3 serial numbers on 440 block?

[slippery]

More importantly, what’s the overall condition of it? Standard bore? What’s been done to it in the past? Rotate freely with a breaker bar?

Sorry was busy all yesterday. Yes its freely spinning and in good shape otherwise.
Im ready to buy it but im feeling this bunch of numbers is a deal breaker cause im wondering if it was stolen Or if police are still looking for 51 year old blocks? Or that it could be confiscated after i do work on it and put it in a vehicle?

 

[slippery]

I would be more concerned about overall condition of the motor to hell with the numbers.
But If you want to play the gumbers natching game;
A February build would have had a VON stamped on the back of the motor right below the oil pressure sender or the rim of the bell housing.That will tell you what car it came out of.
View attachment 352368

 

[detmatt]

Sorry was busy all yesterday. Yes its freely spinning and in good shape otherwise.
Im ready to buy it but im feeling this bunch of numbers is a deal breaker cause im wondering if it was stolen Or if police are still looking for 51 year old blocks? Or that it could be confiscated after i do work on it and put it in a vehicle?

Buy it if you need it, nobody is looking for it.

 

[slippery]

Yes i looked there. This block has no pad like in your picture and i scraped paint from bell housing edge, nothing..

 

[slippery]

Oh i see now what youve done on pic! I will have to go and scrape where you number is. I only scraped to the right of the oil sender hole! Not the side you have shown! Thanks

 

[Davea Lux]

Sorry was busy all yesterday. Yes its freely spinning and in good shape otherwise.
Im ready to buy it but im feeling this bunch of numbers is a deal breaker cause im wondering if it was stolen Or if police are still looking for 51 year old blocks? Or that it could be confiscated after i do work on it and put it in a vehicle?

There is no chance anyone is still looking for a 50 year old block, so that is not a concern. Engine serial numbers were usually not re-stamped, there would be no reason to do that at the factory. I could believe that somebody with a hangover could have stamped the number upside down, but that would not explain why it was done twice more. It is an interesting production variance, if that is what it is. Given that this is not a "matching number" application, as long as the engine shows a '68 casting date and is otherwise sound, go ahead and use it. I would suggest a mic of the bore size to be sure it is not already .60 over before spending any money to buy it..

Dave

 

[slippery]

There is no chance anyone is still looking for a 50 year old block, so that is not a concern. Engine serial numbers were usually not re-stamped, there would be no reason to do that at the factory. I could believe that somebody with a hangover could have stamped the number upside down, but that would not explain why it was done twice more. It is an interesting production variance, if that is what it is. Given that this is not a "matching number" application, as long as the engine shows a '66 casting date and is otherwise sound, go ahead and use it. I would suggest a mic of the bore size to be sure it is not already .60 over before spending any money to buy it..

Dave

Thanks for the help. I would agree with all that youve said. Yes i mic'd it at 4.320" i do want it very much. In good shape with forged crank

 

[slippery]

How does all this Punching and Stamping go together with the casting date on the right side if the block? Who really cares 'cept G.G. and only he enjoys Peein' into the wind. Ah '69 block will get you a Thick Wall and a Forged Crank. What else you need to know? If it 's not a Daytona what difference does it make? Just sayin', Jer

 

[slippery]

Oh i see now what youve done on pic! I will have to go and scrape where you number is. I only scraped to the right of the oil sender hole! Not the side you have shown! Thanks

Still no luck after i scraped other side below oil sender. I think im gonna by it. The casting date is jan. 17 1968.

 

[slippery]

How does all this Punching and Stamping go together with the casting date on the right side if the block? Who really cares 'cept G.G. and only he enjoys Peein' into the wind. Ah '69 block will get you a Thick Wall and a Forged Crank. What else you need to know? If it 's not a Daytona what difference does it make? Just sayin', Jer

 

[slippery]

Nothing,actually.
Being mass produced,the unwritten rule of thumb is from casting date to assembly and then put into a vehicle is 3 months.
Engine plants may or may not be in the same building or town as the assembly plant,so to speak.
BUT
It has been seen before where short blocks sat for over a year before assembly and at last minute then given a VON (vehicle order number) or VIN
Also seen engines for example a 72 340 Demon # matching but has a 71 cast date block,71 crank but has '72 lo-compression pistons.
The assembled date stampings and VIN concurs with the build date of the car.
Not uncommon for them to use up leftover parts.
Ditto late build cars have newer parts for next model year.
My buddy has a late build 74 Charger..So late in fact it has a 75 gas tank.

