raritan

Would a D172 870 block be correct in a 62 with sn 9943.

thomas@yellville.net

Procrastination Racing

You are cutting it REALLY close.

According to the Birthday Calculator, yours was built Apr 18, 1962.
A D172 (Apr 17, 1962) would have to fly down from Flint.

What is the assembly date stamped on the block? I bet it is F0418xx and that would be nearly impossible to have made it in your car.

http://www.ncrswi.bizland.com/bday/bdaycalc.htm

raritan

The block in this car has NO numbers on the pad. It is blank. Would it be possible that the original block was replaced under warranty.

Procrastination Racing

April 17, 1962 was a Tuesday. April 18 was Wednesday, so both are good working days.

If the block was cast early in first shift, it could cool and be machined in time to be assembled and shipped to St. Louis for installation on Wednesday. According to John Z, it took about 10 hours to get a Flint engine to St. Louis, so it could get there in tme.

This is especially true for a case where yours could be a late part of the day built car, or if the birthday calculator is off a day. It is, after all, only an estimate.

I would leave the pad blank for now. Several reasons:

1. Unless you know all the times, not just dates, involved, you don't know if it is possible to get there.
   
2. You may find a block with a better choice of dates, like D142 or whatever. Then a blank pad '62 327 block becomes a terrific trading or selling piece.
   
3. Unless you know exactly how to stamp it, which fonts were used that day, any quirks in that sequence, your restamp will be detected and then you have not only marked yours as fake, you cast doubts on all aspects of the car. And you have wasted a block as far as the big value - the blank pad.

As to replacement, it is always possible. However, I haven't seen too many that needed a block replaced that didn't also need crank, rods, and piston, so it is more likely to replace the short block than just the block.

raritan

I agree, however, who knows what fonts were used that day. I dont think that information would be available. Would it?

JohnZ

Nope, that's too tight. Even if the casting clock indicates it was cast on first shift at Saginaw on the 17th, it couldn't be machined and assembled until late in second shift at Flint V-8, and engines went by train to St. Louis, which took from 2-4 days depending on marshalling yard congestion and train scheduling. Expedited truck shipment to St. Louis still wouldn't have gotten it to St. Louis in time to get into a car produced off the line on the 18th, and truck shipments were very rare.

I'd look for another block - you'd never be able to make that one fly on the judging field.