TheSaint

In my StingRay i have the this engine
When i bought it i was told the engine was from a 1969 or 1970 Corvette. The only marking is the engine number 3970010 and close to the engine number there is a verical 30 close to GM.
Close to the oil filter it says 370
386
135 N
The pad is clean. Not a mark on it. How come that the pad is clear? Any more places i should look for any stampings or numbers?
The engine have tons of torque. I can stop in a steep uphill and drive off in 4`th gear without any problems and i have a rear differential with 3:08. I was told the compression ratio is 11:1 when i bought the car.

A friend of me bought a 383 blueprinted crate engine that came with dyno papers(407 hp) and he says the engine in my car have much more hp than the engine he bought for 4500 dollars.


I did a a little checking around the internet and this is what i found. It can be a passenger car engine, a truck engine and a Corvette engine.
Found this info on the Nasty Z28 site

Note that i picked out the text with the most hp

http://www.nastyz28.com/sbchevy/sblock.php

CID Low Power High Power Main Caps Comments
1969-79 3970010 350 185 370 2 or 4 car, truck, Corvette

There is no markings on the pad, the only markings is 30(vertical)in front of GM close to the engine number.
Close to the oil filter it says 370
386
135 N

Can this engine be the 1970 Corvette 370 hp power 4 bolt version since the engine really have a lot of power.

This site says it can be:
http://www.ajgeneral.com/sbc_block_casting_numbers/

3970010 350 70 Corvette 300,350,370 HP 4 bolt main

69 Chevy

'370' cast into the block does not denote horsepower rating. A 370 horsepower engine would have come with a square bore Holley carb on an aluminum intake manifold. Also the last 3 digits of the head casting number is 186...found by looking under the valve covers...these heads are identified by a double 'camel hump' on the outside ends. It would also have a solid lifter camshaft.
The '010' 350 block started usage in vettes after the long UAW strike in the summer of '69.
I have one and it too has a clean ID pad. Mine was a replacement block and since it was used for drag racing (4:88-1 rear end ratio) I assumed that the block was decked in a machine shop which milled off the stampings. 010 block in vettes have 4 bolt mains.

Mine is 26. Of no use in identifying the horsepower...just a foundry number.

joewill

without a pad stamp it is hard to tell what it is supposed to be. there should be a casting date back there also, depending on where the numbers you found exactly are, they may be a casting date.

nothng from the factory had 407 hp so if it does have more hp/torque than your buddy's 383 then who knows what internals the engine has and therefor any stamping you find is moot.

your heads should have a casting number and date code cast also. let us know what that is and perhaps get more information.
also intake manifold numbers?

glen242

Not correct that 010 'vette blocks have 4 bolt mains. The stock matching numbers engine, in my '76, is a 010 block and has 2 bolt mains.

joewill

the chances of a '010' block of that era being a vette engine, are pretty slim, unless it is original to the car.. there were millions made that went into cars, trucks and about anything else. the number of vettes made was small compared to the number of other vehicles that the 010 block would have went into. unless it is original to the car, do not think that it is a 'corvette' engine...

TheSaint

It might be a passenger car, truck engine or a Corvette engine.
I will see i can find any numbers on the heads. I suppose i have to take the valve covers off to check?

The intake is a Edelbrock aftermarket intake.

DZRick

Check that #370 again, it might be B70 which could be the date code.

You also might be able to see the heads casting number through the oil fill cap with a small flashlight but to see the more important date codes you will probably need to remove the valve covers.

Mike Ward

Hey Saint,

Didn't you ask this same question over on the C2 side some time ago? I think I remember answering it then.

At least you're getting the same answers again.

TheSaint

Yeas i did Mike but after searching the net i found out that it does not have to be a truck engine.
It can just as well be for a passenger car or a Corvette

I will try to see if i can see any numbers through the oil fill cap

Mike Ward

I have no idea who told you that 0010 blocks were from trucks only.

Let me save you a lot of trouble. GM made literally MILLIONs of block with the 3970010 casting number. It was the single most common block ever made by GM, ever. They were used in every GM car or truck line, industrial and marine installation from 1969 to 1979, possibly later and were one of the few casting numbers made by all four GM engine foundries which were located in three different countries. They were also the standard over the counter universal crate engines for many years.

The chances that your block originally belonged to a Corvette is far less than one in hundreds of thousands or less. Any identification that it may have been one is long gone.

Looking at cylinder head casting numbers and dates would be pointless as the heads were not unique to Corvette either, and there is no way to prove that they are the ones installed by the factory.