I'm looking at buying a 1972 corvette stingray LT-1, the engine under the hood is a 350 and the writing on the end of the console says its a 350cid with 370hp. and 380 torque with 11./1 compression ratio. all fine and good, but the fifth digit on the VIN number is a W indicating that its supposed to be the LS-5 engine a 454. looking at the engine under the hood it looks totally stock like it hasn't been changed out or anything. my question is why does the VIN code not agree with the engine under the hood?
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Re: VIN descrepencies
For 1972, the 350 base and 350 LT1 were rated as follows: base....200hp, LT1....255hp. The 350, 370hp is a 1970 designation, not a 72. The "W" definitely indicates a 454. Something "ain't" right here. Check the power bulge hood and see if the "454" number holes have been filled in. Chuck1963 Corvette Conv. 327/360 NCRS Top Flight
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Re: VIN descrepencies
next question: Is there a way to research the VIN number to find out the exact specifications for that particular car ie. date of birth, options, original engine, etc.
Also how would I go about matching the numbers from the engine to the numbers on the car frame, in other words where are they located? And what will they tell me?Comment
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Re: VIN descrepencies
jon, The cars VIN number should be stamped on the engine pad along with the engine assembly date and engine code.Comment
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Re: VIN descrepencies
Please bear with me, i'm new at this and i'm not sure where the engine pad is located on the engine. And is the VIN on the engine supposed to be the exact same as the one on the door plate.Comment
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Re: VIN descrepencies
The location of the information you are looking for is on the passengers side front of the block. Just below the head. There is a pad which has numbers corresponding to the original usage of the engine V stands for a Flint plant engine. T stands for a Tonawanda plant. The next 4 digits stand for the date the engine was made. This should be close to but prior to the build date of the car. Corvette's use a suffix which indicates which engine you have. For 1972 the LT1 engine suffix should be one of the following: CKY, CRS, CRT. There should also be a series of 5 numbers which correspond to the serial number of the car the engine was installed in.Comment
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Re: VIN descrepencies
Jon, The engine pad is on the right side (passenger) just ahead of the right cylinder head. The last 5 numerals should match the last 5 numerals of the cars VIN. If not it is not the original engine. If so it may be the original engine or a restoration engine.Comment
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Re: VIN descrepencies
John-----
Unfortunately, there is no way to positively determine the original configuration of any pre-82 Corvette using "external" data sources. Lots of folks have been looking to do this for years in hopes of finding some "undiscovered trove" of original build information. No one's come up with it yet. It's kind of like UFO's or "Elvis" sightings.
In any event, to answer a few of your questions:
the engine stamp pad is located on an extension of the block surface in front of the right (passenger) side cylinder head. There ahould be TWO stampings on this surface, each of which use different size characters. One stamping is the engine production code. It will begin with the character "V", followed by 4 numbers, followed by a 3 alpha-character code. For an original 1972 LT-1 the code should be "CKY", "CRS", or "CRT".
The second stamping will be of smaller font size and this is the VIN derivative. It is a portion of the car's VIN number as found on the VIN plate located on the driver's side windshield pillar post, under the glass. The last 6 numbers of this VIN derivative should match the last 6 numbers of the car's VIN if the engine is original to the car.
Beginning with 1972, as you know, the engine which the car was originally equipped with was coded into the complete VIN number (not the derivative on the block, though). As you stated, the code for an LS-5 big block was "W". The LT-1 would have had an "L" code. I really don't think that the factory would have made a mistake on a point like this, so I think that your car was originally an LS-5.
One other point that you can easily check: look to see if the car is equipped with a rear stabilizer ("sway") bar (or, evidence of one having been there). Only big blocks got this rear bar and, if someone changed the engine at some point, it's unlikely that they would have removed the bar unless they were really trying to be clever.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: VIN descrepencies
John,
Having to go to extent of verifying frame serial numbers is not the easiest thing with the body on car.
There are 2 locations on the left side rail that have the serial numbers stamped.
One area of stamping is on the top of the driver rail just forward of number 4 body mount.
The other is located driver side top rail just forward of number 3 mount.
If you really need this info,you may attempt to remove the driver seat and perform a biopsy of a small floor section to find no.3 mount area.
Again,this serial number must match your vin plate on your windshield post.
After years of erorion and contaminents,these frame numbers may be extremely difficult to read.
Good luck.
You may want to look at picking up one of several good books on the NCRS store to help you out.
JimComment
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Hi,
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