DZ 302 value??

[Dinosport]

So Im looking at a chevelle Im interested in, The owner thinks it has a 302 from a camaro in it. Im gonna look it in a couple of days. If it is a DZ302 how can I tell? Numbers? what should they be and if it is a DZ302 what is it worth. Right now it doesnt look like Im going to buy it because he wont budge on the price but if I know I can get a decent pay day on that motor I might meet his price and pull it and sell it.
Lmk if you guys know anything about how I can tell what it is and what it might be worth. the motor starts and runs btw but I havent driven it.
Thanks

 

[Ribbedroof]

DZ is a 69, there are other codes for prior years...MO is one of them (68 I believe).

You would need to do a lot of research, there have been a lot of restamps. Casting numbers and dates are pretty well known for each year .

 

[bracketchev1221]

That’s a hard one to prove. A dz 302 could be the entire engine if your lucky, or be nothing more than the block which is the same as a 350 4 bolt 69 block with the number stamped on it. If you don’t really want the car for the price it’s a risk banking on the engine having a real value. You would have to check the heads and make sure the date code would even be possible for a 69 engine and be close to the block date etc.

 

[pagrunt]

The block of a '69 DZ 302 is cast #3932386 (4 bolt mains.) Heads are cast #397186 with "camel humps" & accessory holes, 2.02/1.60 valves, factory screw in rocker studs. The balancer is p/n 3947708, 8" with 2 deg before keyway. Aluminum high rise intake single 4bbl cast #3932472. A real/complete 302's do not like automatics due to the cam. The wow factor is the dual quad intake cast #3941126 (bottom half) & 3941130 (top half.) The carb(s) will be Holley double pumper.

 

[Ribbedroof]

I thought all small blocks were out of corvettes?

On a serious note, I'm with bracketchev on this one. Unless you KNOW for a fact that the numbers are correct and authentic, paying too much for the car in hopes or recouping a significant part of that by the sale of the "302" is risky. Might take a long time to find "that guy" that is looking for that engine, especially if you're trying to get top dollar for it.

Word to the wise, deck stamps can be and are faked pretty regularly, especially for big ticket items. There have even been cases of casting number digits being ground off and reconstructed with epoxy. The learning curve on this stuff can be pretty steep, and there are lots of sharks in the water. If you're not familiar with this kind of stuff, you will defininetley want to obtain the assistance of someone that is.

Best of luck with whatever you decide

 

[WanaBa442]

If it'll shift at 8,000 rpm and sound like it wants more, the price is irrelevant.
Back in '82(ish) I rode in a real one. Never saw a tach wind up so fast in my life.
And the sound, solid lifters, Muncie 4 speed just singin', slipstream by the window trying to suck your eyeballs out.....
I still get chills just remembering that night...

 

[UNGN]

Correctly restored '69 Z28's are worth about $50K max with "correct" but not matching motor. They likely are not worth much more, since there are loads for sale in the $60's

Restoring a '69 Camaro to factory correct costs at least $40K and that doesn't include the hundreds of hours of labor. Not much room for a ton of money, especially if it needs to be rebuilt/isn't complete/has non correct heads/manifolds. Maybe its worth $2,500/$3,000 to the right guy?

Back in the day, the stock 302's (Like Boss 302s) really were not that fast. Mark Donohue's Penske Trans Am cars were about as close to the street cars as Petty's '73 Charger was. And we all know how fast '73 Chargers were. Not fast.

 

[ck80]

However, be aware that 3932368 block can also be a 2 bolt main 327. (I've owned a couple, including one swapped into my 79 silverado - came from a 4dr with a powerglide.)

The it's hard to tell if it's a TRUE 302 because of the number of guys who deck the head surface and use a punch to put new numbers.

Someone buying the motor as a true 302 should check to see if there are signs of the original stamping on the front pad by the cylinder head.

 

[Mike T]

The engine size was a result of the SCCA's 305 cubic inch displacement limit in the Trans-Am series at the time. The engine had to be a max of 5.0 litres. That's 305.119 ci, so a 283 wasn't big enough, a 327 was too big and a 307 was both too big and too wimpy. So out came the 302 SBC.

A lot of what you read about this motor is hype. It was a top end only engine with very little torque and no hp until you get well over 4000 rpm. While it was very successfully raced for a few years, the very specific formula of special transmission gears, high rear ratio, light car, manual transmission and most importantly the need for a 5 liter engine were what made the motor such a legend. There really is no substitute for cubic inches and while Chevy did make and race the 302, they did it to meet the SCCA's technical specifications of the time. It should also be noted that it was during the time this motor was popular that the big blocks and hypo 350's were being developed.

That being said, this link has some info on the engine. http://holisticpage.com/camaro/camaros/302.htm

 

[64nailhead]

So Im looking at a chevelle Im interested in, The owner thinks it has a 302 from a camaro in it. Im gonna look it in a couple of days. If it is a DZ302 how can I tell? Numbers? what should they be and if it is a DZ302 what is it worth. Right now it doesnt look like Im going to buy it because he wont budge on the price but if I know I can get a decent pay day on that motor I might meet his price and pull it and sell it.
Lmk if you guys know anything about how I can tell what it is and what it might be worth. the motor starts and runs btw but I havent driven it.
Thanks

How to tell : tear it down and look for correct crank and cam numbers. What's it worth : less than a large journal 4 bolt main 327, which isn't much UNLESS it's in a numbers matching car.

A couple of things to keep in mind if you believe this is an original - if there are any miles on it, then the cam has been changed due to the old school solid would not survive street use with the oils and fuels of the post 1970 era. The valve springs would be shot by know due to memory and valve float would be experienced long before max performance would be seen.

pagrunt has hit on the visual external identifiers.

=====

Now for the fun factor, it was one of the only GM motors designed to spin to the moon which is rather exhilarating to drive. I had a long rod 327 setup to run 7500. It would run 7000 consistently before the hydraulic lifters lost control, but it would rev from 4000-7000 in what seemed like a blink of an eye. Made gobs of torque and less HP than a mildly built 383, but fun to drive for the sound and feel.