Thanks for a glimpse of Chevrolet history Jim. Great thread, great explanation and great acquisition. 

Johnnee D wrote:

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wow! a Mystery Motor...how cool is that... congrats

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Sorry Johnneee, this isn't a Mystery engine. 

The Mystery engines were the predecessor to the MK IV 396-402-427-454 that were also known as Rat, Porcupine, Turbo Jet, Astro Jet. etc.

Thanks

Randy

Yeah, the Z11 and the Mystery Motor are often confused.
They were both 427 ci and they both came out about the same time.
They also made very few of each engine and GM dropped both engines when they dropped out of racing.

The Z11 was based on the 348/409 while the Mystery Motor was very similar to the Big Block Chevy that came out in 65.

The engines had a couple of similarities, the crank and the bore spacing, but that's about all they had in common. (the regular big block 427 used a longer stroke and a smaller bore)
I think both the Z11 and Mystery Motor crankshafts used 409 sized mains and a smallblock sized snout.

The Z11 was the last version of the older W motor and the Mystery Motor was the first version of what later became the Big Block.
Apparently, they made a lot of small changes before they put out the regular big block because I've read that there are very few parts that will actually interchange between a BBC and a Mystery Motor.

The Z11 engines are rare but I think the Mystery Motors are super rare.

http://hotrodenginetech.com/chevrolet-427-mystery-motor/

-- Edited by jim_ss409 on Saturday 10th of January 2015 05:32:07 PM

EXTREMELY Cool.

I did a bit of reading on the subject of raising stamped numbers. It seems there are a few different methods that might work.
I'm really not all that concerned about it but it would be neat to know if it was an original block.
I can see that it has been decked because the machining grooves are fine and there's no sign of the factory broach style finish that you usually see on an block that hasn't been decked. The deck has a slightly pebbly finish. I think it may have been put into one of those shot peening cabinets for cleaning. This would have been after the block was decked.
If it has been shot peened, the peening process may have made any possible stampings even harder to get a read on.
I'd have to read up on it more but I gather that the first thing you have to do for any of the processes is to gently sand the area down to a smooth finish, while taking care not to heat the area or sand away any more than is absolutely necessary.
For now, I'm not going to do anything.

We heard about the engine through our engine guy in Windsor Ont.
An engine builder in Detroit had it. He had rebuilt the shortblock and heads about ten years ago but never rounded up the rest of the parts to put the engine together.
Our engine guy was talking to the guy from Detroit and the guy said he was winding down is engine building business and had a Z11 engine he was going to sell.
Our guy told him we might be interested and let us know about it.
Often when dealing with 409's the rumored high performance 409 or Z11 engine turns out to be a 348 from a truck, but this guy knew exactly what the engine was and had all the numbers written down. We went to look at it and everything looked good, so we made a deal right there and took it home.

We're still not sure what we're going to do with this engine. A 63 Impala would be great but I've also always thought it would be neat to put a 409 in a 63 to 65 Corvette. Well scratch that idea because I can't afford a 63 to 65 Corvette. LOL But if I could, I'd love to install the engine in a way that made it look like it a factory installation.

I've even given a little thought to installing the engine into a 64 or 65 Chevelle,,, again making the engine compartment, and the whole car look factory stock.
This is the kind of look I was thinking about, except with a Z11 engine instead of a 396.

Dick Harrell put a Z11 in a Chevelle back in the day.

In 1964 a lot of racers went over to Ford and Mopar etc. but Dick stayed with his Chevrolets. Apparently he did a lot of match races with the Ford Thunderbolts with that Chevelle.

Here's a link to an article on factory lightweight cars that shows Dick's Chevelle racing Butch Leal's Thunderbolt.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=fpVWIJILy14C&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=dick+harrell+1964+chevelle+thunderbolt&source=bl&ots=n-nTYa_lIm&sig=vHCvt8adMe0remdlipMJham-aMw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3Lm1VJ-_N9W2yAS_14KYCg&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=dick%20harrell%201964%20chevelle%20thunderbolt&f=false

Fascinating stuff to say the lease. Thank you Jim for sharing the Z11 information but i have to share Raj's opinion on where that special motor should go. It would be extra special to see it in a 1963 Chev full size of any model.

