hey all, we've had this 65 lesabre for a while now and ive been slowly reading about it and trying to learn up about different options and stuff but im having one hell of a time finding what the base models came with and what upgrades were available. ive deduced that its a 300cid v8 boasting 10-11:1 compression, 355ft/lbs torque and 290hp (factory ratings, wildcat 355) the lesabre 400 i guess points out the fact that its equipped with a switch pitch th400 is there anything someone can tell me about the basemodel cars of that year? i know not to listen to a lot of people ESPECIALLY at car shows but a lot of people have been saying this car could have come with a nailhead stock? i actually had to argue with a guy for 10 mins+ that the 300cid wasnt a nailhead! i guess he saw the clever valve covers that are diagonal and make it look like a nailhead and assumed but if you look at the dist. up front or even the base of the valve covers its clearly a V shape ou:
Maybe it's a good idea to search eBay for an original 1965 sales brochure ? Here's a combination of several scans of the 1965 model year information. Keep in mind that the HP ratings are gross, the 210 HP 300 engine has around 140 nowadays (SAE) HP :Smarty: Engine codes LL = 300 CI, 210 HP, 9.0:1 compression ratio, 2 bbl carburator LM = 300 CI, N/A HP, 8.75:1 compression ratio, 2 bbl carburator LP = 300 CI, 250 HP, 10.25:1 compression ratio, 4 bbl carburator The 401 Nailhead was an optional engine for the LeSabre.
I'm not sure where the above scans came from, but think the last LeSabre nailhead was in the wagon in '64. It went away from the other LeSabres after '63-
I don't know of any 65 or 66 lesabres that came with a 401 or 425 nailhead out of the factory... If you wanted the bigger engine..you would had to have purchased a Wildcat. The reason being is.....the Wildcat was 3" longer on the front end & this allowed for the larger motor. Just my 2 cents.... Tom:TU:
Where do you read in the scans that the 401 was available ? I also thought that the Nailhead wasn't available for model year 1965 in the LeSabre, but it came in Swiss built LeSabres.
Here's a document from GM Canada. It shows that the 401 (Wildcat 445) was available in the 1965 LeSabre with the "400 performance pack" I doubt that this information is correct because all the 1965-66 Canadian LeSabres with the 400 package that I saw had the Wildcat 355, 300 ci engine (1965) and Wildcat 375, 340 ci engine (1966) just like the US models did. Were the dual exhausts standard on the 1965 LeSabre 400? I have also heard other things: a guy once told me that one of his friends had a 1965 LeSabre that was special ordered with a Chevy 409 from the Oshawa factory. This guy didn't know much about cars and he told me that after he saw the 1968 Wildcat I had back then so I didn't consider what he told me to be exact... What else do you want to know about the 1965 LeSabre models?
I think you're right Phil, that information may be incorrect.o No: My 65 lesabre had the "400" script on the back quarter panel just below the LeSabre tag. It came with the Wildcat 355, which included the high compression 300 motor, 4 barrel carb & ST-400 tranny, but did not have dual exhaust. This car was US built. Tom:TU:
thats mine except it has dual exhaust, dunno if its factory but id bet it is cause we got her from the original owner who is a little old lady.
