1963 Chev Z11 NASCAR effort?

[BlueOval Ralph]

63 Cheby ran the Canted valve engine,Starting at Daytona in Feb of 1963, Ford raised so much hell over it GM was forced to sell one of the engines to them, It was around Ford Enginerring for a long time, Ford also bought one of the Z-11 cars as I recall it was a Maroon color, it was supposed to be scrap in late 63 but rumors say it was driven out the gate at the test track in Dearborn. In those days the way cars were scraped is the Chrusher lot was behind the Dearborn Inn at the Enginerring Center. The way they were accounted for is there was a brass tag with a number of the vehicle like 306-T-225 on the tag held on with a sheet metal screw. When scrapped the tag was removed and taken to a bean counter and he took vehicle off the books only problem was nobody ever checked to make sure the vehicle went into the Chrusher lot!

Originally Posted by ss wannabee

Recently seen on one of the 409 sites....a 1x4 intake manifold for a Z11? Reportedly only 4 of these were cast...and somebody HAS them ALL? Seems to make some sense...NASCAR rules dictated single-carb engines ONLY...Piece in the photo looks like Z11.....

Thought that the Z11 program was drag-racing ONLY with the familiar 2x4 induction? Did Chevrolet test the engine for "roundy-round" usage (with 1-4bbl) only to move on to the fabled "Mystery Engine" ? Perhaps the Z11 results were lack-luster on the long track?

Also, would NASCAR allow the lightweight body parts? I think they might've be "trouble" anyway at lap speeds of 170-180 mph...which was competitve for that time...

Maybe that 1x4 intake was made for a certain drag class? Anyone out there got info?

[Hemi Moose]

Like this...hard to tell if it's a 1x4bbl carb or 2x4bbl carb set-up.

[BlueOval Ralph]

In the back of my mind I can't help thinking the Cleveland design heads came from the Cheby Mystery Motor that Ford bought from NASCAR in 1963! But no one at Engine Enginerring would ever own up to this!

Originally Posted by BlueOval Ralph

63 Cheby ran the Canted valve engine,Starting at Daytona in Feb of 1963, Ford raised so much hell over it GM was forced to sell one of the engines to them, It was around Ford Enginerring for a long time, Ford also bought one of the Z-11 cars as I recall it was a Maroon color, it was supposed to be scrap in late 63 but rumors say it was driven out the gate at the test track in Dearborn. In those days the way cars were scraped is the Chrusher lot was behind the Dearborn Inn at the Enginerring Center. The way they were accounted for is there was a brass tag with a number of the vehicle like 306-T-225 on the tag held on with a sheet metal screw. When scrapped the tag was removed and taken to a bean counter and he took vehicle off the books only problem was nobody ever checked to make sure the vehicle went into the Chrusher lot!

[Alex Denysenko]

And here it is