scopeli

There is little reason to look at broach marks on a 55 pad. A passenger car or truck will already have a F55F or F55G stamped on the pad. A person needing a block for a 55 corvette in most cases will just add a G or R to a passenger or truck engine.

emccomas

Been done many times, and not just for 55 engines.

Most passenger car engines between 1955 and 1964 used a single character for a 2 barrel engine (one characcter for an auto trans car, and a separate single character for a manual transmission car).

Those engines are very common. Adding a letter to the end of the suffix stamp "converts" it to a Corvette engine.

1955 & 1956 2bbl passenger car, automatic - suffix code F
1955 & 1956 2bbl passenger car, manual - suffix code G
1955 & 1956 Corvette, automatic - suffix code FG
1955 Corvette, manual - suffix code GR
1956 Corvette, manual - suffix code GR or GU

1957 2bbl passenger car, automatic - suffix code F
1957 2bbl passenger car, manual - suffix code E
1957 Corvette, automatic - suffix code FG, FH, FK
1957 Corvette, manual - suffix code EF, EG, EH, EL, EM

1958, 1959 2bbl passenger car, automatic - suffix code D
1958, 1959 2bbl passenger car, manual - suffix code C
1958, 1959 Corvette, automatic - suffix code DG, DH, DJ
1958, 1959 Corvette, manual - suffix code CQ, CR, CS. CT, CU

you get the idea...

Starting in 1965 most chevy engines used a two character code

scopeli

The above pad will be accepted as correct by restorers and judges. The broach marks that can be seen are correct and the two gang stamps and two individually stamped numbers are what one wants to see in a 55 engine pad. A deduction could be given for the abrasions made when someone tried to clean up the engine pad. The observations I mentioned about the G in the other posts are only used by myself to help determine an original 55 corvette block.

emccomas

I understand what you are saying, but I would call it on a judging field. The letter G has a font that is atypical of factory production.

scopeli

unless something has changed I have recent records of cars that were given full credit when judged with with the rounder G. Some are cars that have achieved much more than just top flight awards. These cars are being restored with the help of Bloomington and NCRS judges. If the had judges noticed, cars would have went to the oval shape. There is also a noticeable difference in the GR (3-speed) stampings. I have not seen the judges give deductions on those pads. They concentrate on broach marks and gang stamps. One of those pads I used as an example received a large deduction for not having the typical gang stamp.

emccomas

I would not take any points off for this, but I would make a note on the judging form that the "G" was atypical of factory production.

I do recall one 56 Corvette at Old Town that showed up one year with a passenger car engine F56F (car was an automatic, 2x4 bbl car). Owner got a deduction for this.

The same car showed up again at Old Town the next year, and the engine pad was a nightmare. The owner has stamped a "G" after the F, but he hit the thing four or five times, and left four or five SEPARATE letter "G"s on the pad. I have a picture somewhere; it was sad and funny at the same time.