69 Engine VIN# Stamp
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
69 Engine VIN# Stamp
OK, I am going to raise some eyebrows but trust me, I am honest.
I just bought a 69 matching number vette, 350\300hp. The engine was suffering(oval cylinder bores and warped heads) and I had it completely rebuilt. Well...they ground off the VIN codes on the front right stamp area.
I have someone to restamp it for me but I cannot find a picture of how the vin was originally laid out on the stamp or the other codes stamped there.
Does anyone have an image of a VIN stamping in the year range that would be correct for a 350\300hp. Please blot out the vin# for your safety(but leave it enough so I can tell how it is laid out..)
thx
I just bought a 69 matching number vette, 350\300hp. The engine was suffering(oval cylinder bores and warped heads) and I had it completely rebuilt. Well...they ground off the VIN codes on the front right stamp area.
I have someone to restamp it for me but I cannot find a picture of how the vin was originally laid out on the stamp or the other codes stamped there.Does anyone have an image of a VIN stamping in the year range that would be correct for a 350\300hp. Please blot out the vin# for your safety(but leave it enough so I can tell how it is laid out..)
thx
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,711
Likes: 43
From: San Antonio TX
The factory machining marks where the deck surface is plained parallel to the block's length (called broaching) are gone. That's problem #1. Problem #2 is that the stamps used to create both the code and the vin components are very unique. If your friend doesn't have these unique stamps then what you'll end up with is a stamping pad without the broach marks with the wrong stamp fonts. It's better to do nothing and just keep the receipt from the machine shop to verify, along with the casting codes, that it is the original block. Having a messed up restamp looks like you're trying to defraud, which is harder to recover from.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,137
Likes: 51
From: Cartersville GA
I have the same problem, but have the receipts, and the date codes etc on the block casting will help to prove it is the original block.
I had the engine redone years ago, and when they asked if they should deck the block, of course I said yes. Just didn't think about the stampings until afterwards when I saw the decked block. I can't repeat the words I used at the time, but it was my fault, so you move on.
Better to leave it unstamped, and have the explanation than to stamp it and raise questions about integrity.
I had the engine redone years ago, and when they asked if they should deck the block, of course I said yes. Just didn't think about the stampings until afterwards when I saw the decked block. I can't repeat the words I used at the time, but it was my fault, so you move on.
Better to leave it unstamped, and have the explanation than to stamp it and raise questions about integrity.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 3,330
Likes: 13
From: Europe , Luxembourg
Hi
I don't understand this mashine shops. They know that they are redoing old engines and should deck the block in such a way not to touch the stamp pad.
That is surely possible without bigger problems.
Günther
I don't understand this mashine shops. They know that they are redoing old engines and should deck the block in such a way not to touch the stamp pad.
That is surely possible without bigger problems.
Günther
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Thanks guys for the wisdom. I think you are right. I'll just leave it as it is and keep the receipts. It just kills me though to have worked so hard to find that matching numbers car and see it destroyed like that.
CF Community Team
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 19,367
Likes: 5,244
From: Cape Cod, Mass.
2025 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C8 Z06/7/E-Ray of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C8 of the Year Finalist Unmodified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C1 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2017 Corvette of the Year Finalist
2016 C2 of Year
2015 C3 of Year Finalist
There is an acid etching process or the use of "Frye's Reagent" which may allow you to be able to see some of the numbers on the pad depending on how much they decked the block. Otherwise, if you have the correct block casting #s and the date codes are in the ball park for your VIN it is pretty apparent your engine is original. (Especially if you have the machine shop data). Most of the fraud out there is small block cars that have magically become big blocks. Not too many people trying to fake base motor cars.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
