I’m looking at a ‘68 with a 427/390. I’d like some help with the VIN and opinions on how things look under the hood. To me, the VIN numbers look small and there’s a larger gap between a few numbers.
sorry that the pictures couldn’t be better but maybe this is good enough. Thanks.

 

It's hard to tell anything with the pad covered in paint. Get the paint of the pad using thinner, paint stripper or by some other non abrasive means and take some more photos.

 

The suffix IL is correct for a 1968 427/390 manual tyranny. The VIN derivative is not visible with so much paint. Could be the original motor. Check the tranny stamp VIN derivative to see if it matches.

As to the rest, it is fairly well messed with:
smog system missing
headers
ignition shielding missing
fuel filter and lines not stock

I am sure others will find more

 

Valve covers have been switched with crankcase breather on the wrong side and not connected to air cleaner.
Coil and ignition wires changed
Too many worm clamps

 

Radiator surge tank missing
No power steering on a big block is not good

 

Is the clutch linkage maxed out on adjustment?

 

Pretty sure the '68 427/390hp did not have an expansion tank on the fender – radiator just overflowed directly to the ground underneath. I have a '67 big block without power steering and really don't have an issue with it, especially after it begins rolling.
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• I do see that this engine has what appears to be an aluminum intake which original 390s did not have.
• The three-groove top pulley is missing the innermost belt between the crank and water pump. Not sure about the forward groove, if used for AIR pump but used for A/C which this car doesn't appear to have come with (by the looks of the firewall).
• Engine build date looks like June 11 - is the VIN of the car similarly late in the '68 model year?

 

I don’t think this car had factory a/c. It does have round vents on the left and right of the dash which I assumed were for heat. There is no build sheet and I don’t know the status of the tank sticker.
The VIN is 23333. It’s hard to see the VIN derivative on the pad but to me, it does not look factory. The numbers look smaller and do not look like they are spaced properly. The font looks off also.
it is a 4-speed but not sure which one. Thanks.

 

I'm pretty sure all 68 427's used the 3 groove water pump pulley.

On the groove closest to the block the belt only went to the crank (though on 427's with AC there was an idler on this belt too). The middle groove always drove the alternator. The outer groove drove the A.I.R. pump, and on cars with AC a single belt on the outer groove drove both the A.I.R. and the AC compressor. On cars with PS, the PS pump was driven off of a double pulley on the alternator. The belt setup on 68 & 69 427's, especially those with AC and/or PS can be a real mess to figure out.

The VIN on the pad appears to be 23,388 (I think?) which according to the C3 Birthday Calculator was June 25, so the assembly date on the block works with the VIN. We just don't know if the same VIN is on the car. I assume (hope) the OP checked that they were the same before posting?

 

It looks like you were responding to 67:72 at the same time I was.

The round vents on each side of the dash are for the flow threw ventilation system, what GM called "Astro-Ventilation". GM eliminated the vent windows found on earlier years in 68 and replaced it was a system that used the heater blower motor, duct work and vents in the rear deck to provide fresh air to the interior with the windows closed. Cars with AC used the dash side vents and added a top center vent over the dash center gauges.

As I said in my first post, with paint on the pad it's hard to really see the stamping and make out any details in the pad, which is why I thought the VIN might be 23,388, not the 23,333 you said it is. 23,333 was built on June 24th, so the VIN still works with the engine's assembly date of June 11th. In case you weren't aware, the first stamping on the block decodes as "T" for the Tonawanda engine plant, "06" for June, "II" for the 11th, and "IL" is the engine code. All of this means the engine is a 427/390 with a 4 speed (IL), that was assembled on June (06) 11th (II) at Tonawanda NY (T).

As far as the spacing, size and fonts used, they did vary. The engine assembly stamp was made at Tonawanda, and was in a larger font then the VIN stamp that was added to the block in St Louis. "1"'s and "I"'s were often interchanged during stamping, as were "0"'s and "O"'s and "6"s and "9"'s often got flipped to use as either. There also appeared to be a couple different fonts that were used, especially at St Louis for the VIN stamps. The engine and VIN stamps were all done using a gang holder, but even with the holder individual digits could be misaligned, high, low, etc, within the holder, so spacing could vary a little.

I may be wrong but I think what you're questioning is the gap between the "8" and the "4" in the VIN stamp? If you look closely there appears to be an "S" in that gap, which identifies the St Louis assembly plant where Corvettes were built. There again, this is where it would be helpful to see the pad without paint on it. The other thing we look for on an engine pad is signs of "broach marks", which were faint lines that were left on the pad by the surface machining process when the engine was assembled. This is why I previously said to remove the paint from the pad in a none abrasive manner, since the broach marks can easily be lost by cleaning the pad with something like a wire brush or sand paper.

 

Thanks. The seller claims original engine. I had concerns about the VIN stamping (and still do). The seller is going to remove the paint on the stamp and I’ll post picture if and when that happens. Appreciate the feedback all.

 

Hi Jeff, it looks like this could likely be the original motor, but we'll know more when the paint is removed. Please ask him not to scrape it, but to carefully use paint remover - you don't want the broach marks to be messed up.

As stated, there are lots of modifications that have been done, but none that aren't fixable - after all it's 55 years old. I'll bet there are current owners of some 442's, H/O's, SS's, etc that I previously owned who are not pleased with some of the mods I made on them 'back in the day'. I'm sure you know, but you'll need to get rid of the rubber fuel line/filter.

For reference, I'm pasting in a pic of the pad on our late (Aug) '68 427 (435). You can clearly see how the stamping worked, and the broach marks (with a few scratches). Hope this helps. Best, Paul




PS: no PS on our car. No problem at all, and I'm running 255/60's. Just inflate them to 34-35 lbs and it's no problem - and I have to do some pretty sharp turns at virtually no speed as I get out of our driveway. If the tires are under-inflated, you'll notice!