Hi everyone,
Recently, I posted a topic here about the special Turbo400
transmissions used in the 396/375hp cars, COPO and other
super cars, etc.. These were CX coded. Over the weekend,
my 6 year quest for one of these babies ended successfully.
My original CX went bye-bye a long time ago (before I owned
the car). I had been looking for another one it seems forever.
A few weeks ago, there was an eBay auction for a complete,
untouched L/78 engine out of a 69 Nova. The seller also
mentioned it came with an M40 transmission. Seems it was
removed in 1974 due to the gas crisis - remember that?
So, I contacted the seller to get all the particulars. You
know, casting numbers, dates, and the code on the THM400.
To my shock, I was told that the code was a CX. When I
came to ( passed-out ), I knew what I had to do. Much to
my dismay, the seller would not break the THM400 away from
the L/78 auction.
Also, after he found all of the casting number & date codes,
he did not update his auction. The auction did not meet
the reserve price set, so it ended. I contacted the seller,
and ended up buying it all. Mostly, because he still would
not split up the items.
So, I have a complete "JL" coded L/78 engine and the CX
coded THM400. All I wanted was the CX, so the L/78 will go
up for auction. The main reason for this post is that I
found a slight date issue that I would like to resolve.
This engine has a assembly code of T02??JL. The ?? denote
two numbers that cannot be read. I have looked very close.
The heads are late January dates, the exhaust manifolds are
mid February dates, the intake is an early January date and
the distributor is a late December (68) date. Also, the
water pump is an early January date as well. The odd thing
is that the 3955272 block is an H-13-8 date. Almost six
months before the assembly date of the engine.
What do you guys think about that? I have every confidence
that this engine is the "real deal". Any thoughts? Images
below:
Steve
