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I have been searching around the forum and the rest of the internet to determine the likelihood of the engine cast and assembly date matching. It seems like it is possible but wanted to see if anyone else has seen this before or confirm if it was even feasible at the Tonawanda Plant. The person I had inspect the car said they have no reason to believe it is not numbers matching. I am new to the vintage corvette market and trying to purchase one for my father.
Its a 65 396:
Engine casting #3855962 Date 4-10-65
Engine assembly stamp T0410IP
Build Date J5 (May 5th)
From: Middle TN by way of KY, OH, VA, IL, CA, FL, NY, SC, HI
Highly possible. GM did not use a first in, first out inventory control system, so the order of casting did not follow the order of engine building.
I also have one - a 327 that was cast and built on the same date at Flint, MI. Add to that, the casting clock indicates that the block was cast on the last hour of the first shift that day. It was then built later that day, presumably on the second shift.
Find and interpret your casting clock marking and see what hour and shift it was cast.
Joc - Another Forum Member (Gary Cowans) and I have been compiling a list of 65 L78's and not sure if the one you're looking at is already on the list or not. We currently have 318 listed out of the original 2157 made for 1965. Mine had a build date just a few days after the one you're looking at, May 10th.
Maybe the Vette you're looking at is on the list already. 1965 L78 Corvettes July 31 2020.xlsx - Microsoft Excel Online (live.com)
Good luck in your search.
Mike T - Prescott AZ
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Engine Cast and Assembly Date Question
