65 engine ID #

[Wally A.]

i have a 65 engine block with these: # 870 casting
E 21 5 casting date
here is the issue. cant make out all the numbers on the
stamp pad but ends in letters IH, according to all the
research ive managed to read GM never used letters IH
in any truck or car for identification, what gives?
thanks for any input

[John H.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

i have a 65 engine block with these: # 870 casting
E 21 5 casting date
here is the issue. cant make out all the numbers on the
stamp pad but ends in letters IH, according to all the
research ive managed to read GM never used letters IH
in any truck or car for identification, what gives?
thanks for any input

Wally -

I show "IH" used in passenger car 427's in '66-7-8, but never on an 870 block.

[Wally A.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

john, your absolutely correct...this is the reason im posting.
someone out there , i would think, would have an explanation
by the way, from what i can make out has no vehicle ID
stamping on the deck... only a few numbers before IH
characters are same size in height as IH

[Michael H.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

I wonder if there's a passenger car engine code that ends in "H", without the second character?? (similar to 63 and 64 "R", without the 2nd character)
If so, this could be just such an engine? The character that appears to be a 1 is actually the capitol letter I.

Or is it possible that the second character in the code is not visible?

[David L.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

Wally,

Could the last digits on the stamping possibly be "HIH" where "HI" is for 1965 Corvette w/327 w/ C.A.C. and the last "H" is for Holley 4 bbl.? It also may be "YIH" where "YI" is for a 1965 Chev. truck, model S60 with 327 engine w/130 amp and the last "H" for Holley.

What is the complete stamping as best as you can tell (Flint block or Tonowanda block)?

I have seen 327 engines with either the letter "H" (for Holley) or the letter "R" (for Rochester) after the 2-letter code.

Examples:

At a junk yard in Colchester, CT, many years ago I saw a 1966 Chevrolet w/327 engine stamped "T0914HCH" (Tonowanda, September 14th, 327 w/P.G., and Holley carb).

I own a 1966 Chevrolet 327 engine (3858180 casting and a "E 13 6" or "E 18 6" casting date) that is stamped "T0521HAR" (Tonowanda, May 21st, 327 engine w/manual transmission, Rochester carb).

My 1966 Chevrolet Parts Illustration catalog (Oct. 1965) lists all the engine codes for all 1965 Chevrolet models. As stated at the end of this section "Type Designations for some engines will be followed by an R (Rochester) of H (Holly - Carter) to designate Carburetor requirements."

"Holly" is how it is spelled in my parts catalog.

Dave

[John H.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

I wonder if there's a passenger car engine code that ends in "H", without the second character??

Yes, but they were 348's. A photo of the pad would be helpful.

[Wally A.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

guys, removed hoses so i could read best i can on pad area.
best i can see stamping reads F06_IH cant really make out
4th character but seems it could be number. hopes this
helps with your input. wally

[Michael H.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

guys, removed hoses so i could read best i can on pad area.
best i can see stamping reads F06_IH cant really make out
4th character but seems it could be number. hopes this
helps with your input. wally

Wally,

If the missing character is the 4th position, that means there is another character missing from a 7th position.

The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th positions would be the MM/DD date. The following character(s) would display the engine type.

As John Hinckley mentioned, the only engine that used a single character, H, was a 348, we know that this engine has to have a 2nd character for engine type.

[Wally A.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

most certain what it reads. definately no character was ever
stamped after IH . even if a character was not stamped in the
7th position, what could the IH application be for? as i read it,
F being flint and 06 being month has to be missing character
is a 5 for yr. looking very hard in that area a 5 is possible

[David L.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

This discussion is going nowhere fast. Did anyone read my post at 5:55 PM today (05/27/2011)?

The block was cast "E 21 5" (May 21, 1965).
If the stamping is "F06???IH" then we know that the block was made in Flint, MI, and was assembled in June ??, 1965. How many digits are missing between the "6" and the "I". Is it 2 or 3? Use an engineering scale or other measuring device and estimate the number of digits that you can not read.

I believe that there are probably 3 digits missing, 2 numbers (day of the month) and one letter (the first letter of the code). Again, read my 5:55PM post. The last "H" is probably for a Holley carb.

Is there a partial VIN stamped on the pad? I assume that there is not. Is there a partial VIN stamped near the oil filter. If there is it would be very difficult to see since this area is not machined.

Dave

[Wally A.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

only room for 1 digit, again i feel that digit is to be a 5. no
additional space to place another digit again F065IH,
strange or what.... thanks for all you input. wally

[David L.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

Wally,

As far as I know there are not 51 days in June. A stamping of "F0621H" would make a little more sense EXCEPT for the last missing letter digit. If it does not have a partial VIN then it's probably not a block that was originally installed on a 1965 Corvette.

Are you 100% sure that the casting date is "E 21 5"? Could it possible be "F 21 5"? A month between casting date and assembly date is possible. Generally the time between the casting and assembly dates is as little as one day but more generally two, three, or four days, at least for the small blocks.

Dave

[Edward M.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

As has been posted earlier the F06_IH has to breaks down as follows:
F = Flint
06 = June
_I = day that has a one at the end (0I, II, 2I, 3I)
H = ?

If, as you state, there is room for only one character between the 6 and the I, then the I MUST be part of the assembly date. All engines of this era used 4 digit assembly dates, and the I character was used to represent the digit 1.

You are missing a character after the H. That could be a factory anomaly, or the character was lightly stamped or removed. Nothing else makes sense.

Post a picture of the pad please.

[David L.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

Edward,

As far as I know there are not 31 days in June but other then that I agree with you. Isn't there a saying that "A picture is worth a 1000 words"?

Dave

[Wally A.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

everyone responding to this issue have really put in a
great effort. today i will attempt to take a close-up
pic to help clearify the stamping.. stay tuned .
thanks for all your time. wally