed a new one and it was cheap.  It would make a good performance motor if I wanted to make one out of it but I want a big block V8 for this car and its a small block V8.

Anyway, the other day I got a phone call from one of my friends who told me that his engine builder had recently aquired a 396ci V8 that was built for high performance and was willing to sell it for a good price.  Although that doesn't seem like that big of a cubic inch change, it makes a lot of difference because these big blocks have A LOT more torque.  Well, I went and looked at it on Thursday and I liked what I saw.  I told the guy that I wanted to think about it for a couple days before I made a decision.  Today I decided that I did want it and I went and bought it. 

This motor is freshly rebuilt (has like 75 miles on it), and is a fast motor.  It has about 400hp and 450 ft/lbs of torque.  Best of all, it will run on 92 octane pump gas without any problem.  Even better, I got it for $1750 which is a heck of a price.

Anyway, this is going to make my car a much better driver.  I probably won't get it into the car until the end of summer-but I'll be able look at it in the garage until then.   

Once it gets here, I'll post some pictures of it so you can see it.

sounds great, amazing price too. is it a GM performance crate 396 or some other make?

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It's a 1966 engine block-so its an original 396.  This motor is a forged crank motor which makes it stronger for performance purposes and has been rebuilt for more performance than stock.  It has been bored .040 over so its actually about 404ci.  I haven't had the chance to decode it, but I think it might originally be a 360hp block out of a Chevelle, when I get it I'll decode the motor.

That is the second year of production for the famous engine that didn't have that long of life, the 396 was produced from 1965-1969.  They did produce a "396" from 1970-1972, but it was actually a 396 with a .030 bore making it a 402.  They continued to call it a 396 because the "SS396" name had a lot of selling power.

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I still don't have it at the house just yet, it'll be here sometime this week though.  Once I get it, I'll post some pictures.  Just to give you an image in your head, its an orange motor.  

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Nah, its that classic Chevy orange they out on the motors-it looks great!

Well like I said, it won't be in anytime soon-but here are a couple pics I took tonight when I got it bolted to its engine stand just before I rolled it into the corner (its new home for the summer).  As you can see, its just basically an engine-there are none of the accessories on it right now (no carb, headers, distributer, water pump, ect...) but it will have all that stuff when it goes in in a few months.  Anyway, here it is:







Well, there it is.  That last pic is a shot of the valve covers on it-I really like the "Cal-Custom" design.  They are kind of plain but they look like something that someone would have put on it back in the 1960s.

Also, an interesting discovery about this motor is the "High Perf" stamp on it.  I think this motor might have originally been in a 1966 Chevelle SS-it has casting stamps that indicate a 360hp Chevelle motor originally.  Its not that imporant (its has about 400hp right now) but it would be cool if it is an original SS motor and not just some pickup motor.

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The first 2 photos make it look extra bright because the of the camara flash (as you can see, the background is pretty dark).  THe last shot, of the valve cover, shows the actual color the best.

nice engine, what kind of transmission do you have in your camaro?

very nice