Chevy powered AVANTI question

I once had a '66, which did not come with Corvette aluminum valve covers, but neither did the base engine on the Corvette... I think only the solid lifter Corvette (327, 350 ci) engines came with aluminum valve covers; Avanti II used the base Corvette hydraulic lifter engine.

Avanti II then switched to 400ci engines for the early 70's, and then to Camaro 305 ci engines at some point around 1980, I think.

I had a '71 that had Corvette aluminum valve covers, but I'm not sure if it came from the factory with them; they were the ones on this vendor page:

PS: here are the valve covers that came stock on the early (pre 1970) Avanti II, except with an Avanti II decal on the flat rectangle on top:

WayneC wrote:

You mean the 710 cap, right? Jeff

"Mertz Rac> Did the Avantis with Small block Chevy power come with finned aluminum

Both the '70 and '71 Avanti II's I had here had the finned aluminum "Corvette" valve covers.

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

My 67 with a 327 does not have finned covers

My 79 had finned (as I think all post 400 ci 78.79,80 up to 305 engines).

twist-on oil filler on drivers side....vendors have a stick on plastic Avanti emblem that covers the corresponding blank on the passenger side.

should have added that the post 400 ci 'vantis of 78-79-80 (81?) had 350 "Vette" engines.....but in those years base Vette, Impala, Z-car etc engines were about the same except for induction & exhaust systems & timing.

Brian, I doubt that your '67 came from the factory with that valve cover, since they were not used by Chevrolet until the 1969 Corvette model year, and thus not available in 1967. More likely they were upgraded by a prior owner, maybe me... my '66 was titled as a '67 (because it hadn't sold from factory inventory until

The Corvette covers are not chrome plated, they are smooth-surface aluminum; the cover shown in the illustration may also have been polished to enhance it's appearance for the photo

I owned four post-Studebaker Avantis, a '66, a '72, a '76 and an '83. None had finned valve covers. Paul Johnson

My 70 model (RQA) did!

My tape of the 1972 Avanti Factory tour shows finned aluminum valve covers on production line engines. Also, the April 1979 Car Life Magazine Avanti Road test shows finned valve covers on the optional 350 cid engine.

Jack