In this hobby never say never unless you are Galen Govier.

i found no vin number stamped anywhere on it. In a december 1996 "chrysler car enthusiast" magazine , it said " if no V.I.N. is found on a block, it was replaced by the factory under a warranty claim." Also says "prior to 1970, the complete VIN or a portion could 'possibly' be stamped on the passenger side of block."
Thanks everyone for your help and ideas.
. Even though this serial number is one day earlier than what is stamped on top i.d. pad, which is feb .13 / 68. That will be the number ill stand by. And that number has been restamped with no x's on it. The other wrong number is actually feb. 1st 1968. Simple mistake from someone.?

My conclusion is that these serial numbers do nothing more than confirm the production date that is also stamped on the upper side i.d. pad to right of distributor. And give a few more engine details. They dont have anything to do with proving that it was stolen from another car!

But thats why they introduced the V.I.N. STAMPINGS. So as to trace if it was stolen from another car! And since my block has NO V.I.N. anywhere, Neither i or anyone else can prove that it was ever stolen.

So im gonna buy this thing ! As Thats what i was mainly worried about.

 

[slippery]

www.moparts.org has a tech archive that explains mopar engine serial numbers, starting with '68 production:
Sample: PT 440 2865 0001, next to starter opening.
PT is the code for the Trenton engine plant, 2865 is the Julian date basted on the 10,000 day calendar, 0001 is the first engine produced on that day. None of these numbers directly relate to the type car the engine was installed in.

Except as noted in the previous post, most of the engines that have partial VIN numbers have them located on the pan rail on the opposite side of the engine, example VIN: PH23TOD100001,
P=Plymouth
H=Hard Top
2= 2dr
3= Price Class
T= 440, 350HP
0= Year of Production, 1970
D= Production Plant (Belvidere)
100001= Sequence number starting at 100k.

The last 8 digits will normally appear on the pan rail 0D100001. The last 8 digits should match the last 8 digits of the VIN. Sample attached.
Warranty engines are known to have the full VIN stamped on the block by the dealer, but policy varied from dealer to dealer. As far as the serial number on your '68 engine is concerned, I have never seen one stamped and re-stamped like that. Check the casting date for the engine to be sure it actually is a '68 engine, check the assembly date on the machined pad opposite the distributor. Also check the casting number to be sure the engine is a 440, not someone's fake. I am suspicious of this engine.

Dave

View attachment 352440

Casting date= jan. 17. 68 upper pad feb.13
The 2 serial numbers by starter opening are feb. 12 1968.

 

[69CoronetRT]

i found no vin number stamped anywhere on it. In a december 1996 "chrysler car enthusiast" magazine , it said " if no V.I.N. is found on a block, it was replaced by the factory under a warranty claim." Also says "prior to 1970, the complete VIN or a portion could 'possibly' be stamped on the passenger side of block."

partially correct.

69s will have all or partial VINs stamped on a pad on the passenger side.

68s may have a VIN on the back of the block by the oil sending unit.

 

[slippery]

partially correct.

69s will have all or partial VINs stamped on a pad on the passenger side.

68s may have a VIN on the back of the block by the oil sending unit.

Yes. Agreed. I forgot that you have that stuation. But that article doesnt agree with you. Lol just like no one can imagine why i have 2 different serial numbers.lol take care thanks for the help!

 

[69CoronetRT]

Yes. Agreed. I forgot that you have that stuation. But that article doesnt agree with you. Lol just like no one can imagine why i have 2 different serial numbers.lol take care thanks for the help!

There is much misinformation in printed articles.

Your stamping are interesting and likely simple mistakes of not changing date codes.

 

[1970FuryConv]

69 engine will have complete VIN. I learned that on Graveyard cars! My only 69 engine has whole VIN.

Early cars will. You start to see plants going from all 13 characters in the VIN to 8 in about mid January. That’s one way to tell if a block has been restamped. Dummies put the full VIN on a late built car..

I agree with 69CoronetRT on this one. See the pictures from the 440 block that is going into my 1970 Fury. Note: Mopar purple is from a previous owner. Hemi orange is the plan.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

I agree with 69CoronetRT on this one. See the pictures from the 440 block that is going into my 1970 Fury. Note: Mopar purple is from a previous owner. Hemi orange is the plan.
View attachment 353768
View attachment 353771

I will have to look at casting date on mine. It has the full VIN. Always learning with these cars.