307 Olds engine in my '69 Avanti II?

[tsheard]

A local mechanic told me the engine in my '69 Avanti II is a 307 Olds variety, not a 327 Chevy Corvette engine. He pointed out the long spout at the front of the engine for adding oil, saying that is characteristic of the Old engine. Does anyone know if Old engines were used in that period as original equipment? How can I tell if the engine is not the original? I do not have paperwork from the original purchase.

thanks,

Tim Sheard, Brooklyn

[SBCA96]

A local mechanic told me the engine in my '69 Avanti II is a 307 Olds variety, not a 327 Chevy Corvette engine. He pointed out the long spout at the front of the engine for adding oil, saying that is characteristic of the Old engine.

Thats a new one on me. I thought that the Olds engine was more like the Pontiac,

and not a "small block". I know that Avanti ONLY used Chevy engines. That oil

fill seems to be factory for Corvettes too. You might need to find a new mechanic!

Also, I think that Avanti engines were purchased from the previous year, here is a

1968 Corvette engine for comparison.

Tom

Edited May 29, 2006 by SBCA96

[Gunslinger]

Small block Chevys used that oil fill pipe until the late '60s or very early '70s. More than one auto maker used a similar oil fill pipe over the years, but it seems to me that if the "mechanic" can't tell a small block Chevy from another make, maybe you shouldn't be taking your car to him. Someone insisting Avanti's were made in Canada can be forgiven as it's a common myth, but not knowing a small-block Chevy from another make is something different. Something like 100 million have been made so it's something that anyone with any amount of experience should know.

[Thomas]

Just FYI: the Olds engines into an Avanti frame require the front frame crossmember to be sectioned and the steering bellcrank lowered by 1". That is a lot of work, and only worthwhile if you are dropping an Olds 455 into your Avanti II.

There is no way I could believe that someone would have gone through all that effort for a smog era Olds 307 - that would be such a step backwards in performance!

As noted, Chevy small blocks used an oil fill pipe on the front of the intake on '60's era cars. I might have expected your '69 to not have the the fill pipe on the intake, but I'm not sure of the Avanti II engine spec for '69.

Fire your mechanic.

Thomas

[lschuc]

Tim, would you post a picture here of the engine in your Avanti?? You sent me exterior images for the magazine articles we did from your book tour, but I never saw the engine compartment. I almost bought a '69 Avanti back in the 1980s, but another one of our members here bought it instead. So I remember what the engine looked like.

Lew