396 motor

[86dieselburb]

What year did the 396 come with 2 barrel carb? I've been collecting first gen Camaros my whole life and from 67 on the 396's all came with 4 barrels. There was 3 Hp versions, 325, 350 & 375. Although i'm not too familiar with the earliar Chevelles or Corvettes. The 396 first came out in 1966 if i'm not misstaken.

 

[diesel4me]

I'm fairly sure the 2 barrel version of the 396 was a 69 only motor-my big block spec book lists it as a L-66 265hp,2 barrel,low-lift hydraulic cam,small port cast iron heads,9to 1 compression,2 bolt mains,nodular iron crankshaft---my friend had one in a 69 Impala convertible he got from his dad.As I said earlier,his was a real dog--it could hardly break the tires loose!-it had a powerglide tranny and 3.08 gears,so it might not have been all the motors fault!,but we got smoked by several similar cars with 350's and TH350 or Th400's.I think they only used the 2 barrels in passenger cars factory--I did see a 68 GMC at a truck show with one in it,but the owner said he swapped it in there from a 69 caprice(that his friend bought for big money,thinking it was a 427 4 speed car /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif)and he bought the motor pretty cheap!. I thought the big blocks first came out in late 1965 in the Caprice's and Impala's /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif,the 396 was the first "big block" that we are familiar with,it was also the last year for the 348-409 big blocks too. /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

 

[86dieselburb]

Thanks. Learned something new. I know the Camaros, Chevelles and Novas pretty good, but not the others so much. Cant imagine a 265hp BBC being anything but slow in a big ole Caprice. Heck the 325hp Camaros weren't very impressive. Now the 375hp was a different story. Had a friend that had a 427, 4sp SS Impala. damn that was one fast land yaht.

 

[TrcksR4ME]

If the motor is good, $150 is a screamin deal. BB's of any kind are getting really expensive. I have a 402 in my truck that the previous owner put in, all I know it is from the early smog era of '72, and its not all that exciting of a motor. I have no idea what the previous owner had done to it before he put it in the truck...someday I plan to build it when the time comes.

 

[3 on the tree]

If it is a 65 396 jump all over it!!!! The real early 396 blocks were cast from the same molds as the 427, so they can be bored to a 427.