15
Jim Butcher astonished the drag
racing world with his Chevy-
powered dragster that took the NHRA
Top Fuel e.t. national record. Most Top
Fuel fans didn’t even know what a ZL1
was. Butcher should have been called
“the Elephant Hunter.”
18
The original-style four-bolt main
bearing caps look puny compared
to six-bolt caps on modern LS-Series
engines. The McLaren Can-Am cars
never had problems with their bottom
ends. The engines were very durable.
PHOTO: CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE PARTS
20
The 427 Anniversary Edition
engine is currently on loan and
resides at Bill Tower’s private museum in
Plant City, Florida. The engine on the left
is the Can-Am 427 engine from Jim Hall’s
Chaparral 2J, the “Sucker” car. The engine
in the middle is the Can-Am aluminum
big block from Jim Hall’s 2F. The headers
are not from the 2F.
21
Steve Hurley, owner of Sting-
ray Chevrolet in Plant City, Flor-
ida, owns 427 Anniversary Edition #427
of 427. The final version of the ZL1 has
unique cast-aluminum valve covers. The
original ZL1s had production chromed
stamped steel valve covers. The air filter
bonnet and filter is the same as the 1969
L88/ZL1 units.22
Someday, 427 Anniversary Edition
#427 of 427 will probably be worth
as much or more than #1 of 427.16
Money spent developing the alu-
minum Can-Am block and the
ZL1 was well spent considering the tre-
mendous business generated by Chev-
rolet Performance Parts’ long-running
series of new big-block Chevrolet crate
engines. The 427 Anniversary Edition is
designed for street machines running on
92-octane pump gas.
PHOTO: CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE PARTS19
Note the size of the exhaust ports on the 427 Anniversary Edition on the left
compared to the exhaust ports on the Can-Am engine that was in the Chaparral
2J (the “Sucker” car). The racing versions of the all-aluminum big-blocks had as much
as 12.5:1 compression that necessitated very large exhaust ports. It’s also why they
were so loud.17
The 427 Anniversary Edition
used original tooling. While the
cam and hydraulic lifters make the
engine streetable, the structure is the
same as what Greenwood used for his
800-horsepower engines.
PHOTO: CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE PARTS36 VETTE 19.09
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