For enthusiasts chasing period-correct performance, few names carry as much weight as Chevrolet’s L78 396. This example, currently listed on eBay, is described as one of a limited group of crate engines offered by General Motors in 1965, making it an interesting piece of big-block history on its own.
According to the seller, this 396 cubic-inch V8 carries engine stamping T0722IE and is part of a claimed run of 200 L78 crate engines made available through Chevrolet dealerships. Rather than being installed at the factory in a production car, these engines were reportedly sold over the counter, giving buyers a way to add serious performance to whatever platform they chose.
This particular engine is said to have been originally purchased from Guaranty Chevrolet in Santa Ana, California. At some point in its life, it was installed in a Ford pickup before eventually being removed and placed into storage. That kind of cross-brand use wasn’t uncommon, especially when high-performance engines like the L78 became available outside of factory installations.
The current seller acquired the engine in 2022 from the original owner’s estate. Following that, it was disassembled, rebuilt, and refinished in the familiar Chevrolet orange. While exact internal details of the rebuild aren’t outlined, the listing suggests it has been gone through and prepared for its next use.
As it sits, the engine is equipped with a Holley four-barrel double-pumper carburetor along with a chrome air cleaner. Additional components include a distributor with electronic ignition, cast-iron exhaust manifolds, and a starter motor. These details point toward a fairly complete package for someone looking to install it into a project or display it as a standalone piece.
The L78 designation is typically associated with high-performance versions of the 396, and engines like this played a role in defining the muscle car era. Even when sold as crate engines, they represented a direct link to the kind of power that enthusiasts were seeking in the mid-1960s.
Opportunities to purchase documented or claimed crate engines from this period don’t come up all that often. Whether the goal is to power a period-correct build or simply own a piece of Chevrolet performance history, this L78 396 offers a different kind of collectible compared to a complete vehicle.
For the right buyer, it’s less about what the engine is sitting in—and more about what it could become next.
More info is going to be required, to prove this is an L78. Photos of the casting number and date stamp. Also, the oil pan would need to be removed, to confirm 4 bolt mains. Also, no mention on what cam. It should have a solid cam and a Holley 4346. The seller is very vague on the motor and a lack of pics, does not instill confidence.
You are right, every part number are date code should be in the ad. I have a couple of friends that sell rare OE performance parts, one does so for a living. When they place an ad they include pictures, part numbers and dates. If you can’t or aren’t willing to verify that information the ad is generally a sales tool to get more money that the item is worth.
Steve R
Also the casting date on side of block would be helpful
Imagine how desirable this would be if it’s been in storage and never installed in that truck! With the original receipts and paperwork that it would have came with it would be a real gem
Oh to dream of the magic that might be!!! Lost in a daydream ✨️ gets me high!
$860 now, looks like it is no reserve, seller went all out with 3 photos. Sellers feedback (1).
Oh blymeee! Now THAT’S a rat!
And if it all checks out, just think of the fun you could have with this engine. Or…find another block and build yourself a pretty fair clone using all the NOS parts you can find. After that, add a really honkin’ turbo to the mix that puts out 15-20 PSI of boost.
That should give you at least 500
HP and maybe 800 foot pounds of torque. Then drop your clone
mill into a Checker Marathon and
watch the fun begin! Now imagine the look on some young
kid’s when you thoroughly wipe up the road (track) with his highly
over modified Mustang 🐎, Firebird, or Camaro and show him a faceful of tail lights as you beat
him by at least two car lengths!
Sound good to you? And if a Checker ain’t your bag 💰, then how ’bout one of those ‘glass
replicas of a ’41 Willys coupe? Not excited yet? Then find a shell
of a Chevelle and build yourself one kick-ass LS 6! But all dreamin’ aside, you’d better have a plan as to how you’re gonna tell
your wife or girlfriend that you went out and bought the biggest
Rat motor you could find BEFORE
she either kicks you to the curb or
commits you to an insane asylum. You see fellas, not all ladies are as understanding as Angel 😇 is when it comes to cars and how to build them!
Can I have a video of it running?
Are you actually able to buy it??
Yes
Yes, why?
Then message the seller directly if you’re serious. They’re not going to check BF for buyers.
It is also odd that it appears to have o2 sensors in the downpipes.
The engine is on a test stand, with rad & fan. The O2 sensors are likely connected to an AFR (Air Fuel Ratio) meter for test/tuning purposes.
No exact details of the rebuild yet the writer claims it’s a 425 HP motor 🤔
I need a new coffee table!
Seeing this on a garage floor is all wrong, shouldn’t this be pulling the front wheels off the ground in something? Perhaps predating the author by a spell, one can’t overstate the importance of this motor. This motor replaced(?) our dear old friend, the 409, and singlehandedly brought Chevy back to the dragstrip,,,and never looked back. Not near as many songs about a 396, but this meant business. While the 409 was still available in ’65, the 396 changed everything, and a salute, of sorts, is in order. She’s real fine my 396,,,,not the same,,but amen to the mighty 396!
To quote Mr. Springsteen “I gotta ’69 Chevy with a three ninety six….”
one of a “claimed” 200 L78
“said to have been”
Now $1500.00.
Not inspiring much confidence
I’d put money on GM selling well over 200 of these “back in the day”.
Wish there were more pictures/details. Whoever put it together got a lot of the details right – Winter’s “snowflake” on intake, Corvette exhaust manifolds, fuel filter etc look correct but casting numbers and date codes would be nice. This would be an excellent replacement engine for your 65 396 Corvette!
Hard to find bunch of rare parts. The story should have been left out of the description. No component description leaves this mill as a bunch of painted parts ready to rebuild. If I needed one I’d pay a couple grand for this puppy. The only way you’re gonna get 425 HP out of a 396 is with a race cam on race fuel, not too streetable.
