1971 Chevelle Flint & Tonawanda Date/Suffix Stamps

 

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

 

The L34 engine was dropped from the Chevrolet lineup of engines and in its place, the LS3 was used for all non-454 Mark IV engine sales. Figures are for Chevelle ("A" body), Full Size Passenger ("B" body) Camaro ("F" body), Nova ("X" body), and Monte Carlo ("G" body) platforms and are broken down as such.

 

The LS3 is a 402 cid Mark IV engine listed as a Turbo-Jet 400 and was available on all factory V8 wagons, the standard Chevelle series sport coupe and pickup, all Malibu series body styles including the Custom El Camino. The LS3 was identified with '400' emblems on the front fenders the same as the '350' and '307' emblems. When an LS3 equipped SS-optioned Chevelle was sold, only the SS emblem was used on the front fender behind the tires and no engine size was designated. This is also true of the two 350 engined SS Chevelles and only the 454 engine received any engine size designations. See the how to identify a 1971 Chevelle SS page.

 

LS3 figures: The LS3 is one of 4 available engines with the RPO Z15 SS Equipment option. Chevelle and Monte Carlo figures for this engine are broken out in the table below. Therefore the LS3 figures for Chevelles and Monte Carlos include all sales of the LS3, not just in combination with the SS Equipment option.

LS5 figures: The LS5 engine required the SS Equipment option, the two 350 cid and 402 cid engines could be ordered without the SS Equipment option. A total of 19,293 Z15 optioned Chevelles were sold.

 

RPO	hp	Transmission	Suffix	Production	Notes
LS3/MC1	300	Heavy Duty 3-speed manual	CLS	550	"A" body
				550	Total LS3/MC1 Engines
				548	Total LS3/MC1 Chevelles
99.6% of total LS3/MC1 engine/transmission production went into cars. The MC1 H.D. 3-Speed transmission was only available in the Chevelle.				002	Service Engines
LS3	300	Manual	CLA	02,935	"A" & "F" body
LS3/M40	300	TH-400	CLB	80,697	"A," "B," & "F" body
				83,632	Total LS3 Engines except MC1
Total LS3 Car Production except MC1 Transmission
Chevelle ("A") and Monte Carlo ("G")			17,656	00,550	LS3/MC1
Full Size Passenger ("B")			64,182	02,935	LS3
Camaro ("F")			01,533	80,697	LS3/M40
Total LS3 Cars except MC1			83,371	84,182	Total LS3 Engines
				83,371	Total LS3 Vehicles except MC1
99% of LS3 engine production went into vehicles.				00,811	Service Engines
LS5	365	Manual (M22)	CPA	3,148	Total LS5 Engines/Manual (M22)
				3,035	Total LS5 Vehicles/Manual (M22)
96.4% of LS5 manual engines went into production vehicles.				0,113	Service Engines
LS5/M40	365	TH-400	CPD	12,234	"A" & "B" body
				12,234	Total LS5/M40 Engines
Information does not clearly break down LS5 production with M40 TH-400 automatic transmission and combines both Chevelle ("A") and Full Size Passenger ("B") figures plus the M40 was available with both the LS3 and LS5 engines in the Chevelle.
LS6	425	Manual	CLA	04	"A"
LS6/M40	425	TH-400	CLB	10	"A"
				14	Total LS6 Engines
				00	Total LS6 Chevelles
				14	Service Engines
These engines were used by GM engineering and public relations. No LS6 Chevelles were released as a regular production option.

 

Unknown

 

CLB ~ LS3 with TH400 transmission.

 

Arlington, Texas

 

 

Baltimore, Maryland

 

CPA ~ LS5 with manual transmission.

 

Note the unusual "9" in the partial VIN. This is a 307 engine for a Powerglide so it's unlikely someone would restamp this engine.

 

Kansas City, Missouri

 

Cannot make out the engine date of the 1971 Monte Carlo LS5 but partial VIN is clearly visible. Note that like 1970 Kansas City tended to stamp the partial VIN 'upside down.'

 

Los Angeles (Van Nuys), California

 

CPA ~ LS5 with M22.

 

CPD ~ LS5 with TH400.

 

Engine Photos

 

LS3

 

LS5 in a Malibu SS454. Again note the 1971 SS option did not include chrome rocker covers.

 

LS5 in a Monte Carlo SS454. Note the air cleaner assembly lid is not chrome plated.

 

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