i know this isn't a nova site but i bought a 63 nova ss covertible and was going to replace the stock motor with a 283 that i bought but i want to find out if the 6 cylinder in the car is the orginal engine i haven't found to much information on 6 cylinders i know there not to popular but the numbers i found on the engine are 3850817c and con2 don't know if that means anything and also found f34 looks like the date code but looks like it would be to new to be in this car if it is like the v8's i did not see any number like a suffix code maby i don't where to look though any help or information would be greatly appreciated

i found the other number i was looking for on the engine it is Fo616A

I show 2 engines from 62-64 Chevy IIs with a single digit suffix code and only one for a 6-cyl and that being "H" for a 194/3-spd manual. The rest is easy, F for Flint, MI and 0616 for June 16. Is there an assembly date on your body tag - something like 06D, 06E, etc? That would show June 4th or 5th week. In other words, the engine should predate the body date by anywhere from 1 to 4 or 5 weeks (in most cases) if there's a chance it's original to the car.

http://www.novaresource.org has some good decoding info.

the last letter is definitely a A the car is a power glide on the floor also i have found on one site the engine number 3850817 without the c shows up as 62-78 230-250

I show "A" used for full size passenger car from 56-64 for 6cyl. The 64 version is 230/140hp with 3sp trans. Casting date F34 would be June 3rd '64.

Rene
66_Malibu