I try to understand what engine I got in my '72.
casting#3970010
#298
Stamping # MK31800
Firing Order #18436572

Is that sound the right one ?

Thanks for your help

 

Seb,
Your engine is an early production 350, and should have a code on it like CHQ, CKY, etc. depending on horsepower and transmission. If you give us the VIN and the advertised horsepower and transmission, carb type, etc., we ahould be able to tell you a bit more.
Where is that stamping? If it is on the engine number pad on the front right side of the block, it probably means that it is not the original engine. This is where all the engine data is stored. As to the firing order, all Chev V8s have that FO and it is cast, not stamped, into the inlet manifold. You need to look at the pad on the front of the block.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn
8 months to go

 

Aussiejohn,

Here are some more info :
VIN# 1z67k2s504811
Base Engine 350cid
Manual Transmission
Carb Rochester Quadra-Jet #17057504, other # stamped below #0967AYO
The stamped # MK31800 is on the engine number pad on the front right side of the block as you guessed.

Other thing I noticed, is that next to the casting #3970010 it is also casted "Hecho en Mexico", is that possible the original one was made in Mexico ?

Thanks for the help !

 

I'm just going by the Corvette Black Book here...
Your vin comes out as a 72 convertible, #4811 of 27,004 Corvettes built that year, 6,508 of them convertibles.
The carb number 17057504 was used on a 77 350ci, 180hp (base) with automatic trans, AC, and Calif. emissions.
The engine block casting 3970010 was used in Corvettes through part of MY 1980. I don't see any years that used MK3 as the engine suffix, meaning the engine didn't originate in a Corvette.
Maybe somebody else can chime in and add more information.

 

I did not see an engine suffix anywhere in those numbers. This looks like it could be a Target Master replacement engine.

cc

By the way none of the original engines were made in Mexico.

 

All engines intended for Corvette use have a suffix code stamped on the pad. If you don't have a code as mentioned above that then engine wasn't originally designated for a Corvette.

 

Other casted # I found on the inlet manifold :
8268761
GM3

When I baught it the owner told me that the engine was orignal, now I see that was a lie.
What $ diff does it makes between an original and this 350 ?
The car works very well and I baught it $19.5K, 2 years ago.

Is that still a good deal ?

 

I'm still not convinced you have located the correct place for the engine id.

Look on the passenger side of the engine in front just below and in front of the head. There is a flat pad with numbers stamped (not cast) into it.

If this is the original engine, the VIN derivative which consists of the last nine characters of the VIN number, also known as the serial number, will be stamped there as well as the engine assembly code and suffix. The suffix or broadcast code will be three letters that determine what the engine distinguishing features are.

For instance, my 72 454 has a CSR suffix which means 454, 270 hp, 4-speed and Air Injection Reactor.

My complete engine assembly code is T1i0iCSR. Lowercase i's were often used in place of ones if they were short of them. T stands for the Towanda engine plant and 1i0i means November 1st assembly date.

Yours being a small block will have a V in place of the T. The V stands for the Flint engine plant.


cc

 

The pic in this link is what you should be looking at. I think this is what ccrane is telling you to report.

http://www.nastyz28.com/chevy-engine...ngs.php#suffix

 

M= GM of Mexico
K31800= Sequence number for an over the counter replacement engine.

3970010 is probably the most common casting number ever used for the SBC 327 and 350 engines, in production from 1968 to 1979 and manufactured by the Flint, McKinnon and Mexican plants.

 

Mike,
Thanks for that info, it will go into the computer just left of the right ear. Whether I can ever retrieve it again is another story, LOL.

Seb,
So, it's not the original engine. It might have been in the car when the PO bought it (second hand ) so he might have thought he was telling the truth re originality. What's it worth? To someone who wants a numbers matching, NCRS car, not too much probably. But to someone who wants to drive and enjoy it, it's worth every cent you paid for it.

You can make it "original" by finding its original engine block but that's a needle in the haystack affair. Otherwise, find a block with the right casting and manufacturing dates, but the VIN sequential code will be wrong. You would really need to find a "virgin" block with the right casting date ( about two weeks before the car was built ) but with no numbers stamped on the pad.

Then you would have to "fabricate" the correct sequence of numbers and letters that would have been on the engine when the car left the factory and stamp those onto the block. Then you would have to find two of the right heads, carb, manifold, distributor, etc. and have them added to the mix. You would more than likely have to hire an experienced engine builder to do this and the cost would be high if you wanted the job done properly.

When it was all done you would be several thousand dollars out of pocket and have a car that probably goes no better than it does now. Furthermore, you would be honour bound to tell any future purchaser what you have done so that they know that the engine is not original, even though it looks like it is.

If that person took it to a Corvette show and an experienced NCRS judge examined it, he would probably pick that it wasn'y original and that would put a sour taste in the mouth of the new owner.

Your call, but if it were me, I'd just drive and enjoy it as it is.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn
8 months to go

 

Thanks for bringing the light !
Since the car is running extremly well, I will still run as it is, however following your tips I will start to look around for a engine matching the manufacturing date of the car... never know if I can find a good bargain.

Thanks a lot for your support.
Seb.

 

Seb,

I would suggest that you think twice. A complete replacement engine may cost you 2-5K or more and will still not be the original engine no matter what you spend

You could have it restamped and try to pass it off as original but that is highly unethical and illegal in some areas.

Enjoy what you have.