383 ID Stampings

[68 4spd Fury]

OK, any resident Galens out there. I did some checking on my car to verify the engine & trans ID's, wanted confirmation and any information I don't have.

The transmission was pretty straightforward, PP833, the four digit build date, (08-25-1967) and though it's not stamped deep, enough of the VIN# to confirm it's original, (182242).
The engine on the other hand, not so much. The pad on the lower face behind the starter,

Has PT=Trenton Engine Plant, 383, P=Premium Fuel, (Indicating its the HP engine), the last number of the four digit build date is under the oil pan lip so it could be anywhere from 07-27 to 08/05/1967. I could find no reference to that arrowhead, anyone know what that means? Maybe just the shift it was built on? On the pad under the distributor, it has D=68 MY or Belvidere ***'y plant, (both of which true with this) 383 and a Maltese cross=.001 u/size, one or all, main journals, and an 8 & 2=most likely a date? (both are stamped deep so I don't think it's a partial of the VIN. In looking for the VIN, I saw that there may/should be another pad on the right side of the block, just behind the motor mount, no pad, no numbers. My questions:
Is there anther location I can look?
If there isn't, (looking at the date codes), could I assume it is the original motor or a warranty replacement?
What I do know, it is the "H" code motor, no engine work was done after 1972, when the last owner before me bought it and, when I pulled the valve covers this year to change the valve seals, the bolts and the tabs of the gaskets still had the engine paint on them.
Thanks for looking.

 

[detmatt]

Look on top rear by the oil pressure sending unit adjacent to the mating surface of the trans.

 

[Wollfen]

If this is a 68 fury then there won't necessarily be an VIN stamped at all, I have found no VINS on similar cars like New Yorkers and such before.

 

[detmatt]

If this is a 68 fury then there won't necessarily be an VIN stamped at all, I have found no VINS on similar cars like New Yorkers and such before.

True, no guarantees but I have to D series engines and both are stamped and both 4 spd cars so worth a look.

 

[69CoronetRT]

If this is a 68 fury then there won't necessarily be an VIN stamped at all, I have found no VINS on similar cars like New Yorkers and such before.

If it's a 68 Fury, then it's is also not a 335 HP assembly. It's the 330 horse version. There is a difference in 383 HPs from 68-70 compared to 67 and earlier and 71.

There is no reference to the HP on the front pad. The D indicates 1968 Model year. It sound like part of the engine assembly date on the pad is missing or possibly hard to read.

The P in the engine VIN only tells you it was a 4bbl, not which version of the 383-4.

 

[68 4spd Fury]

Nothing popped up but Ill keep looking. Thanks!

 

[68 4spd Fury]

THANKS!

 

[68 4spd Fury]

I agree, from what I've read the only difference between the 330Hp and 335HP was the air cleaner, silenced, (dual snorkle) vs un-silenced.

 

[69CoronetRT]

I agree, from what I've read the only difference between the 330Hp and 335HP was the air cleaner, silenced, (dual snorkle) vs un-silenced.

The 335 horse used the 440HP cam and valve train and, usually, a windage tray.
Cali sold cars with N97 would have used dual snorkel (silenced) intakes.

 

[CBODY67]

Before the 440/375 in '67 and the 383/335 (RR) V-8s, there were no "HP" motors per se. There were 4bbls with 10.0 (approx.) compression ratio, which also meant "Premium Fuel". The '66 Chrysler "TNT" motor was the 256/260 (standard cam) 4bbl with dual snorkel air cleaner and the normal dual exhausts, compared to the normal 440/350 with single exhaust (usually) in NYers and single snorkel air cleaners. All with 1.60 exhaust valves and normal exhaust manifolds.

The 440/375 brought the first "HP high-rise exhaust manifolds (since the tubular models from the earlier 1960s, pre-Max Wedge), the 1.74" exhaust valves, windage tray, and the 268/284 "HP" cam. These items were on the '68 Road Runner 383.

Perhaps I'm a little jaded on "HP" engine (Chrysler and otherwise) designation, but what made these engines allegedly desirable was what went into them, not the basic block casting. Some casting/machining operations were more for identification purposes than any other real design purpose. When engine line people saw these things, they knew what the engine was by sight (same as paint color stripes on rear axle tubes or similar markings on other assemblies). Certainly, these things can tend to identify the history of the engine's original build specs, but it's all an assemblage of certain parts.

Generally, as I understand it, the casting date on a Chrysler V-8 can be correct for the car if it pre-dates the build date of the vehicle by up to 4 months? The stamp date code would be when it was machined for the build-order vehicle (or a general "sales bank" of engines ready for vehicles to be installed in). Which would, of necessity, pre-date the vehicle build date by a certain amount (which itself might be variable). When the VIN came to be stamped on the blocks, was that done at the engine plant or at the assembly plant?

We know that seat components had a copy of the build sheet stuck under the springs, but we also learned that, depending on various factors, if the vehicle came down the line and there were two identical sets of upholstery sitting in the que for installation, if the person putting them in order went by "description" rather than "VIN", some cars got incorrect build sheets in them. If something similar happened on the engine line at the assembly plant, it could similarly mean that some engine VINs aren't going to match the vehicle's VIN. Luckily, most states had begun to define a vehicle by its VIN rather than "Engine Number" long ago!

It's always good to determine of the powertrain components are "original to the vehicle", for later getting parts and general principles, but in some cases, it does nothing to possibly increase the ultimate value of the vehicle. When it all "matches", we tend to feel better about what we've got, too.

CBODY67

 

[68 4spd Fury]

Great call! Found it. Thanks!

 

[detmatt]

Congrats, that’s a beautiful thing!