CE engine pad stamping

[Vincent Mcgrath]

I own a 1973 roadster that has a 454 engine. When I purchased the car some years ago in Australia I was told it had a replacement block. Since then I have been unable to decipher what the engine pad stamping means. It says CE365188. The numbers do not co-incide with the Vin sequence although the transmission stamp does and differential date stamp falls within two weeks of the car's manufacture. Other engine part casting date codes and stamps (intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, alternator etc also reflect a few days or a couple of weeks prior to the date the car was built. My car was built on the 25 May, 1973. The other piece of information is the casting code of the block which is D3 73.

I have searched available literature in Australia but there seems to be no mention of explanation for the stamp CE and those numerals.

Please can someone in the US enlighten me. Thank you.

[Craig S.]

Re: CE engine pad stamping

Vincent - I do know that the CE stamping is used for replacment blocks, so I would say the person that informed you is correct. As far as the 365188, it sounds like a sequence number...but maybe someone else can shed light on that. It doesn't seem to decipher into a date code breakdown...Craig

[John H.]

Re: CE engine pad stamping

Vincent -

"CE" stands for Chevrolet Engine, and was applied to warranty replacement engines under the old 5-year/50,000-mile GM Powertrain Warranty so the finance types could track the actual cost of 5/50 warranty replacements (as opposed to customer-paid and over-the-counter-sold replacement service engines). The only decipherable part of the number is the first digit ("3" in your case), which indicates that the engine was built in 1973; the rest of the number is an internal engine plant code which is unrelated to the engine specifications. "CE" engines were supplied as short blocks, the idea being that the dealer would re-use the bolt-on parts from the failed engine (heads, intake, water pump, etc.). They were ordered by part number based on having the same internals as the failed engine, but that part number doesn't appear anywhere on the engine - only on the crate/bag it was shipped in. There were a LOT of "CE" engines made (about four times as many as they forecast originally), which is why the 5/50 plan didn't last long.

[Harmon C.]

Re: CE engine pad stamping

Having a CE block with a casting date before your 73's assembly date is something that I have never seen. It sure would be a plus in my book.

[Richard S.]

Re: CE engine pad stamping

You should also be able to find a great deal of information on the CE engine pad stamp in the archives.