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I have a 1969 427/435, not numbers matching, but has a period correct motor. The person I bought the vette from told me it was originally a 427/400 car, but that motor was long gone before his friend got it in 1989.
I have been doing researching anyway, mainly because I find it interesting, to find out more about my girl.
Does this deck pad look modified? If so, not sure what someone was trying to do here. I know this is where the VIN is located, will have to see what the leftmost side has on it this evening (thought I had gotten the hole pad, but tough angle to snap).
In my opinion, it almost looks like someone decked the pad and then covered a section with something like JB weld? I can see the lines then they end right there.
Any and all comments welcome!
Vette was born March 6, 1969 and sold from the Amonette-Nixon Chevrolet dealership in Smithville, TN. Just some interesting tidbits.
Hello Scott,
You're right!
It appears the block was decked. The 'swirl marks" are a good indication of that.
Then someone went bananas with a set of stamps.
Is there any relationship between the car's vin number and the stamped numbers?
Regards.....
Thanks! Just trying to figure out 'how' the owner i got this from new the car was originally a 427/400 car (without ever seeing the motor, it was not with the vehicle)
Does it look modified? It's one of the most hacked up engine pads I've seen. It should look like this if it's a big block. Maybe you can find a tiny trace of some original numbers but doesn't look good.
If some original parts are on the engine, you can get their part numbers and maybe track down where the engine came from. Intake manifold, heads, exhaust manifolds should have part numbers on them. Also, casting number and casting date should be on the block somewhere. I don't know much about big blocks.
Last edited by zxryder72; Dec 18, 2025 at 10:42 AM.
Does this deck pad look modified? If so, not sure what someone was trying to do here. I know this is where the VIN is located, will have to see what the leftmost side has on it this evening (thought I had gotten the hole pad, but tough angle to snap).
In my opinion, it almost looks like someone decked the pad and then covered a section with something like JB weld? I can see the lines then they end right there.
Does the pad look modified, oh yeah! As Alan said the swirl marks on the pad appear to be the result of someone decking the block. I also tend to agree with you that it looks like someone did something to the lower right side of the pad, maybe with JB Weld. If you look above the "5" and the first "8", it looks like you can see what is (was) a "5" and "8" previously stamped in the same area. My guess would be someone stamped something on the pad there and then decided they didn't like the result, covering it with JB Weld or something similar and then restamping it?
I have no idea what the numbers stamped there indicate, as they don't really look like a partial VIN stamp. They may have been stamped by an engine shop to identify their work. "95" could be the year the engine was done and what ever is stamped after the 95 ("8488" "488" or "#88"?) could be a job number or the 88th engine they did that year? There was a time when it was pretty common for engine shops to stamp something on pads to identify the job as their's for warranty and other reasons. Unfortunately, there was also a time when every rebuilt engine got decked, though there was often no reason to do that.
Originally Posted by Scott Hill
Thanks! Just trying to figure out 'how' the owner i got this from new the car was originally a 427/400 car (without ever seeing the motor, it was not with the vehicle)
Unless the original build sheet was still attached to the gas tank, there really isn't any way to know for sure what engine came in a car. There are always some clues to an engine such as the redline of the tach, and either the presence or lack of a fuel return line on engines with Holley carbs, but there's nothing concrete that can't be changed or duplicated.
Totally agree! Thats why I was posting it here. Motor works great. The cast number is what it should be for an L71, the casting date is July when the car was born in March. Again, this is not a numbers matching car, at all, I was just doing research on the motor to figure out if this had someone else's VIN on it.
Yeah, its a BB 427 casting (see picture) with the date code of July 1969 (not pictured). Period correct for car, but again, not the motor that came with it originally.
The car was found in 1989, was a crap light blue color (original is riverside gold), and the motor was missing. Complete rebuild was from 2012-1016.
In all, appreciate everyone's input. I was just curious. definitely had some decking done and some 'weird' attempts at puting some numbers on them. I have read sometimes the shops that decked them would hammer their own code indicating the date it was done. Not sure about that, but have seen a few like it.
Engine Deck Pad
