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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

1963 327 360hp Fuel Injected Engine

Yes, I bought one! A couple months ago when Matt P. saw a 1963 340 hp 327 for sale on EBay he said, "It's like seeing a Unicorn, or a miracle" making sure I knew it was a very rare find. Well Matt ol' buddy, this ones in my garage and it's a FUELIE! (I know, I can't believe it either). I purchased the engine from Shaw City Engines, specialists in unique and vintage motors. I'll post details of the rebuild shortly. This is Alan, the owner of Shaw City Engines in Fresno, CA. Alan and his father have owned this business for ever. They only deal in unique and vintage engines. The Fuelie came out of his fathers 1963 split window when he decided to run it with a big block, The fuelie sat in their warehouse for the last 40 plus years. It was rebuilt within the last 3 months.
Although not shown in the pictures, the purchase included the original "vacuum cleaner" air cleaner. I'll post those pictures soon.
Every piece of linkage, hose, nut and bolt is included. Everything is period correct and is dated 3 months prior to our Corvettes build date which is February 1st, 1963. It's a perfect match.
A sea of vintage and unique engine blocks. There is an additional 16,000 sq. ft. warehouse filled with engines waiting to be torn down.
Need a period correct head? I am sure Alan has it. I'll post more details on the engine soon. Dennis S., I hope you approve. I think our car will enjoy this motor!

You can check out Shaw City Engines here:  http://www.shawcityengines.com/

Post Script: For additional information on the quality of this Shaw City Engines rebuild and the components that were used, please be sure to search "327" in the search block in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

10 comments:

  1. WOW! I'm sure just finding a period correct engine is like finding a unicorn... looks like you've got a beautiful unicorn with wings! :) So glad you and mom are enjoying the rebuild. It's really fun for me to "watch" what's going on!

    Love to you both!

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  2. Yea - A period correct F.I. engine and with all the period correct nuts and bolts etc. - is a rare find for sure. I for one feel, John needs to keep digging to find out if in fact his 63 was F.I. or not. Dont assume its not, until all investigations yield an answer. The car (or any car for that matter) can get new front clips (eliminates traces of what was what back in the day) very easy. Just because the car does not have a F.I. radiator air cleaner mount, or does not the F.I. holes on the fenders for the F.I. badge (to me) does not mean anything. This car is more than 40 years old. I think the only sure fire way is to start backtracking previous owners, and get documentation (email type comments from each guy)from each previous owner, one by one. As John slowly goes back in time (reverse time machine) the net result should be flushed out on this question. The other way, is to continue a campaign looking for a web site - that can actually put the VIN number and body plate numbers into some data bank, and flush out whats what that way. I am sure somewhere, a web site is around. Keep looking John. Maybe by the time you finish this build in two years, you will get the answer. It may take that long to get to the bottom of the F.I. question. But, just think of what the value will be if you find it was a F.I. - heater delete car? My guess it will be worth 2X more. Its worth the work. Jim P.

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  3. Chevrolet Corvette 1960 to 1964

    1st digit - Model Year. (0) 1960, (1) 1961, (2) 1962, (3) 1963, (4) 1964.
    2nd to 5th digits - Series Code. (0837) Corvette Coupe, (0867) Corvette Convertible.
    6th digit - Assembly Plant. (S) St. Louis, MO
    7th to 12th digits - Sequential production number

    Jim

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  4. More. Quote from some blog I found: I wouldn't buy a 63 Corvette without an instrument panel brace. It's a horizontal metal bar that runs underneath the dashboard and contains the cowl tag, build data, and serial number of the car. unquote.

    Jim

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  5. Jim, the car has the brace and it is what the VIN and Trim plates are attached to. Unfortunately, neither of these tags tell us the engine type. That will have to happen through lots of research as you mention above.

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  6. Hi Becky. I am having a blast and mom is just smiling while she rolls her eyes. I think her eyes are saying something like, "Boys and their toys...". See you in a few weeks!

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  7. What a small world. I'm Pat from the East Coast and I also have an engine build by Alan from Shaw City and he gave me a super deal and great, correct 427 to drop into my '66. I'm glad I saw his photo in your blog. I've talked to him on the phone but never saw him. Nice Fuelie by the way!

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  8. Thanks Pat. I got a great deal from Alan as well (that's my opinion anyway). Real nice guy and his work is his hobby. He loves what he's doing. Thanks for posting a comment.

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  9. I'm Alan's daughter! It's nice to see his hard work and passion at play! We now have a starter website, if you don't mind my posting it in here.

    www.shawcityengines.com

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  10. Hi Amy,

    Yes, you can post your website and I will add a link as well.

    My long time followers will remember I bought the fuelie and matching air filter from Alan. You will also recall we had some issues with the build but, when all is said and done, we love the motor and it is without a doubt the showcase of our project. Of the hundreds of postings I have made, the engine is the most viewed by far. It continues to be our most popular of all time.

    I promised your father a photo when the build is done. I hope to send it to him later this year when the build reaches 4 years old.

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