carmutt1

Am new to the forum and have some questions about date codes, etc. for my 1965 roadster. I have searched the forum for many of these items but have only found enough information to be dangerous! Seems like ctjackster has been most helpful on date code questions. Any help is appreciated.

When I purchased my car 6 years ago, the previous owner had it for 16 years. Many "original" parts of the car came with it, but needed rebuilding. I have rebuilt all these "original" parts as they do have the correct part numbers (according to the "Black book"), but I am having problems confirming correct date codes to ensure they are original.

1. I understand my cars "birthday" should be apparent from the upper left digits on the trim tag, but I don't know what "F19" stands for. According to the "Black Book" my car should have been built in January 1965. Any way to know the exact day?

2. Alternator date code is 5A20. Is that 5(1965), A(January), 20 (day)? Haven't found a key to the alternator date code.

3. Radiator and Overfill tank are 64M. I take it that is 64 (1964), but I don't know what "M" stands for since there isn't 13 months in a year.

4. Carburetor is 2818-1 with a date code of 4O1. I believe that is 4 (1964), O (October), 1 (First week). Seems that is within the 6 month window for NCRS, but folks on the site seem to think that is too far away from build date to be original? Thoughts?

5. Distributor has the original correct parts number tag on it, but is there a date code on it to confirm originality? (not that I will take it out to check!)

6. Block - never looked at the block date code since a "corvette expert" verified the pad had correct codes and vin number with "broach" marks present. After looking, I believe the date code (rear of head on passenger side, is that correct?) shows A235. What does that stand for?

Any other date codes on the car that I should attempt to confirm? Sorry for all the questions, but I thought I would get them in one thread instead of mutiple.

Again, thanks to all in advance for any help!

Chuck Gongloff

The F19 is the body build date, the day the car passed that point on the assy line and the trim tag was attached. The actual finish date is probably 1-2 days later.

F=6th letter, so F=6th month of production. They started building 65's in August of 64, so F translates January. SO, F19 is Jan. 19th. Chuck

JohnZ

1. The NCRS birthday calculator is back on-line again at:

http://www.ncrswi.bizland.com/bday/bdaycalc.htm

Just follow the directions (only the last FIVE digits of your VIN) and it will give you the day it was produced.

2. Correct.

3. 64M is December, 1964 (stamped date codes exclude the letter "I", cast-in date codes include the letter "I").

4. Correct - no reason it couldn't be the original.

5. The aluminum tag on the distributor uses the same date code format as the alternator (year-month-day).

6. "A 23 5" is the block casting date (January 23, 1965), which indicates that the block was cast about a week after your car was built, if the "F19" on your trim tag is correct (might be "E19")?

carmutt1

John & Chuck,

Thanks for the info. I went to the NCRS build date link and it states my car was built Jan 26, 1965, so a full week after the trim tag date of F19 or January 19, 1965. My car is a AO-Smith car so I suppose this isn't that uncommon, right? So, any of the parts (block, alternator, etc) could have date code right up until January 25 or so, right?

The block casting date info made me sick , so I went out to the car and pulled the spark plug wire shielding to get my hand in there to clean off the dirt. I can clearly see "A 2 5". The "3" I reported earlier was a figment of my imagination (or a figment of dirt!). So now for my next question, how close to the actual birthday of a car can the block be cast?

Thanks again for further help!

Michaelw

Like carmutt I think a lot of C2 owners have similar questions, next to this forum please feel free to post on the c2registry so then people in a broader network can deal with your questions!

Thanks

Mike

JohnZ

Everything looks normal with an A.O. Smith body and an A 2 5 block casting date. The span from block casting date to car build date is "typical"; it normally took a minimum of a week, usually longer, from the block casting date to engine arrival at St. Louis.