can anybody out there clear this up for me? Have a 68 327/350. The intake manifold casting # is 3927184 with a casting date of F 19 8. According to all the literature I have, this # is listed as a 69 intake. The intake has the front oil filler tube. Thanks in advance for any advice. (I can e-mail pictures if needed) Les.
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Re: 68 intake manifold
Les,
Do you have a late '68 car? Check the stainless plate on the driver side door hinge column; the upper right of the text should show a alpha character and two numbers. That will tell you the "build date".
It is true that NCRS reference books show that as a '69 manifold, but I read the casting date as May 19, 1968, and '69s did not have the front tube oil fill. Interesting.
Chuck Sangerhausen -
Re: 68 intake manifold
Thanks for the response chuck- The car is indeed a late build, the tag date is "L10" and the seq# is 425007. My reading on the casting date is June but the date on the manifold is in line with the casting dates on the heads. Even the Hollanders shows the intake # to be 69-70 usage. Somehow this discrepancy is not surprising-even though this is a late build car- a lot of stuff was like a much earlier car. (maybe chevrolet was getting rid of left over parts before the change to 69?) I'm not a member of NCRS (yet). but if anyone is a judge or whatever, I would be happy to provide picture documentation of the manifold.Comment
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Re: 68 intake manifold
Chuck Berge is the '68-'72 Team Leader, but there are several others (Terry McManmon, Reba Whittington, et al) on NDB who should be able to give you answer. With so many late build '68s out there, this question has surely come up before.
Your build date, L10, is July 10 (1968). Production for '68s went into August. Hard for me to believe that a manifold cast in May would have waited around until late August (when '69 production started) to be installed on an engine. GM wasn't trying to make these cars numbers matching; they were trying to get them out the plant door. They used up everything, and if they were short one component, they grabbed another they thought was equivalent.
But there is the problem of the front tube oil fill; I don't know if early '69s may have had the front tube oil fill, but GM would have had to make a modification to the casting, either for late '68s (to add the oil fill) or early '69s (to elimate the oil fill).
Bottom Line: If it were me,I WOULD NOT change the manifold or worry about it until the Team Leader gave me a reasonable explanation for why it was incorrect, and not even then if the provenance (history from previous owners) showed the manifold to be original.
Anomolies make the hobby really interesting. Join the NCRS and help us study the minutia!
Chuck SangerhausenComment
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Re: 68 intake manifold
Les----
As you know, intake manifold casting #3919803 is "generally considered" to be the casting number used for 1968 Corvette small block engines. However, the casting date of your manifold, which is June 19, 1968, is very consistent with your car's July, 1968 build date, confirmed by both your body build code from the trim tag and your VIN sequence number. So, I'm very sold on the notion that it is original to your car. In fact, considering all of the information, I'd say that there is a virtual certainty that it is original to the car.
Keep in mind that the 1968 casting #3919803 manifold and the 1969 casting #3927184 are virtually identical except for the oil fill tube. However, the 3927184 manifold DOES HAVE the oil fill tube boss. Therefore, the Flint engine plant could easily have machined the 3927184 casting into a 1968 configuration. In other words, the 3927184 CASTING number could have been machined into the GM #3931575 PART NUMBER, which is the 1968-only PART NUMBER for the manifold.
I think we've all just learned something new here.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 68 intake manifold
Les,
You and Joe are right; the casting date is JUNE 19,1968. My gears slipped a cog. I was thinking your original post said E198. No change in the conlusions.
Chuck SangerhausenComment
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Re: 68 intake manifold(Thanks)
Thanks chuck and joe for your responses!! If anyone else has seen similar or would like more info, either post here or e-mail meComment
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Re: 68 intake manifold *TL*
Les,
FWIW: 1968 s/n 21668 built K06 (a whole month before yours) has 3919803 dated D268. Just an effort to narrow down the search a little.
Terry
TerryComment
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Re: 68 intake manifold
Thanks Terry for the info- sure would like to find or hear from someone who has a car built around the same time or later to compare numbers. Guess we find out new stuff all the time. Les.Comment
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