C3--'69 location of numbers.

[mexbone]

Hi, I have a beautiful 69 riverside gold vette- 350/350, I'm trying to locate the numbers on this ride to tell if it matching numbers. I've been to quite a few forums doing some searches but i come across nothing. Where on this car will i find the block id, and once found how can i tell if this ride is matching numbers?? thi only numbers i come across on the block are the casting id of 3970010- which is on the drivers side near the firewall. this number tells me its a 350 but i need to know prod dates and what not. Thank you for your time.

Larry

[Chuck S.]

Matching Numbers R Us

Actually, "matching numbers" is a colloquial terminology that has arisen out of the interaction of less well-educated buyers and sellers...it can mean whatever the "seller" wants it to mean, and is often interpreted somewhat liberally in that case. For that reason, the terminology "matching numbers" is viewed with disdain by many who collect and restore old Corvettes.

If a Corvette is ORIGINAL, then it has all the parts installed on it that came with it from the Saint Louis or Bowling Green assembly plants. A relative few of these parts will be stamped with the VIN numbers (all of which should "match"), and virtually ALL will be stamped/ink printed/embossed/debossed with the part number and the date of fabrication. All of these part numbers and fabrication dates should be appropriate for the model year and precede the assembly date of that particular vehicle by typical periods of time.

To give you a start, the approximate date of body assembly is stamped on the trim plate on the driver side door hinge pillar in a letter/numeral format, like A30: A=August68, B=September68, and the two digits following the letter is the day of the month.

The engine machine code will be on a pad extending from the block at the front end of the passenger side head. The machine code will be a format like V0807HW, where V=Flint Engine, 08=August68, 07=Seventh Day, and HW is the early 350/350 suffix code. The suffix code, depending on when the engine was built, could also be HX or GD for the 350/350. The assembly date of the engine should precede the date code on the trim plate, typically by 2-4 weeks.

There should also be another stamp on this pad called the VIN derivative stamp. The last six digits of this stamp is the serial number portion of the VIN number, which should "match" the VIN number plate riveted to your left hand windshield pillar...if it don't, then you have a NOM (non-original motor), and your "numbers" don't "match". But, this is only the beginning...the transmission and frame is also stamped with VIN derivative numbers, and they should "match" as well.

You won't know if your "numbers" REALLY match, until you have checked EVERY part for part number and fabrication date...then you'll be able to say, not just that your numbers "match", but that they are all the exact same parts that came on your car when it was built.

Join up...NCRS will teach you all these things, and you'll be able to impress your old friends and make new ones.