The motor in my 70 Chevelle SS is a 1969 396, but last weekend when I was cleaning and repainting it, i noticed there is NO VIN stamped in the block. The front pad beneath the alternator has the casting and date coding on it, stamped nice and deep, but there is no trace of a VIN. The pad is not pitted or anything, it looks like there was nothing ever stamped here. Could this be a crate motor that someone put in in the very early 70's? The dates on the heads match the motor, but it has an L-88 intake, rather than the cast iron 2BBL piece the motor was supposed to come with. Does anyone have any ideas?

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Ian McDermott
1970 Chevelle SS 396
Gold Member #101
E-mail: havoc@chevelles.com
Web page: www.columbia.edu/~ijm6/chevelle (http://www.columbia.edu/~ijm6/chevelle) (This should work...)
ICQ UIN: 3923441

Ian -

There have been a number of posts recently on this same topic - aren't you reading every post like the rest of us? http://www.chevelles.com/forum/wink.gif In 69 and 70 (possibly other years as well), many engines came through with the date and letter code only on the pad. For some of these cars, the VIN is stamped on the block above the oil filter. This area is not machined, so the #s are difficult to read. For other cars, the motor has no VIN at all. Check it out and tell us what you find.

By the way, do you have the infamous JQ "wagon motor" that was a common transplant into many a Chevelle? A whopping 265hp, 2-barrel, low-compression towing motor, but hey, at least its a big-block!

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Rainer Seitz
Vancouver, WA
Team Chevelle Gold #50

'68 SS396 (soon to be for sale!)
'70 LS3 400 Malibu
'70 Malibu convertible 350/300hp
rseitz@chevelles.com



[This message has been edited by Rainer (edited 09-13-99).]

(I just started visiting the site again now that I am back at school and have an ultra-fast network connection - I can't mess with the 56K modem at home)

Yeah, I have the JQ block! I plan on getting a 454 or 502 maybe 3 or 4 years down the road, so the 396 will probably end up in my dad's 71 wagon. It has the L88 intake and a big holley double pumper, so with a good cam, ignition and the 4.11's, it should be a wicked street cruiser. Everybody knows torque is way more fun than horsepower. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Hey Rainer-
Is the stamping above the filter the same for a 65? My 65 doesn't have a trace of a VIN either, but it was built 6 months after my 64 which did have a VIN stamping.(both built at the Fremont plant) The 65 does have a 'DE' stamping which is correct for a 65 chevelle 283 so I was trying to figure out if it was #'s matching? But there isnt a freakin' VIN!
Any Help?

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Steve
64SS-327-4spd-sold to Original owner!
65 Malibu 283/PG!!!
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/stevedmalibu.jpg
Team Chevelle Member #71

Steve -

I've owned a 69 and a 70 with said stampings near the oil filter, so I speak from experience with regard to those years. Unfortunately, I'm clueless on the 65. My best guess is that if you have an engine code on the pad but no VIN, and the date code on the pad is close to the build date of the car, then its probably the original motor. As far as your car being "numbers matching," I guess its all in how you interpret the term. I would say yes.

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Rainer Seitz
Vancouver, WA
Team Chevelle Gold #50

'68 SS396 (soon to be for sale!)
'70 LS3 400 Malibu
'70 Malibu convertible 350/300hp
rseitz@chevelles.com

steve, they didn't stamp the vin on the engine in 65, not sure when it started but i'm working on a 68 camaro that has the vin on the engine.
with early cars you have to go with the casting dates and the DE stamping that you have found. casting dates on engine block and heads should be prior to build date of car.

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Philip Valentine
Lakeside, AZ
Team Chevelle Member #42 GOLD
philip@chevelles.com

Philip -

VINs were indeed being stamped back in 65. I have a 65 Impala SS that I've owned since '83, and it does have a VIN along with the code on the front pad. This was a St. Louis-built car. My guess is that the practice of stamping may have varied with models, assembly plants, etc. Looks like another question that requires some in-depth research.

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Rainer Seitz
Vancouver, WA
Team Chevelle Gold #50

'68 SS396 (soon to be for sale!)
'70 LS3 400 Malibu
'70 Malibu convertible 350/300hp
rseitz@chevelles.com

Thanks Rainer, I have a 65 283 and it does not have the vin stamped on the front pad. I guess the only thing we can count on is inconsistency. May even be a good question for Tom to use in Todays Trivia.

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Philip Valentine
Lakeside, AZ
Team Chevelle Member #42 GOLD
philip@chevelles.com

It is not clear how many engines had this before 1968, one source indicates it was used on all High Performance and up level models like the SS. It appears 1962 was the first year and then only on the 327/300hp and 409's. I have seen several 64 283 and 327/250hp engines that do not have it. Corvettes had been receiving this since Jan 1960. One of the reason's to stamp the vin on the transmission flange near the oil filter was to deter theft. The VIN code is stamped when the engine is mated to the chassis and assembly sequence sometimes blocked access to the pad so the alternate location was used for expediency.

[This message has been edited by elcamino (edited 09-16-99).]

ElCamino-
You have an enormous wealth of knowledge dont ya? I think your post explains it, my 64 was an SS 327/300hp model, code JR, which I believe was the high horse model from GM in 64(not including the L76 350hp version which was dropped early) so a high horse motored SS could've quite possibly gotten a VIN stamp whereas my 65 a 283/195hp non SS most likely would not.
Sound about accurate?
Rainer- The matching numbers term I picked up with my 64's 327 having a VIN stamp, so I was looking for a matching VIN stamp on the 65, just to find out if it is the original motor.(which is being brought up due to the fact of having a correctly suffixed motor in the car but it having 327 badges on the fenders, I hope its the correct motor with swapped emblems)

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Steve
64SS-327-4spd-sold to Original owner!
65 Malibu 283/PG!!!
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/stevedmalibu.jpg
Team Chevelle Member #71

Sometimes a careless machine shop takes off the numbers when they deck the block.