68 427/435 Block CAsting date

[William Holder]

Hello ,
Just wanted to get some opinions on weather or not the Casting date on my 435 block of L-17-8 is too close to the build date of my car Jan 10 1968 to be the original block the pad has been decked. please let me know.
Thanks
Bill

[Dick W.]

Re: 68 427/435 Block CAsting date

December 17 of 1968 would work fine for a January built 1969. I believe that your block has been changed. Is it a 3963512 casting? I would look for a 3916321 or a 3935439 block casting number in a 1968. The '439 block carried over into 1969 production until late December 1968. This information can be found in the NCRS 1968-69 Technical Information Manual and Judging Guide available from the NCRS online store, a link provided at the top of the Discussion Board.

[William Holder]

Re: 68 427/435 Block CAsting date

It is a 321 casting. Why do you think it has been changed?
Thanks
Bill

[William Holder]

Re: 68 427/435 Block CAsting date

I Am sorry. I was confused the casting date was L-17-7 and the build date was Jan 10th 1968.
Sorry again
Bill

[Dick W.]

Re: 68 427/435 Block CAsting date

December 17, 1967 would work fine for a January 1968 produced car IF the casting number is either one listed in the last post. For NCRS judging you would lose 38 points for the pad surface (rotary machine marks) 25 points for the machine code and 25 points for the VIN derivitive. This can be found in the NCRS Judging Reference Manual that can be purchased online from the NCRS store.

[William Holder]

Re: 68 427/435 Block CAsting date

Thanks Dick,
What I was worried about, is that there was a Holiday or two, Christmas and New years in between the cast date and the build date of the car and I was not sure if there was enough time to get the engine machined and assymbled and shipped to St louis and installed in the car. What do you think? DO you know how long production was shut down for these holidays?
Bill

[Dick W.]

Re: 68 427/435 Block CAsting date

Interestingly enough Dec 17, 1967 was a Sunday. Jan 10, 1968 was on a Wednesday. Looking at a calendar, I would have to assume that they took approximately 5 work days off for the holidays unless things were slow. You still have approximately 19 days to play with. You deduct 3 days that were not holidays and you still have 16 days to work with. I think that the block you have is very doable for your car. The reason I asked about the casting #'s is that if it was in fact replaced it probably would have been a 512 or even a 289 both of which came after 68 MY production

[William Holder]

Re: 68 427/435 Block CAsting date

Dick, Since I don,t think they cast Blocks on Sunday I went and looked again at my notes and it is L-18-7 wich is A monday I suppose . Also I looked at the trim tag and it is Jan 8th wich is a Monday so that shortens it all to about 14 days I guess that is still possible. I just have been watching blocks for sale in ads and usually the Cast Date and the Tonawanda Stamped date are about a month apart. I wander if anyone really knows what days were off for the holidays. I thought that maybee they shut down for two weeks or something I think that is what they do at the plant here in OKC today.
Anyway thanks for all your input and happy holidays.
Bill