65 engine ID #

[Michael W.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

mike, what do you mean by the (surface on the pad looks unusual)
just qurious? wally

Wally, the danger in passing judgment on a pad via the interweeb is that pictures can very often hide or accentuate features that would appear very differently to the naked eye. I could be way off and hope I am.

The surface of the pad in your picture does not appear typical (to me) from the aspect of having a somewhat smooth, 'glassy' appearance as compared to the granular surface usually associated with a factory broaching operation. Although it's true that not all pads had/have classic 'broaching marks' and there's no obvious evidence of such marks in the photo, the surface looks more like it has been machined by another method.

Possibly at some time in the past, the engine was lightly decked with a rotary mill and the shop attempted to restamp some of the codes. The presence of paint does indicate some work being done in the area.

Is it possible to post some other picture taken from different angles?

[John H.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

Yet another interesting discussion. I am waiting for John H. to jump in and confirm this (it it was him that wrote the article). It sort of makes sense, at least as much as any other theory I have heard so far.

Ed -

I believe that article was written by Ken Kayser in "Vette Vues" about 9-10 years ago; it said essentially that at the time (late 50's - very early 60's), 95% of Flint V-8 production used single-letter suffixes. Corvette engines and some truck applications used 2-character suffixes, and the second suffix character was added manually until the gang-holders were modified to accommodate the 2-character suffixes in the stamp. I'm sure Ken will cover that in his seminar at the National Convention in Novi.

[Jim D.]

Re: 65 engine ID #

In searching for the article I mentioned above (obviously it wasn't written by John H.) I found one in the Spring 1995 Corvette Restorer that talks specifically about 63-67 engine pads and the common practice of leaving off a portion of the suffix and stamping it later which he called an "After Strike". It had nothing to do with the number of digits the gang hold could accommodate. This article was written by Al Grenning. It isn't the article I was looking for that specifically talked about the "H" motors though but that one was probably written by Al Grenning as well. I'll post it if I can find it.