Nowhere Man

the only way to know for sure is to find anther BB engine that was assembled within a day or two of this one and compare. not all stamp pads will look the same.

maggiesadie8525

I agree

My addiction

Thank you all for your comments and opinions. It seems that the only way to make sure of what I'm buying is to hire a professional which I'm willing to do. Does anyone have a recommendation for a NCRS member that is close to Springfield Ohio that could appraise or access the car?

JohnZ

You need to talk to member Pancho Thompson ("67provette"), Kirtland, Ohio - he's the best!

My addiction

Thank-you! Appreciate your recommendation.

Nowhere Man

He is a great guy and very knowaglbe and trust worthy

emccomas

Here is another 66 block that was on Ebay

My addiction

Thanks for that! Seems a little more encouraging.

tuxnharley

Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Ronnie Milsap all agree - that not just fake, it's one of the worst fakes ever!

My addiction

This is worse than a roller coaster ride! One minute I'm thinking maybe the next minute no lol! After this one maybe I'll stick to small blocks 😐🔫

Nowhere Man

One would wonder why would a seller restamp a bare block that is out of a car with no car attached to it. Seems there is no gain for the seller to stamp a bare block unless the project car comes with it.

thoyer

The last letter was not always stamped with the rest of the letters. It was stamped once the final driveline configuration was determined. Thus the potential for misalignment.

Tom

tuxnharley

I'm not sure I follow the presumption in your thought process. What is there to indicate that it was only recently restamped as a current bare block alone? It could just as well have been done years ago and the car subsequently totaled, or whatever.....


I think the real question is as to whether the "L" in the Ebay ad (and the OP's post as well, for that matter) is original. The offset and deeper strike make it appear to be added later and raise strong doubt in my mind - as has been stated by other posts as well.

tuxnharley

I understand your point to be correct in some cases on lower hp engines, but in this case as a 427 isn't about the internals of the engine?

1snake

That was common practice for many small blocks as well. That is not the reason I questioned the validity of the block in the OP's post. The one in the E-Bay ad looks very good to me.

thoyer

There were three variants of the 390hp block in 66. MT, MT with AR and auto trans. My understanding (not always correct mind you) is that in instances like this, the engines were stamped up to the "I" (in this case) at Tonawanda and the last letter was stamped during assy at St Louis once the drive train was known. Thus the possibility of the last letter being misaligned and showing a different penetration.

The best thing would be to have a couple images of pads of the same engine config around the same period and do some comparing.

I'm no expert and won't ever claim to be either so take my opinion with a grain of salt....... I've attended a technical seminar on this subject and left them knowing that if I were ever in this buying situation I would involve someone with much greater knowledge then I.

Tom

MOXIE62

If the broach marks in OP's picture are not real how would a machine shop today make them.

rtruman

Nowhere Man

The machine used at the engine plant was as big as most local machine shops are. In other words it was done on a diffident machine then used today by local shops who deck blocks. I'm not sure what style cutting tools any one uses. But I do know diffreant tools and diffreant speeds and feeds will make diffreant end finishes.

tuxnharley

Some folks who are very very good at this actually do it by hand using a file and an alignment guide......