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SPECIFIC question where to find matching numbers on 69 RR engine

I clearly see 7 17 on the dizzy pad. I/we faintly see 383 above it but just barely and i mean barely, below and way to the right is HP pretty clear.
To the left of the 383 in certain light I think I see an H at certain angles this is less visible then the barely visible 383. Engine was decked, so to far left on top i see nothing, but can just barely see the faint mill mark lines.
Here's what we thought odd. It has 8 18 68/69 cast mark but 7 17 stamp. Engine sat for almost a whole year??
 
I 200 grit sanded several spots, including behind the oil send. I couldnt see anything there, but probably should relook now that 2 of you say you might see something there
 
Here is photos in photo you can see the bottom of both 3s in 383, just a bit more clear in real life. i cant make any H in photos but at one angle with bright light I see faint something that appears to be H. see nothing in photo of oil send. Anyone else see something there?

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Here's what we thought odd. It has 8 18 68/69 cast mark but 7 17 stamp. Engine sat for almost a whole year??

Anything is possible, but I find it pretty odd. My block was cast on Feb 17th 1969, engine was built Feb 28th. My exhaust manifolds were cast Feb 27th and my car was supposed to be built on Feb 25th!

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Gonna be hard to prove it is the original motor. No vin stamp, the pad basically useless, no fender tag. Word of mouth is no proof that the engine hasnt been changed.
You have a road runner vert with a build sheet to prove the options on the car. That's what you have. Not #'s matching if i were a buyer. Just cant be proven.
 
think I will try some muriatic acid, see if anything develops. At this point cant hurt.
 
Probably have one more go at it before I give up.. I see something right between the 2 oil units when I blow this photo up.

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I clearly see 7 17 on the dizzy pad. I/we faintly see 383 above it but just barely and i mean barely, below and way to the right is HP pretty clear.
To the left of the 383 in certain light I think I see an H at certain angles this is less visible then the barely visible 383. Engine was decked, so to far left on top i see nothing, but can just barely see the faint mill mark lines.
Here's what we thought odd. It has 8 18 68/69 cast mark but 7 17 stamp. Engine sat for almost a whole year??
that is odd. honestly, I feel it leads more credence to the notion that it was a replacement block done at the factory. Did you ever post the build date off the build sheet?
 
that is odd. honestly, I feel it leads more credence to the notion that it was a replacement block done at the factory. Did you ever post the build date off the build sheet?
I went back and found where you said the build date was Jan 20th, 1969.
So let's recap.

Block was cast in August of 1968(or possibly 69 since the cast number is barely readable on the last digit)
Stamp on the Distributor pad says 7-17, but no year, so would mean the casting date does infact mean its a 68 casting however, it wasnt assembled until 7-17... of sometime AFTER 1968. You're car's build date being in January of 69, is 6 months between the build date and the engine assembly date(at the minimum). It didn't take Chrylser that long to build a car. So i really think you're looking at a warranty/replacement block at some point. Could have happened before the original owner bought it even.

I'm hopeful though, that its just a rare/freak thing and you find the vin number when you wire wheel it off. If not, I think it's all but confirmed, its not a numbers matching engine. That said, what are the casting numbers/dates on the exhaust manifolds?
 
Probably have one more go at it before I give up.. I see something right between the 2 oil units when I blow this photo up.

View attachment 593853

GOOD, because two others here already told you to look there, one even blew up the view thinking they saw numbers there. You previously stated you'd already scraped looking for '68 style markings..
 
GOOD, because two others here already told you to look there, one even blew up the view thinking they saw numbers there. You previously stated you'd already scraped looking for '68 style markings..
:luvplace:
 
get a wire wheel, put into a drill and wire wheel it off. that's going to be the best.

YES... don't use a sander disc and remove any more numbers. Appears where your 383 went. A "D" would have confirmed 1968 and an "E" 1969. An H makes no sense.. '72
 
YES... don't use a sander disc and remove any more numbers. Appears where your 383 went. A "D" would have confirmed 1968 and an "E" 1969. An H makes no sense.. '72
yeah. I agree. Now about 2 years ago, I had a 440 block with a casting date of 1973. However, the pad showed it was assembled in 75.
 
This is something that people need to research before buying a vehicle. "The previous owner said" doesnt mean anything. It isnt such a big deal if it is or isnt #'s matching if you know coming in and going out. Don't buy a car and assume since "the previous owner said" that it is the original motor then turn around and try to sell a car as #'s matching with just the claim that the 2 previous owners "said" the motor has never been changed. You must have clearly stamped evidence to back it up.

If you are not sure what you are looking for when buying a car and #'s with documentation means something to you find someone knowledgeable to go look with you. Feed them, pay them, something...
On a car like this #'s are going to make a significant difference in value whether you like it or not.
 
Just to throw another bit of info out there, most warranty blocks had "WT" for "Water Tested" stamped on them somewhere, usually on the top pad if I remember correctly. One other thing that hasn't been discussed is the color of the block. If it hasn't been repainted, 1968 blocks were painted turquoise except for maybe a few oddballs. 1969 was first year engines were painted orange if I'm not mistaken...
 
To follow up on Grady’s comment, I sold off my original 383 to put in a 440 for drag racing. Punched a hole between #1&3 cyl and found another block to rebuild just for the street and ended up with a 68block and all this happened in the late 70’s/ early 80’s.
 
Block was turquoise when I pulled it out.
I was guessing on the build date, just something I read somewhere about order number and Julian 10,000 day data. Probably not correct on Jan 20 build date.
I did air grinder wire wheel on dizzy pad, passenger pad and drivers side cast date. but it only helped on the dizzy pad. I didn't do the oil stamp area but did sand the drivers side where I was told the numbers should be, just didn't do between the sending units.
Yes, H makes no sense and probably wasn't anything, just thought I saw a hint of what looked like something resembling an H, but the other 2 guys staring at it with me didn't see anything.
Thought I posted the entire build sheet but maybe only posted the top portion here. Will post a full copy . I'm about ready to stop looking for numbers but don't remember saying I wasn't going to look for anything relating to 1968 on the block. If I did I must have meant something else at the time.
JUST WANT YOU GUYS TO KNOW I REALLY APPRECIATE THE INPUT/HELP/FEEDBACK.

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Block was turquoise when I pulled it out.

Now the picture is becoming clearer. Knowing that it was turquoise, combined with the fact that there is nothing stamped on the pad near the oil pan, the casting date which appears to be 68 and the numbers that I faintly see in the typical 1968 location on the bell housing flange all lead me to speculate that you have a 1968 engine. Your build sheet says 120 (January 20) which is the scheduled build date. That is not up for interpretation. It's just most likely not the engine that came with your car from day 1. I don't think there is much need to look for any more numbers. Just my opinion...
 
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