Someday I would like to meet a person from GM corporate that could shed some light on the number of big block high perf engines that were actually '...replaced in 197X' by GM. This story is starting to wear thin with me. Where did all these CE block motors come from? Are most of them just restamps, or are they crate motors/short blocks purchased over the GM parts counter by hot rodders and racing teams?

I thought and could be wrong, but are they not GM warranty replacments? http://www.chevelles.com/forum/confused.gif

That's what I thought "CE" = "Counter Engine".


I would too like to know once and for all what it means.

My 454 2 bolt block is date casted in '72, the stamping starts with the mystery "CE".

So, what does it mean?

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Cable

-'70 El Camino Stroker 496 Project (stay tuned: http://www.chevelles.com/forum/Forum4/HTML/011834.html)


"He who dies with the most toys.....still dies...."

http://www.chevelles.com/forum/Forum4/HTML/011400.html

Here's my understanding of the "CE" engines...

Contrary top popular belief, "CE" does not stand for Crate Engine, Counter Engine, Counter Exchange, or any other acronym one might come up with. Rather it's an alpha-numeric code that designates the GM division: C=Chevrolet, and the component: E=engine, T=transmission. The first number following the letters indicates the model year; 9='69, 0='70, 1='71 and so on. The remaining five digits are sequential numbers assigned by the manufacturing plants. The serial sequence numbers are endemic to each plant, and even further broken down for each engine type (ie: L4, L6, SBC, and BBC) .

This numbering system apparently applied to all service engine assemblies, partial engines, fitted cylinder cases, and individual cylinder cases. There have been some documented engines that were purchased "over-the-counter" that don't bear any of the "CE" identifying marks discussed above. How this could happen is still the subject of much conjecture.

Hope this helps shed some light on the nature of "CE" engines and how the designation came about.

Chuck

Thanks for shedding some light on this topic...so they are not all 'warranty motors' after all. I guess it sounds better when selling a car to say it was replaced under warranty, early in the cars life, than to say it was replaced with some unknown build from a .060 over core from the junkyard. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

I know in my case my car has one of those engines. I have a list of every owner since day one of my car, and a phone call to a much previous owner confirmed my warranty replacement. Obviously, that's not always the case, though, and there's no foolproof way to know.

Looks like ACES1 covered it but I think one of my old National Chevelles Owners Assocation newsletter's had a write up about the CE engines. If you want I can look it up and scan you a copy and e-mail it to you.

I would enjoy reading the article. Fax is 763.241.5224 or email is fine, too.

I would enjoy reading the article. Fax is 763.241.5224 or email is fine, too.

ACES1 hit the bullseye, as worded straight out of the April 14, 1969 Chevy Dealer Service Information Bulletin.
C= Chevy Division
L= Oldsmobile
K= Cadillac
B= Buick
P= Pontiac

E= Engine
Hence a CE would be a Chevy Engine PE a Pontiac engine and so on

T= Transission
CT would be a Chevy Tranny
PT would be a Pontiac tranny and so on.

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Jeff C
67/68 & 69 RS's
65 442

Would a bare block have the CE stamp? The original owner of our 396 car claims the engine dropped a valve early on and GM replaced the short block with the CE assembly which the car still has today.

[This message has been edited by Keith Tedford (edited 01-31-2003).]

On the head surface, on the pass side.

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Cable

-'70 El Camino Stroker 496 Project (stay tuned: http://www.chevelles.com/forum/Forum4/HTML/011834.html)


"He who dies with the most toys.....still dies...."

http://www.chevelles.com/forum/Forum4/HTML/011400.html

that a good question, these warranty blocks that are stamped CE, is it just the block that is warrantied, or is the whole short block?

No problem markrinker I will get it scanned and on it's way to you on Sat.