1970 Corvette Specifications

1970 Corvette dimensions and weights

These are the 1970 car's own figures, read off the factory specification manual further down this page rather than taken from a reference book. Curb weight is the car as it left the line, with fluids and no driver.

Where these figures come from

Page 10 = 'VEHICLE DIMENSIONS-CORVETTE' (GENERAL INFORMATION 0-2); curb weights there are qualified 'with Base V-8'. Pages 140 and 149 are the bound-in AMA Specifications Form. Rear tread is printed 59.4, not the 59.5 used from 1973 on.

1970 options, quantities and original prices

• A 350 cubic inch, 300 hp engine and a 4-speed manual transmission were included in the base price.
• The LT-1 was a solid-lifter 350 rated at 370 hp, and it could not be ordered with air conditioning in 1970. 1,287 were built.
• 1970 production was cut short by more than four months because a labour dispute in May 1969 had run 1969 production long. That is the reason for the low totals, not lack of demand.

1970 engine identification codes

The engine suffix code is stamped on the front of the block, on the pad ahead of the passenger-side cylinder head. Read it together with the VIN to confirm an engine belongs with the car.

Casting and component numbers

• Block: 3970010 (350ci 300, 350 and 370 hp), 3963512 (454ci 390 hp).
• Cylinder head: 3927186 (350ci 300, 350 and 370 hp), 3927187 (350ci 350 hp), 3973414 (350ci 370 hp), 3964290 (454ci 390 hp).
• Alternator: 1100901 (350ci 300 hp), 1100900 (350ci 350 hp and 454ci 390 hp), 1100884 (350ci 370 hp, and all cars with air conditioning).

• * Records indicate none were produced

The full casting number breakdown per engine, including intake and exhaust manifolds, is on the casting number page, and the carburetor numbers are on the carburetor page.

1970 horsepower and torque

These are SAE gross figures, measured on a bare engine on a test stand with no alternator, water pump, air cleaner or exhaust system fitted. They are not comparable with the net figures quoted from 1972 onward, and they are not what the engine made in the car.

• The 460 here and the 465 in the engine code table above are both real, and neither was ever measured in a car a customer could buy. The LS7 was a 454 Chevrolet catalogued for 1970 and printed in full in this dealer book, rating and all, then cancelled before a single one was built. With no car to settle it against, the horsepower figure can only be decided on paper, and the paper disagrees with itself: this book says 460 at 5600 rpm, while most Corvette references, including the engine code table on this page, carry 465. Both numbers are quoted here rather than one being quietly picked.

Where these figures come from

'ADVERTISED ENGINE RATING', PDF page 92. The LS7 454 is printed here in full, with a rating, but it was cancelled before production and no 1970 Corvette left the factory with one. The book was written before that decision. TWO FIGURES IN CIRCULATION, and this page shows both: the engine code table above lists the LS7 at 465 hp, which is the number that circulates in most Corvette references, while this dealer book rates it at 460 @ 5600. Neither can be settled against a car, because no car was built. Both are paper.

1970 VIN range

1970 Corvettes ran from 194370S400001 through 194370S417316, all built at St. Louis. For convertibles the fourth digit is a 6, giving 194670S. Because the model year started late, the whole run fits between January and July 1970, so a 1970 build date outside that window is worth a second look. The 1970 Corvette VIN decoder breaks down each position, and the trim tag decoder works out roughly when in the year a car was assembled.

1970 production by month

1970 colors

• The factory manual lists the 1970 colours without production quantities, so no quantity column is shown for this year.
• Which interior trims went with which paint is set out in full on the exterior and interior combination page, along with the trim codes.

1970 axle ratios

Some early 1970 cars carry 1969 engine codes, and cars built at the very end of 1969 carry 1970 coded differentials. The changeover was not clean in either direction. The full list for every year is on the axle code page.

What changed for 1970

• The body was updated with fender swells to reduce the wheel-thrown debris damage that plagued 1968 and 1969 cars.
• New fender louvers replaced the four vertical slots of 1968 and 1969.
• Big block displacement grew to 454 cubic inches, and the small block gained the solid-lifter LT-1.
• Interiors were refined, with redesigned seats for extra headroom and easier access to the rear storage.

What the manual covers

Beyond the specification sections, the 1970 book carries the general information and lubrication chapter, the frame and chassis diagrams, and the Corvette body section, 159 pages in all.

For part numbers and exploded illustrations rather than specifications, the parts manuals are the companion set. Other model years are on the specification manuals page.