Several months ago a set of damaged Stage2 heads came up for sale and I thought seriously about buying them. I decided not to and just wait for a good pair to become available. That event also inspired me to dream of building an Authentic Stage 2 and putting it in my 1972 Stage 1 ZZ car. Well within the last month fate found a way to make available not only the Stage 2 heads, but also the rod & pistons, cam, correct Stage 2 B4B intake and a never opened crated 1970 Stage 1 Service replacement short block, all from different people. Funny note the crate engine we opened in on Thursday May 18 before we finalized the deal for the first time ever exactly 41 years to the day that Jim Bennett bought it at his dealership, it’s on the invoice. Jim was standing there as we opened it up, he had never seen it, CRAZY right? I now own all the major pieces. The Holley and headers will come later. I actually passed on the 8.2 rear end with 4:78 gears because they wouldn’t have been practical or lasted very long. But wait the story took an incredible twist at BG after I had received all The parts. Mike Jr. From T/A came by and I showed him my lucky find and he pointed out some small stamped numbers on them that I hadn’t noticed before, then Denny Manner came by to see me and my Stage 1 display Engine, and I mentioned what I had bought and my plan, and he wanted to see the parts. He looked at the heads and immediately recognized them as 2nd Phase Experimental Stage 2 heads, the numbers were used to track them as they were being tested. WOW I was floored. Then he asked to see the cam, again he turned it around and he said “See those numbers?”, “ That’s an Experimental Stage 2 Cam, same As the heads! “ Double WoW! I am the luckiest guy at BG Friday, not only am I gonna have an Authentic Stage 2 but it’s got Experimental Parts on it that are even more rare than most. I’m gonna fab up a pair of MT Scavengers I have been saving that are NOS and the correct numbered Holley DP 850 Holley is still sold new to top it all off. I hope to be up and running by next spring God willing. What a weekend I had! I want to thank everyone who sold me these incredible Stage 2 parts, you know who you are! I’m gonna keep posting as this project progresses.
Super cool project. Looking forward to another interesting and informative thread. Your thread on your 73 was great. Saw it at BG and it exemplified time capsule.
Jim Bennett the original owner of the Stage 1 short block opening the crate so I could see it. First time in 41 years to the day it had seen daylight, we were all giddy . here you can make out the Service Block numbers and location for them from factory.
Following. Sounds like a great project! I thought I was the only one putting a Super Scavenger collector on a set of Stage 2 headers. If you don't already have a source, there is a guy that sells the collectors on ebay up to 2" primaries.
Yes I have talked with him a couple times, may go with those instead of chopping the set of MTs I have.
When I asked Denny if he had seen the heads and he said no, I told him he needed to go check them out because I had a feeling there was something more to them. I don't know why I didn't think to look at the part number to see if there was an X. It was pretty cool to hear from him that when he went and looked at them, that they were later style experimental heads without the risers for getting gas out during the casting process. I also asked how many experimental sets he's aware of, and he listed off a few. Mainly heads that either he has as a part of his collection, or are on show cars from back in the day that he sent pairs to for racing sponsorship, like the Reynolds car. If you bring the cam by the shop, I can roll it on our Cam Doctor to create a spec sheet for it.
Mike, you’ll be getting all the parts eventually and we’ll know then what’s what. Your keen eye is what made this discovery so cool, thanks a bunch!
