1965 Engine/Chassis/Serial numbers

[Doug #42330]

What does "all numbers match" or "engine/chassies numbers match"? I am seeing corvettes advertised for sale with this claim, how does someone verify this? From the sounds of it there is no such stamping on the vehicle which states the chassies and engine number for that car when it rolled of the assembly line. I have been seeing this a lot in different places and it seems to add a great deal of value to the car.

My plan would be if in fact my car was originally equipped with a 396 to put a 396 back in it when I restore. But if all that is for not if I don't have the original 396 block which came with the vehicle than it would not be worth the substantial investment in putting a 396 back in. Or would it?

Thanks Doug

[Bob R.]

Re: 1965 Engine/Chassis/Serial numbers

All mid year corvettes had a portion of the cars serial number stamped on the original engine, transmission and on the frame. As each car had a specific serial number this number helps to prove that the engine is the original engine installed with a car when it was manufactured. As such it increases the value of the car.
It is possible to alter the numbers on an engine block. For this reason most car purchasers would also look for written documentation to help prove that the car has its original drive train. Bill of sale, maintance records.
In addition to the serial number many of the parts installed in a mid year also were dated. These dates should be correct for a car manufactured during a certain time frame. The engine block, transmission, carburators, horns, intake manifold, radiator, master cylinder, even the window glass, and many other parts have date codes on them.

[Joel Falk]

Re: 1965 Engine/Chassis/Serial numbers

Doug,

Bob's response is correct. The "numbers" in question would be the car's sequential serial number from the last digits of the VIN. They'd be stamped on the engine's stamping block (this is different from the casting number, which also should be correct for the vehicle), on the transmission side plate, on the driver's side frame rail (around where your hip pocket would be when sitting in the car), and of course on the VIN tag itself.

The date codes are tricky to decipher since some parts/years used slightly different dating codes and since the acceptable range for parts can be several months or more.

If you have the original engine, then by all means it is worthwhile to keep that engine in the car.

[Gary Wilkerson]

Re: 1965 Engine/Chassis/Serial numbers

Bob,

If you can verify from a previous owner that an engine was decked during a rebuild and you restamped the pad; is that Ok?
Decking is a common pratice with a good machine shop job, so how does that affect the value of the car?

Gary