how can tell whether my 69 ss chevelle was originally a big block car ..i've been to several sites for decoding cowl tags .and vin'S...info not on them???..it came with 396 in it but motor is a couple years older than car..any help would greatly appreciated...stevo

A '69 SS ONLY came with a big block (396) there were NO small block SS cars in '69. Once again, the ONLY way to tell is with the paperwork. Most of the tells are shown here.... http://www.chevelles.com/shop/ss_ident.html