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Can any of you more experienced folks weigh in on the attached engine stamp pad on a 67 / 427 car . I'm doing some due diligence on a potential car to buy and , in the process , trying to learn more about the authenticity of engine pads.
To me, it looks like the engine block has been decked or cleaned up with a circular cutting tool. If it was just a light clean up / decking , I would think the stamp would be worn thin and exhibit some witness marks from the circular cutting tool. But, it looks to me as if the numbers were re-stamped after the cutting tool had cleaned up the pad. I say this because the number stamping appears to penetrate through the circular cutting marks.
Also, any thoughts on the appearance of the stamping ( character size, depth, font, spacing ? )
Thanks for the link. It's from 13 years ago and I didn't see any photos included of an engine pad. Lots can change in 13 years. The car is currently up for sale and I was just trying to get an opinion on the stamp pad.
Since the Trim Tag shows it to be an A.O. Smith built car and the documentation shows it to be an original N14 sidepipe car, that means that the documentation shown in the pictures is bogus?
A.O. Smith built 50% of the Corvette bodies - the St. Louis Body and Paint Shops only ran on one shift, but assembly ran on two shifts. All orders for N14 Sidepipe cars (which required a unique birdcage) were allocated to St. Louis - no bodies for sidepipe cars were ever built at A.O. Smith.
Thanks for the link. It's from 13 years ago and I didn't see any photos included of an engine pad. Lots can change in 13 years. The car is currently up for sale and I was just trying to get an opinion on the stamp pad.
There are two links in my post. The first is from 13 years ago as sometimes it is nice to see what may have changed. The second link is the current listing showing the trim tag and obvious fraudulent documentation. Based on the engine stamp, it is the fake.
Since the Trim Tag shows it to be an A.O. Smith built car and the documentation shows it to be an original N14 sidepipe car, that means that the documentation shown in the pictures is bogus?
A.O. Smith built 50% of the Corvette bodies - the St. Louis Body and Paint Shops only ran on one shift, but assembly ran on two shifts. All orders for N14 Sidepipe cars (which required a unique birdcage) were allocated to St. Louis - no bodies for sidepipe cars were ever built at A.O. Smith.
Great info .... I was so focused on the low hanging fruit like the appearance of the engine pad that I didn't even consider matching up build options with assembly plants. I would have never known side pipe cars were built in St Louis only or that they had unique bird cages.
It's not just the side exhaust. With the exception of a few very early cars, AO Smith did not build big block cars in '67. The vin of this car in the 14K range is nowhere near an early '67.
They used the same cage so nothing unique. The St. Louis plant had a process to do the bottom rail of the bird cage for side pipes that AO smith could not do
It's not just the side exhaust. With the exception of a few very early cars, AO Smith did not build big block cars in '67. The vin of this car in the 14K range is nowhere near an early '67.
So I could be looking at a) a small block car dressed up to look like a BB car or b) a BB car which has had a trim tag replacement ? Does this properly sum up the possibilities ?
So I could be looking at a) a small block car dressed up to look like a BB car or b) a BB car which has had a trim tag replacement ? Does this properly sum up the possibilities ?
I would look for the notches on the birdcage for side pipes. If it has them it could be a real St Louis side pipe car with a AO Smith trim tag foolishly applied for a color change. The engine stamp fonts really look right for an original stamp, and vin looks like a factory grind out. I have a 67 big block about 120 serial numbers earlier than this car and it’s born with engine is stamped within one day of this one. It’s St Louis body build code is H21. Unfortunately the body build code of this car is H10 which is in the right range for a AO Smith car with this serial number adding to the ambiguity.
Attached window sticker for this car: 194677S114460. Pictures of documents posted in links:
Again, forgoing the terrible fonts and form and I suspect the equally bad tank sticker was not reproduced by the same company for 2 reasons. This window sticker company does not reproduce tank stickers and the information on the window stickers differs from the tank sticker.
See attached:
Attached window sticker for this car: 194677S114460. Pictures of documents posted in links:
Again, forgoing the terrible fonts and form and I suspect the equally bad tank sticker was not reproduced by the same company for 2 reasons. This window sticker company does not reproduce tank stickers and the information on the window stickers differs from the tank sticker.
See attached:
Paul
That's very helpful and I'll keep this as a sample going forward should I be viewing more window stickers.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
1967 engine pad stamp
