1972 Chevelle Engine Photos & 402/454 cid Engine Production Numbers

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1972 402/454 Engine Production

Figures are for Chevelle ("A" body), Full Size Passenger ("B" body), and Camaro ("F" 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 1972 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 24,946 Z15 optioned Chevelles were sold.

RPO	HP	Transmission	Suffix	Production	Notes
LS3/MC1	240	Heavy Duty 3-speed manual	CTH	286	"A" body
				286	Total LS3/MC1 Engines
				272	Total LS3/MC1 Vehicles
95.1% of total LS3/MC1 engine/transmission production went into cars. The MC1 H.D. 3-Speed transmission was only available in the Chevelle. Some documentation also lists suffix code of CLS for this combination.				014	Service Engines

LS3	240	Manual	CTA	02,661	"A" & "F" body
LS3/M40	240	TH-400	CTB	85,050	"A", "B", & "F", body
LS3/MC1	240	Heavy Duty 3-speed manual	CTH	00,286	"A"
				87,987	Total LS3 Engines
				87,711	Total LS3 Vehicles
				00,276	Service Engines
Total LS3 Car Production
Chevelle ("A")				20,031
Full Size Passenger ("B")				66,702
Camaro ("F")				00,970
Total LS3 Cars				87,711

99.7% of LS3 engine production went into cars. Some documentation also lists the following engine codes: CLA - manual CLB & CTJ - TH-400 CLS - Heavy Duty 3-speed manual
Total LS5
LS5/M22	270	Manual	CRX	01,625	"A"
LS5/M40	270	TH400	CRN *	11,596	"A" & "B"
LS5/B07	270	TH-400 Police	CRY	01,009	"B"
				14,240	Total LS5 Engines
				13,367	Total LS5 Vehicles
				00,873	Service Engines

Total LS5 Car Production
Chevelle ("A")				5,333
Full Size Passenger ("B")				8,034
Total LS5 Cars				13,367

93.9% of LS5 engine production went into cars. Some documentation also lists the following engine codes. CPA - Manual CPD & CRW - TH-400 * CRN has not been found on any 1972 Chevelle build sheet with LS5 engine; only CRW and CRX
		However, all 1972 Chevelle build sheets I have code the LS3 as either TA or TB.