VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1965-1970 1969 Impala 427 4 door

Any info on this car,a friend of mine got it from the original owner, its 100% factory. It has the 427 on the fenders, the original owner said only 500+ were made and they call it the Secret Chevy. We trying to figure out what horse power it is. I know the 390hp had hydraulic valves and came in 2 and 4 bolt mains. With out pulling the valve covers or head to see if it has solid lifters, any suggestions. If its the 390hp he is going to pull the engine, trans and rear end and junk the car.

I could tell you about the car but it is a secret.......sounds like the owner is full of it.

What's the engine pad numbers? That will tell you what HP it is and if orig to the car.
I read several times that 69 Caprice coupes and sport sedans were very rare and heard same number just over 500 produced.

There were over 166,000 1969 Caprice models produced in 1969 so they were far from rare.

Yes, sounds like the owner is full of it ..... and we're not referring to "secrets".

A 1969 427 engine will have one of the following engine code numbers stamped into the block.
LB, LE, LK, LJ, LY, MA - LA, LC, LG,LF,LZ, MB, LH, MC, LD, LS,MD, ME, MG,
The stamped number will ID which 427.

How many of those were 427's? You are saying a four door with a 427 was common?.....................................

After pondering this over I am not exactly sure what the question is regarding the 500 secret cars.
The 427 was probably was installed in more Caprice models because it was the top of the line model. Would be they were all the lesser 335 HP engines.
The higer performance 390 and 425 HP engines were probably installed cars bought for fun driving or racing and were a cheap 2 door or Impala coupe.
So the "original owner" is stating that there were 500 high performance engines installed in Caprice 4 door hard tops. That would sound fishy to me.
So if the stamped block number is posted I could answer the question as to whch 427 engine it is.
Years ago a neighbor had a Impala 427 4 door which he used for pulling an Air Stream trailer.

So you think it is common then? There were about 25,000 427 made total in 69

There is no question about this 1969 Impala having a 427 from the factory I need to know what block numbers will tell me if its the 425hp

That is wy you will have to get the engine id NUMBER stamped ON THE BLOCK.

another way to differentiate a 425 hp 427 from its less HP brothers is to check the side of the block above where the oil filter is situated. the 425 hp had a pipe plug threaded into the side of the block in the close proximity of where the oil pressure line(corvettes) or oil pressure sending unit(i assume fill size chevys used a sender) resides. mike

Lol.....I know 69 Caprice's are not rare Gene.I wasn't clear in my response.
I meant to include 69 Caprice's with either the 390 or 425 hp engines are rare.

I've never seen a 69 Caprice Sport Sedan with an orig/matching L72 sitting btw it's fenders.I've seen a few 390 hp in them.And in a few kingswood wagons.

Jerry grab those numbers!