Aside from thne VIN stamped on a pad the front of the block which I read can easily be altered, what other codes and locations on the block verify an original motor on a '63 ?

i.e., is there a date code sequence which should match the VIN date ?

are there other important codes on the block to help verify ?

 

good question - sad, really, what the restampers have forced us to become - highly qualified detectives, lest we overpay for something that is not what we thought we were buying.

This effort of verifying originality really focuses on spotting for red flags and outright killers.

First, the block must bear the correct casting number - for 63 SB Corvettes, the block casting number MUST be 3782870. Anything else, and it ain't the original block. (Note that casting numbers, which are raised, can be faked by grinding off the wrong one (or portion of the wrong one) and using JB Weld to create a fake but proper casting number).

Engine Blocks also bear a casting date code, also in raised characters.

Next, the stamp pad on the engine block - where you see the latter portion of the VIN (the VIN suffix) after a single digit number denoting the year - also has an engine assembly code stamped into it - in the case of your 63 SB, it will begin with the letter "F" (for Flint) followed by a 4-digit numerical code indicating the date on which the engine assembly was completed ("0101" would indicate Jan 1, for example) and then this is followed by a two letter code indicating the configuration of the engine at assembly - like "RE" to indicate a 340 (L76) hp engine for use with a MT. Lots of information is presented in that stamp pad.

In addition, the last 5 digits of the VIN (being the production number) can be plugged into a birthday calculator (found on line) to determine when the car rolled off the assembly line.

Another date of significance is the body built date, which is stamped on the trim tag (it doesn't have its own pre-printed field, so it tends to get stamped everywhere on the trim tag.) This is the date the body was completed at the body line.

Using these dates, you can lay them up on a timeline of sorts to see if they make sense. Obviously, the engine casting date needs to precede the engine assembly date, which in turn needs to precede the car's birthday. By how much is a judgment call, but for SBs your red flag system should go off when you encounter more than 6 weeks between dates in this sequence of cast date - assembly date - birthday.

You can also use some clues inside the car to see if the car and the engine belong together - tach redlines varied by engine configuration, for instance, and using the 63 L76 as an example, you should see a 6500 redline. Of course, gauge clusters can be changed.

Then there is the appearance of the engine stamp pad itself - this is where real experience at having seen many stamp pads really helps, but there is a proper font and font size that was used for each set of numbers, and the stamp pad surface itself needs to look good - you'll see references to "broach marks" here.

Good luck in your investigations!

 

Do you have a link to that birthday calculator?

 

there's one available on the C2registry.org website, here is a direct link:

Birthday calc

 

This link will show you where to look for casting numbers...
http://www.mortec.com/location.htm

This link will help you decipher the casting numbers...
http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm

Here's a couple of links that will help you decode the 2 (or 3 letter for later years) letter Suffix number on the front pad...
http://www.chevy-camaro.com/chevy-ca...gine-codes.asp
http://www.nastyz28.com/chevy-engine-code-stampings.php