Gee Raj you sure know the history of these cars. (Raj often does informative posts on the 348/409 site regarding these cars)

Here's a picture of the Z11 powered Allen Green Chevy II fastback. Apparently the photo was taken at Pacific Raceways in Seattle.

And here's Houston Platt's car...

I think this is Malcolm Durham's Z11 Chevelle. (he had a blue one too but I think it had a BBC)

And here's Dick Harrell's Chevelle. I think he also had a Z11 powered Chevy II

This is some Z11 related stuff I copied from an article about Dick Harrell. It mentions him match racing Richard Petty. I think Richard Petty was having a dispute with Nascar and switched over to drag racing for one season. He had a Hemi powered Barracuda I once saw a video clip of the Harrell/ Petty match race but I can't find it now.

In 1963, Dick was driving a 409-Zll (427) Super Stock Chevrolet against some of the stiffest competition ever assembled, as drivers came in from every corner of the United States to compete for Super Stock Eliminator at the AHRA Winter Nationals. At this event, Dick used his tuning abilities and driving skills to take out his competition one by one, until he was declared the winner. This immediately cast the country boy from Carlsbad into national fame and from here it was onward and upward for Harrell.

On May 19, 1963, the team of Dick Harrell & Charles Thurwhanger set the AHRA National speed record at San Angelo, Texas in A/SM Sportsman Class with a clocking of 118.57 mph. This would only be one of the many records he would set in both NHRA and AHRA events.

This year would see some of the exotic, factory race cars start to surface, such as the aluminum light weight Pontiacs, the Z-11 427 Chevrolets, light-weight 427 Fords, and the Max-Wedge Chryslers. From this point on, a battle would be waged at drag strips across the nation by the big 3 automobile builders.

Dick Harrell was destined to become heavily involved in all this, while competing with his favorite Chevrolet. Dick won Top Stock Eliminator at the Winter Nationals Championship with a 427 Z-11 Chevrolet.

In 1964, Ford was really bearing down on competition with the 427 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt. Since Chevrolet was at a disadvantage with only the full size car to accommodate a Z-11 427, Dick would install a 427 into the newly introduced middle sized Chevelle. Harrells engineering of this combination proved to be an obstacle for the folks at Ford. Chrysler was also starting to get serious at this point with the introduction of the 426 Hemi in the light weight Savoy.

In 1965, the war was really starting to heat up among the big three. Dick Harrell was right in the thick of all this with different Chevrolets, battling the best Ford & Chrysler had to offer. Chevrolet had withdrawn all factory backing at this point and with it took all its speed parts and high performance engines. Racers with Chevrolets, abandoned ship across the nation and soon the only major driver left with a Chevrolet, was Dick Harrell. His complete faith in Chevrolet kept him from giving in. His Z11 64 Nova proved to be too much even for the great Richard Petty who was now running the 43Jr. Plymouth on drag circuits.

Great info and pictures Raj.

Right at this moment we've got a 409 passenger car block in at the machine shop.
The block is half filled with Hardblock and it's getting four bolt mains. It'll be a 481 ci stroker.
Anyway, I'm really tempted to use the Z11 heads on that engine and aim for about 750 to 800 hp.
I'd love to show off the potential of the old Z11 setup,,, but I also don't want to be the guy that dropped a valve at 8,000 rpm and ruined a Z11 head.
So, I might still use the heads on that engine, but I'd stay with a conservative cam to keep the rpm and the horsepower down.

In the end, we'll likely use the engine in a 63 Impala and build it as a reasonably hot street/strip car.
I think we'll go for the Z11 clone look.
We've also got a 62 Bubbletop sitting here that could work. It left the factory as a black car with a red interior.

The cars in this link belong to Pat Lobb from Texas. He had them at the 348/409 Convention last fall.

The black car in the foreground has a Z11 and factory aluminum fenders. That's the look we'd be going for.

EDIT: sorry, the link takes you to the top of the page. You have to scroll down to the first of the gallery pictures.

http://www.superchevy.com/events/1502-348-409-national-convention-part-1-a-celebration-of-w-motor-power/

Here's a link to a video of that car running. It sounds "Real fine"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ8lnoqhdUY