The L-78 was completely streetable and was available from ’65 through ’70. In ’65 it was only available in the Corvette and full sized models, and was factory rated at 425 HP. In ’66, the 427 replaced it in the Corvette and the L-78 was only available in the Chevelle. (I have had people tell me that they were still available in the full size models, but I have never seen one) From ’66 on they were factory rated at 375HP, but they were identical engines. The different HP ratings were due to the ’65 motors being rated at 6500 RPM and the ’66 and later units were run at 5800 RPM. They were also made available in the Camaro beginning in ’67 and in the Nova model in late ’68. As they were solid lifter engines it was best if one was mechanically inclined, as the valves needed to be adjusted from time to time (although I had a friend with a “66 SS 396 and he would take it to a mechanic) If this is the “real “deal”, it is a great find. These things were absolute giant killers and in a Camaro they could shade a street Hemi.
more valuable if no vin on it, would need pic of side of block by oil filter, Chevy stamped some vins there also.
In 1972 I, as a 16 year old car crazy kid had a newly minted driver’s license. A local farm kid with more money than sense had a 68 Chevelle SS 396 with the L78 engine and a swapped in 350 turbohydromatic. He beat that thing mercylessly and soon rolled it hard. He found a 69 SS 396 with a 325Hp 4 speed and swapped in the L78. I bought the 325Hp engine and FRIED 350 trans for $125.00. He then blew the 375Hp. and bought a crate LS6 454 and put a 4500 series Holley on it. The road at the end of their driveway had more black tire marks showing than blacktop!
My brother talked me out of putting the 396 in my 55 Chevy and when I went away to college I had no place to put the 325Hp so I sold it to my brother in law’s Dad who put it in a Chevy grain truck. Oh, to be able to have some of those times back!
Highly questionable.
I tend to think there were a lot more than 200 65 L-78’s sold as crate engines. Chevrolet didn’t have a dedicate performance department in 65 with a catalog like they have since the 70’s, but they still sold plenty of complete crate engines through their parts departments. In 62 there was a kit available from Chevrolet and Bill Thomas (of Cheetah fame) to install V8’s in 62 Chevy II’s. The kit was available with complete crate engines including the 62 327/360 fuelie engine.
As far as whether it’s a 2 or 4 bolt main block, that might be easy to determine with a few more pictures. If it’s a 65 casting number 3855962 it should have 4 bolt mains, if it’s a 3855961 it’s a 2 bolt main block. It gets a little tough if it’s a later year casting because they often came either way, but there’s still a way to identify some 4 bolt big blocks like the 69-71 3963512 without pulling the pan. 4 bolt “512” blocks have two large threaded holes above the oil filter, 2 bolt “512”s only have one smaller hole. I believe this may true of most other 66-69 big block castings also?
yes on what you said about the holes for earlier bblks.
So, technically….it is no longer a crate engine: having been installed, run, torn down and rebuilt.
I just want to follow the discussion.
A one year only Corvette engine and 65s with a legit 396 struggle to sell for 100K, yet a 220 hp 79 Trans Am sold yesterday for $265,000. I am stumned why rich people spend money foolishly.
I agree completely, particularly about the Trans Ams. I can not imagine a world where those things are worth that kind money, yet they sure seem to sell at nutty numbers. Absolutely baffles me.
I am not rich, but if I were and I bought something I liked, I am a fool? I thought you were a car guy, but obviously not. Being a fool, has given me great pleasure MANY times in 70 years.
454rat: not wanting to overpay for a car doesn’t disqualify one from being a car guy. I know several guys who have overpaid due to being hasty in buying & all have regretted rushing because they later saw (less than a year) a lower priced car which was actually a better car or they liked it better than what they got. When folks overpay, other sellers see this and raise prices which hurts the many guys who can’t get that extra money up to get the model they want.
Trust me, I am probably more of a “car guy” than most people you know. At 17, I had a C/MP Nova that I built myself and was a record holder at our local track. I bought my first Corvette in 1969 and included the one I currently have, I have owned 12 of them. I have built and campaigned 4 other 1/4 mile cars as well as 2 sand drag rigs.
I know a little bit about cars and as I said, what people are paying for Trans Ams baffles me, but since you are apparently more of a “car guy” than me feel free to drop nearly a quarter million dollars on a Trans Am. While there is no universe where I would do that, it’s your money and if that’s how you elect to spend it, go for it.
Love to have this motor, need every casting number, date code, suffix number, pictures of oil boss,at oil filter, should be taped for oil cooler, before I would even consider bidding on this.
Had a 69 SS L78 Chevelle when I graduated high school. Chambered pipe exhaust which I never saw on another Chevelle. Not proud of it but I took them off and replaced them because they were hard to keep from leaking and popping apart. Even worse, I took that motor out and replaced it with a built 350. A friend offered to buy it, when we pulled the oil pan off the block was cracked between the bolts on one of the main caps. Too many missed shifts with that Muncie Mystery shifter I guess! Why Chevy didn’t put Hursts in instead I’ll never understand. In any case, like many of us…had I but known! And the sticker on my Chrome air cleaner said 375 HP, although I heard several times that if you dyno’d one they’d go well above 400.
As I read the auction description I thought, that sounds just like the people that write the text on BaT auctions. So I went to BaT and searched, and there it is, sold in Feb. 2023:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/chevrolet-396-v8-engine/
This guy just copied a few of the pics, and PART of the text of the BaT auction, and even ended what he copied right in the middle of a sentence!!
Major red flag!!
Plus he already sold this engine once on eBay !!!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/406804355783
Certainly seems to be something a miss.
Thank you for the heads up and information.
Steve R