I bought this off craigslist today for $350. Came out of a matching number 69' RS Camaro convertible. Showed 93k on the odometer. He originally thought it was a 327 but after running the numbers, it came back as a 307. Either way, it will be nice in my 29' Chevy roadster. I was planning on running a 283/T5 but the 307/4spd Saginaw will have to do. UPDATE 3/26: bought some stuff for the motor. Picked up a Competition Plus Hurst shifter, new GM resto Corvette valve covers, new Edelbrock 3x2 intake, scrounged up some side inlet small base 2GC Rochester carbs and fabricated my own progressive linkage.
Nice score.. IMHO those little 307's are waay under rated. 327 crank in a 283 block if I remember right.. Had one in an OT car for years and loved it.
Absolutely correct... The stock heads and cam sucks but with a little tweaking, you can make them respectable for a street car. Plus, they're cheap!
Second that last post. There used to be a 69 Chevelle here in town with a 307, preformer cam and lifters, Preformer intake and 600 Edelbrock carb. I think it had headers too. Used to beat by 3 cars in my 64 VW Bug that had a 1776 and dual webers.
Nice score. If the motor turns freely and has good compression, I say run it. You can always drop in a tree fiddy if the 307 takes a dump.
307 fans http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=706094 My belly button http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=712197&highlight=check+out+my+belly+button Nice score
if it was an completely original original RS camaro there is no way that is a 307 they didnt put 4 speeds behind 307s either more then likly its a 350 could be a 327 but by 69 the 327s were on thier way out being replaced by the 350
post the number behind the drivers head on the block hard to tell from your pic but it looks like it ends in 372
My wonderment exactly. You don't pull a numbers matching engine and trans out of a car like that unless they are both broken so bad you can't fix them. Stock 307's aren't much but put some decent heads, a good cam and intake and carb on one and it will do pretty well,
I built a 307 Chevy with one of my former students when I taught automotive: 69 standard bore 307 with flat top pistons, Duntov 30 30 solid cam- .485" lift and around 244ish @.050 duration-its a factory 302 Chevy cam, 64 283 Power Pack heads with stock 1.72 Intake, and 1.50 Exhaust valves and crappy porting job, single plane manifold-I think it was a Torker or Street Dominator, 650 Holley Double Pumper, Pinned Ignition Timing at around 38 degrees-running a Pertronix ignitor. Cheap Blackjack headers and a saginaw 4 speed. It was in a 72 Chevy 1/2 ton. It HAULED ASS for what it was. It revved really well and sounded wicked. Try this engine combo-it works.
I pulled a matching number 307 and glide out of my 69 camaro in 1992, its still running in a local elcamino. Glad I did, it was a slug in stock form. OP a small hyd , cam and any better heads will wake it up, 305 1.94 heads would be a good fit
I read it as the owner "Had" or thought he had a numbers matching car until the 307 discovery. Oops, now its numbers don't match.
I had three vehicles with 307s back in the early 70's. They were dependable as death and taxes, but real slugs. I rather spend my money on a 327,283, or a 350.
307's can be made to run decent, no complaints about the one in my '38 Ford pickup. The Saginaw 4 speed is not a high performance transmission, but it can handle a fairly healthy small block if you don't thrash it around excessively. A lot of people used to put the Saginaw 4 speeds out of Vegas in Chevy pickups because they had a fairly low first gear ratio, given that the Vega 4 cylinder needed all the help it could get to get underway. The other good thing about the Saginaws from a Vega, you know the engine in front of it didn't have enough power to hurt the transmission behind it.
Thanks guys. He is making a big block pacecar clone out of it. He was going in the fact that it was an early build date car and the 307 wasn't introduced I in the Camaro until mid year... I ran all of the casting numbers like I said and the engine suffix code DE comes back as a 68' 307/4spd for an A, F , X bodies ( Chevelle, Camaro, Nova). I posted some more pics of the casting numbers so you can check including the trans...
A '69 RS with a 307? Sounds less than impressive. I can see why the seller doesn't care to keep it #'s matching. Could be a nice setup for a traditional hot rod though with the right trimmings.
Wasn't that 307 the fastest production car motor built until the ZR2 vette came out? or was that a 302?
Hey 57ford/60thunderbird, You stated they didnt put 4 speeds behind 307's,I had a 70 Chevelle conv.way back with a factory 307/4 speed .Car ran well but by no means fast,in stock form.
I am not an expert either on these engines, but if I am not mistaken [ and most of the time I am] , I do believe that the 307 shares the same crankshaft as a large journal 327- 68-69 model years. Also the RS option on first gen Camaros was a trim option only.
<TABLE border=1 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>DE </TD><TD>1968</TD><TD>307 </TD><TD>man trans., 4 spd </TD><TD>-</TD><TD>200 </TD><TD>2 </TD><TD>A F X</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Your decoding is correct.. but this is no RS camaro combo
Ok, why? I happen to be the 2nd owner of a 69' RS coupe with a 307, numbers matching car with factory a/c. As stated, RS option was an upgraded trim package to the base Camaro. I also have a 69' Firebird 400 coupe, T400 trans, 3.23 posi, disc brakes, hood tach, factory a/c and FACTORY BENCH SEAT, COLUMN SHIFT! I have the build sheet and PHS documentation on that. My 73' Nova SS is another rare one. SS car, bench seat, column shift with the factory Skytop sunroof. I've owned the Nova and Camaro since 1982 & the Firebird since 86'. Back to the reason for the post... Yes, this will make a good running, economical motor for my Chevy roadster. Swap the heads, cam. Nice intake, rams horn manifolds and it will look the part too, on the cheap. The Saginaw will do fine in it too. Better than a T350
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