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Assuming that it does have a '66 casting date (could be an early '67 based on the date as well), the Lime Book says KH suffix is 327/350 4B/AC/AIR/MT/PS used in Corvettes. So 4 barrel, Air condition, Air Injection Reactor, manual transmission and power steering. The AIR would indicate that it was most likely delivered to CA. What is the casting date? Based on the F1229 (Flint, December 29th) the casting date should mostly likely be a December date, but could possibly be a November date. BTW- the "semi-circular" markings on the surface of the stamp pad and the missing early VIN numbers are suspect at best.
Does this help? It's an NOM car so nobody's trying to pass something off as being original. The semi-circular marks are actually from the brush I used to clean the gunk off of the pad.
It may be a NOM, but the "KH" indicates that it is a Corvette engine, and somebody out there may still have the car it came out of.
3858174 is a 64-67 327 block. The casting date, which will narrow down what the block is, will be in the same area, but on the other side of the block.
That had to be a very nasty brush you used on the block. It's a little late now, but for next time, you should never use anything abrasive to clean a stamp pad off. The best way to clean a pad is degreaser, paint thinner, or paint remover, but never anything like a wire brush, steel wool, a scraper, etc. Anything abrasive will damage or remove the original broach marks, which is really only way to determine if it is an original stamping.
Yes it does help, but it only confirms the block. The casting date is what we need to see. When you look at your photo, the casting date will be on the other side of the chrome part (draft tube) at the top center of your photo. It will be cast into the block, about one inch long horizontally and starting from the left you will see a letter then one or two numbers and finally a 6. Something like this: C246
Hi All: Thanks for the details provided in this post. As with most posts, you'all are educating more than just the original poster. As I understand (related to me at purchase time by prev owner) my 62 has a NOM 327 motor. Came that way when he bought it some 15 years earlier. He had it rebuilt in his ownership. As it runs great, (and looks period correct to most 'old car guys') and I had body work to concentrate on, it has not been a priority of mine to investigate what I have. Super curious.. yes.. but not a priority. But now that the body restoration is near complete, I can begin to think about 'curiosity' items such as 'what I have' and 'what might my car originally came with for engine / carburation'. These and related posts are helping a lot. Cheers
It may be a NOM, but the "KH" indicates that it is a Corvette engine, and somebody out there may still have the car it came out of.
3858174 is a 64-67 327 block. The casting date, which will narrow down what the block is, will be in the same area, but on the other side of the block.
That had to be a very nasty brush you used on the block. It's a little late now, but for next time, you should never use anything abrasive to clean a stamp pad off. The best way to clean a pad is degreaser, paint thinner, or paint remover, but never anything like a wire brush, steel wool, a scraper, etc. Anything abrasive will damage or remove the original broach marks, which is really only way to determine if it is an original stamping.
1000%.....................but it appears that in OP case, the block head surface was milled/decked at some point using circular cutter.
Yep, December 22, 1965. The date alignment of it being cast on December 22 and assembled on December 29th is a good thing. The third and final component is the correlation of the VIN number and when it tells you the car was assembled. There are Birthday apps on line that you can enter you last five digits of your VIN and get the "approximate" build date of your car. All of the above dates should precede the assembly date of your car anywhere from from one day to a few weeks. If you can't find the app. send me a PM with the last five digits of your VIN and I will check it for you. While you are at it, compare what is on the VIN tag to what remains of the VIN on the block. As it has been mentioned before, the circular marks on the pad are very suspect. Did you use a die grinder or something to remove the paint, or did someone else do this?
Wow, it was cast on Dec 22 and built on Dec 29, I'm surprised the factory was running at that time and not on Christmas break. Panama, I know about the birthday apps, but this is an NOM car so that doesn't apply.
I used paint remover, then a rag wrapped around a small wire brush (like a toothbrush) to remove the softened paint, then the wire brush by itself to remove any remnants.
Here's what I know about the motor: the powertrain has been untouched for 40+ years. I just changed the rear main seal yesterday and was lucky enough to find a date code on the rear main bearing of 8/84 and .010 so it was probably majored around 84 or 85, and the plug wires were dated 3Q84 which agrees. It's probably got a 10/10 crank in it and perhaps had a light decking at that time which erased the first part of the VIN. The PN on the bearing is MB1769P which I think is a TRW Clevite 77 part number, TRW was based in Cleveland at that time and Clevite was "the" bearing to use (the car has been in Cleveland for 40+ years). I used a borescope through a plug hole to see it has flattop pistons that appear to be aftermarket from below (with the pan off) with hone marks still visible through the scope. The car has been driven only lightly in the last 40 years, maybe 10,000 miles, and runs great with very little blowby when the PCV is disconnected. The oil pan was clean with no trash or timing gear chunks so it probably had a steel gear installed along with the (obviously healthier-than-normal) cam. The con rods are all black (WTF?) with cylinder numbers hand written on them in orange paint. Being that the motor has been in this car 40 years, it's likely the original car it was from was crashed/totaled in the 70s or 80s and is long gone, so trying to rejoin this engine with it's original chassis is highly unlikely, especially with part of the VIN missing.
I appreciate everyone's input on determining the origin of this engine! I've learned a lot as well as others, I'm sure.
It looks looked Stevie Wonder stamped that pad.
Broach marks that are across the pad instead of in line with the crankshaft.
I seriously doubt that that engine was installed and stamped on the St. Louis assembly line
It looks looked Stevie Wonder stamped that pad.
Broach marks that are across the pad instead of in line with the crankshaft.
I seriously doubt that that engine was installed and stamped on the St. Louis assembly line
Then I guess you have never seen a factory grind out? These cars were built by regular people on a production line with no time to spare. They could care less about destroying broach marks that we scrutinize 50+ years later. All they cared about was stamping what was required to pass the limited quality control in those days. All of the NCRS judging has turned so many novices into arm chair experts we forget that often times what we “think” are attempts to fool someone these days may in fact been done when they were new AT the factory.
Then I guess you have never seen a factory grind out? These cars were built by regular people on a production line with no time to spare. They could care less about destroying broach marks that we scrutinize 50+ years later. All they cared about was stamping what was required to pass the limited quality control in those days. All of the NCRS judging has turned so many novices into arm chair experts we forget that often times what we “think” are attempts to fool someone these days may in fact been done when they were new AT the factory.
Actually I have seen a few factory grind outs, but I don’t believe that is case with that pad.
such as 'what I have' and 'what might my car originally came with for engine / carburation'. These and related posts are helping a lot. Cheers
1000%.....................but it appears that in OP case, the block head surface was milled/decked at some point using circular cutter.
