So maybe a new block was put in Jan 1967. Would a new one not have a stamping and perhaps they used the stamping from the '65 engine?
After all this, does this mean it's a 250 or a 300hp with '65 ---hp heads?

 

A replacement from GM would have already been stamped (but not like what you presented). Yours has been re-stamped by "Bubba", whoever he may be.

 

Just wondering...if it was replaced in '67 with a '67 engine, why would it need to be decked. If it was done at a Chevy dealer, would they necessarily stamp it in the correct manufacturer's style...in 1967?
Just wondering???

and so by the way, is it a 250hp or a 300hp?
Thanks for your time.

 

I don't think that is necessarily true. I have seen a number of unstamped engines from the 60s. I assumed (and still do) that these were over the counter bare blocks, short blocks, or even long blocks.


These "virgin pad" blocks bring a healthy premium when they come up for sale because the broach marks are intact, and nothing needs to be removed. Just stamp you numbers and away you go.

I have also seen engines that were stamped at the dealer when a engine replacement was done (probably most often under warranty). This particular case seems like it would fall outside of the warranty period.

JohnZ can help clarify this for us. Jump in here John.

I don't recall from the discussion, does this engine have 65 heads or 67 heads on it?

 

JohnZ can help clarify this for us. Jump in here John.


So...since the owner owned it since 1967 and he has never had it apart, and it has a definite 1967 engine in it, it seems "plausable" to me that the engine could have been new in '67 (not decked), virgin pad stamped by a "bubba" at the dealer at a time when no one ever suspected someday people would check how the numbers appear. Maybe the numbers were stamped just to record the original numbers???
To find out what heads it has, will he have to get the casting numbers on the head once the valve covers are off?

sidenote...Having lived through the 60s I've seen more Bubbas working at the dealerships than privately.

 

That seems like a plausible scenario to me.

 

Yes. And, depending on what the casting numbers are, they may have either small or large valves; you can't tell that without removing a head.

 

There are a few scenarios that would account for such a pad.

1. In some states, the title was assigned by motor number and so the motor HAD to be stamped correctly. so if one blew and was replaced, the dealer had to restamp it. How many really did is anyone's guess. That would allow a "bad restamp" because they weren't trying to fool anyone but simply comply with the law.

2. Engine blew at the dealership and was replaced and properly stamped to cover the engine replacement. It could have been when new or during any maintenance visit. It may or may not have been done with the owner's knowledge.

3. #1 was even included in some GM paperwork for dealers to do so after partial VINs were assigned to the engines in 1960. Again, no one cared if it looked like factory or not as they weren't trying to fool anyone.

4. Someone decided to make it a "better" engine when "matching numbers" first began being used in the '70s.

5. A machine shop screwed up and decked the original, and when the owner complained about his loss of originality, the shop "fixed" it.

6. Bubba used his Craftsman stamps to reproduce his original engine.

7. Your friend confused this engine with another. You'd be surprised at the number of long term owners of cars or parts who swear nothing happened, and then are corrected by wife, friend, parent, etc. about the day that ... happened. Memory is a tricky thing.