Coastie66

Hi,
I have a 1969 Corvette Coupe I am selling and I am trying to figure out if it is a "Matching numbers" car. The Vin# is 194379S738561 and the number on the engine pad on the passenger side front of the head is CEA134062. The casting number (I think that's what it is) located drivers side behind the head is 3970010.

Does the number on the engine pad indicate that it is a motor for a 1969 Corvette and does it corolate with the vin number at all. Any info would be very much appreciated.

Coastie66

Jud Chapin

It's not the original engine. The last six numbers of the VIN would be part of the engine stamp (pass side)

Revi

CEA134062

The CE stands for Chevrolet Engine and is an over the counter engine replacement. Normally the first number after the E would indicate year engine was built. Not sure as to why the A is in that position. Based on that, the 1 may indicate 1971.

http://chevellestuff.net/qd/engine_stamp_numbers.htm
It's been reported that beginning in 1970, if more engines were needed at a given plant in a year than the range of sequence numbers allotted, the plant would re-use the numbers using the letter "A" after the "CE" and year designation. For example, Tonawanda was assigned the sequence range of 50,000 to 79,999 so if more engines were required the numbering would start over again at 50,000 but the "CE" prefix would become "CExA" where 'x' is the year such as CE0A50000.

sullyman56

From what I know of my 68, I too have an engine that the pad is stamped CEXXXXXX. The CE indicates that it is a replacement engine, possibly via warranty purchased directly from the dealer. The block casting number is correct for the year, but as Jud stated, it is not the original engine.

LT-1 kid

According to your vin # it looks like its one of the last days of production for 69
I think they built 38600 or so cars in 69, thats like a very late dec car

LT1M21Vette

Ah!

My motor has CE513244 stamped.

The story was the original motor was replaced by the dealer. The stamp matches the story.

Thanks for the info.

Revi

Not sure how your stamp matches the story? Your engine "CE513244" is Chev. Eng. 1975 seq. #13244.

65GGvert

Maybe his car is a 74 or 75

LT1M21Vette

It's a '71

sullyman56

I sent you a PM some time ago for a dash pad that you have/ had for sale and never got a response. Just wondering what happened.

LT1M21Vette

The car is a '71 LT1, and the original owner had it replaced at the dealership, with what looks like a '75 motor. Who paid for the replacement motor, GM or the original owner is unknown, and not that important.

The original owner passed away, and that was the story told by his widow to the second owner, who passed the story to me, the third owner.

All old cars have a story to them.

Revi

I think you are misunderstanding the paragraph that I posted above.

CE513244
Chev. Eng. 1975, seq.#13244

CE5A13244
The "A" would be installed if all of the seq. #'s were used up before the year was over and they still needed to make more engines.

Lets say the engine plant was assigned seq. #'s 00000 - 20000 in 1975. (CE500000 - CE520000). If they made 20000 engines by June and still needed more, they would add an "A" after the model year and re-use the same seq. #'s. (CE5A00000 - CE5A20000).

My guess is that the OP who wrote CEA134062 may actually have CE1A34062 or it was an error by the person stamping the engine.

Alan 71

Hi C,
Here's something that may be important.
When the cylinder block was replaced at the dealer what parts of the original LT-! motor were moved to the new block.
Ideally EVERYTHING was moved… heads, intake, carburetor, exhaust manifolds, AIR system, fuel pump, and on and on.
In that case you have all number matching and date correct parts to your LT-! car. Just the block is missing.
If on the other hand the LT-! motor was removed in it's entirety and replaced with a complete 75 engine…. that's really too bad.
Have you checked the other 'number matching' parts in the compartment?
Your car is worth more in the first situation than in the second.
Even if the second situation is the case it would still be worthwhile to determine if this car was in fact an LT-! when it left St.Louis. Have you done that?
Regards,
Alan

BBCorv70

Having parts other than the block matching or at least correct castings and date codes may be more valuable than one with a generic 350. I'm not sure it will make a big difference. The original block is the foundation of numbers matching. Without the block I doubt there will be many collectors interested which would put this car into a tier below. I do agree, the car would have enhanced value to a buyer who doesn't necessarily want a numbers car but wants a factory LT1 or at least a 'corect' LT1, probably for a driver. The car could do well with NCRS judging if all the proper parts are there.

LT1M21Vette

I sought a non matching car so I could pay less upfront, and happily modify it without losing value, then build a nice mild resto-mod driver.

The air pump is long gone, it has an aftermarket intake, ignition and cam. Don't know about the heads, but aluminium heads are in the future.

Interestingly, there is a NCRS judging in town this coming May. I might bring it to them just for fun, as it is an original rust free survivor regardless of the motor.

Alan 71

Hi,
I'm DUMB!
I didn't realize the thread was talking about 2 cars.!!!!
I need to read more carefully.
Regards,
Alan

Alan 71

Hi MTL,
I believe you'll find that NCRS Bowtie Judging is only done at the National Convention.
Potential Bowtie cars must be brought to a Regional meet before that convention where a team of judges will assess the car in order to determine if it should be invited to the Convention as a candidate for Bowtie Judging.
You might want to go to the NCRS site to see more about the Bowtie Award and if it's something you'd like to do with your car.
Regards,
Alan